Do tubes matter?

Yes, correct size and quality for the job. Whats the bike and appliacation?

yes and no. Good tubes are usually only a few bucks more than a cheap tube, so it's not really a big deal 🙂

The very cheap, bulky IRC tubes I used to use were so chunky that it made tire mounting a little harder, and he very light tubes, such as Continental Race 28s were too thin, and I had a lot of punctures.

So, somewhere in between will do 🙂

gclark8 said:

Yes, correct size and quality for the job. Whats the bike and appliacation?

I need a quality tube(700X23c) for road racing. Thanks.

I picked up a spare specialized tube when I picked up my new bike. It's what all my LBSs seem to stock (and what I've used without problems in my MTBs for years) How do these rate as road tubes?

Cheers

david

IndyRider said:

I need a quality tube(700X23c) for road racing. Thanks.

The advice I've been given is when buying racing type tubes (eg Conti Supersoinsc), stick to the big name manufacturers. Racing tubes are super thin, and apparently cheaper brands struggle to maintain a uniform width around the whole tubes.

I spoke to one guy who said he runs Conti Supersonic tube on the front, and the Conit Race light on the back (as the rear is prone to more flats). Sounds pretty picky to me, but could be worth it if you're looking to save some weight.

I go with the Conti Race 700 and 650s. For me, the heavier tube is made up for by the increased flat resistance. I always use conti tubes in conti tyres.

Vredestein Race tubes (~100g) have probably been the most reliable I've ever used, but they obviously ain't super-light.

I had a really bad run with Continental Supersonics (~54g) and Tioga Super Lights (~70g) -- I reckon they're just too thin. As one wise man once said: there's nothing fast about a light bike that's broken down and parked on the side of the road. 🙂 In other words, in my opnion, reliability is much more important than saving a few grams.

of course tubes matter.....me tyres would go flat otherwise :p :p

use what you have confidence in. for me personally its conti tubes all the way, race 36mm valves in my training wheels, supersonics in my race wheels and race lights in my track training wheels.

any punctures are repaired and used as spares on the training wheels only

I usually just use Vittoria Ultralites as they do a great job and are cheap enough.

Then I swapped to Tufo C Jet Elite tyres on my best bike and they don't need separate tubes....

For training and other bikes, I am currently using Rubena tubes which are quite new to the UK from Czech and they are light, supple and look well enough made to me.