My experience with latex tubes mirror Ted's.
I have been riding them on the Rene Herse extra endurance barlow pass and bond
Jovie pass
From: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> On
Behalf Of Ted Durant
Sent: Wednesday, July 3, 2024 9:25 AM
To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [RBW] Latex tubes experience
New thread jumping off my not-so-happy experience with TPU. For fun and science
I ordered a few Vittoria latex tubes in the 622 x 30-38 size, which I put in
the 622-32 Rene Herse extra light tires on my Rivendell Road. The tires are new
this year, with 500 miles on them when I installed the tubes. The rims are
narrow, so the tires measure around 30mm on them. The tubes fit okay, but I
wouldn't try to stuff them into any smaller tires. At ~105 grams, they weigh
exactly the same as the Schwalbe light tubes they replaced. They come
well-talc'd and feel pretty substantial - not fragile at all, especially
compared to TPU. Installation was quick and easy. I inflated the tires to
60psi, then didn't ride the bike for a few days. At that point, on a pinch
test, the tires were still overinflated. A few days later they were down enough
that I brought them back up to 40psi, where I normally ride those tires. The
rate of air loss is no big deal to me.
So, how's the ride? I try to be skeptical about squishy things like "road
feel", but the difference these tubes make is on a par with the difference that
the tires themselves made. In other words, I am utterly charmed. I've done
about 100 miles on them over a variety of roads, but no gravel. Bouncing over
rough road surfaces and standing to accelerate, there is a sense of energy
being returned that I've never felt before, even on Paris-Roubaix tubulars back
in the day. (Of course, I probably pumped those to 100psi...) A few times I
thought "oh no, I'm losing air", and my riding buddy thought so, too, but nope,
they're just that supple. I'm going to increase the pressure to 45 and see how
that feels.
No real test of durability so far, but given how many flats I've had so far
this year, 100 miles without a flat is pretty good. And, no experience with
patching, yet.
I'm happy enough that I've ordered a bunch more. Jenson USA had the 622-30-38
ones for $15.99, which seems like a steal compared to TPU. I also ordered
directly from Vittoria some 26x1.7-2.3 tubes for my 584-48 tires.
Ted Durant
Milwaukee WI USA
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