Latex inner tubes??

indigo_pete said:

Has anyone used the Michelin latex inner tubes? I thought about trying
them in my road race wheels, but I don't want to put something in there
that is a puncture risk. Any thoughts? Pete

--

Do you own a floor pump?

Have been using them for 2 year with a set of Veloflex Pave. No problems at
all.
"indigo_pete" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone used the Michelin latex inner tubes? I thought about trying
them in my road race wheels, but I don't want to put something in there
that is a puncture risk. Any thoughts? Pete

--

indigo_pete said:

Has anyone used the Michelin latex inner tubes? I thought about trying
them in my road race wheels, but I don't want to put something in there
that is a puncture risk. Any thoughts? Pete

Latex is more porous than butyl. Be prepared to pump up the tires
more often. They have no advantage whatsoever in the area of
punctures.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Surrealism is a pectinated ranzel.

indigo_pete said:

Has anyone used the Michelin latex inner tubes? I thought about trying
them in my road race wheels, but I don't want to put something in there
that is a puncture risk. Any thoughts? Pete

Yes, they used to be the lightest but thin butyl are just as light and
are much cheaper. Latex are a bit more puncture resistant to snakebite
flatting but they are not any more thorn/glass/nail/steel belt frag
resistant than butyl.

The other disadvantage of latex is they tend to lose pressure more
rapidly from diffusion.

--

Weisse Luft said:

Yes, they used to be the lightest but thin butyl are just as light and
are much cheaper. Latex are a bit more puncture resistant to snakebite
flatting but they are not any more thorn/glass/nail/steel belt frag
resistant than butyl.

I saw an independent analysis that suggests the latex tubes (at least
one model) may be more thornproof than a thicker butyl tube. The
author suggested it was due to the suppleness of the latex allowing
the tube to displace around the thorn more easily. Maybe... maybe
not, but probably no worse at least.

Quoted message said:

The other disadvantage of latex is they tend to lose pressure more
rapidly from diffusion.

That they do! Something to think about if you do long rides. That 40
grams savings is going to pale in comparison to the difference in
rolling resistance if you lose 10% of the air in your tire over the
course of a 4-5 hour race.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

Mark Hickey said:

Weisse Luft said:

Yes, they used to be the lightest but thin butyl are just as light and
are much cheaper. Latex are a bit more puncture resistant to snakebite
flatting but they are not any more thorn/glass/nail/steel belt frag
resistant than butyl.

I saw an independent analysis that suggests the latex tubes (at least
one model) may be more thornproof than a thicker butyl tube. The
author suggested it was due to the suppleness of the latex allowing
the tube to displace around the thorn more easily. Maybe... maybe
not, but probably no worse at least.

Quoted message said:

The other disadvantage of latex is they tend to lose pressure more
rapidly from diffusion.

That they do! Something to think about if you do long rides. That 40
grams savings is going to pale in comparison to the difference in
rolling resistance if you lose 10% of the air in your tire over the
course of a 4-5 hour race.

Wait - lower tyre pressure does not necessarily cause significant
increase in rolling resistance. Factors such as tread thickness and
pliability of the casing fabric (thread count per inch is an indicator)
are greater determinants. I refer to other threads in this NG where the
rolling resistance issue has been done to death many times ;-)

What I appreciate about latex tubes is that they are slightly quieter
and give a softer ride at a given pressure. Sure they lose air but
that's no more than 5% over a 12-hour period. At 70g they are slightly
heavier than the lightest butyl (55g) but it's the comfort I like. Feels
like I'm riding singles (tubulars again).

But to get the ultimate comfort and low rolling resistance, I'd like to
recommend a latex tube together with the Veloflex Master tyre (20 mm,
170 g). Casing is made of fine (i.e. not coarse) fabric, and these tyres
can be run as low as 7 bar (98 psi?) without significant increase in
rolling resistance. They can also be removed without using tyre levers.
They're also rated up to 9 bar (130 psi) for those who like a hard ride
.. . .

/ Robert

indigo-<< I thought about trying
them in my road race wheels, but I don't want to put something in there
that is a puncture risk. Any thoughts? >><BR><BR>

No such thing as a free lunch. latex are lighter but also not as duable as
butyl.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

Weisse Luft said:

Yes, they used to be the lightest but thin butyl are just as light and
are much cheaper. Latex are a bit more puncture resistant to snakebite
flatting but they are not any more thorn/glass/nail/steel belt frag
resistant than butyl.

I saw an independent analysis that suggests the latex tubes (at least
one model) may be more thornproof than a thicker butyl tube. The
author suggested it was due to the suppleness of the latex allowing
the tube to displace around the thorn more easily. Maybe... maybe
not, but probably no worse at least.

I recall seeing an ad for a latex tube where the tube is stretched over
the sharp remains of a bottlw without breaking.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The other disadvantage of latex is they tend to lose pressure more
rapidly from diffusion.

That they do! Something to think about if you do long rides. That 40
grams savings is going to pale in comparison to the difference in
rolling resistance if you lose 10% of the air in your tire over the
course of a 4-5 hour race.

I use to ride latex tubes and the main reason I don't any more is that I
would have to pump up the tires before every ride. I never had major air
loss on a single ride/race, so that was not an issue for me.
---------------
Alex

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

What I appreciate about latex tubes is that they are slightly quieter
and give a softer ride at a given pressure. Sure they lose air but
that's no more than 5% over a 12-hour period. At 70g they are slightly
heavier than the lightest butyl (55g) but it's the comfort I like. Feels
like I'm riding singles (tubulars again).

Quieter?!?! I don't recall every having someone comment on how load their
tubes were.
-----------------
Alex

Mark Hickey <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

That 40
grams savings is going to pale in comparison to the difference in
rolling resistance if you lose 10% of the air in your tire over the
course of a 4-5 hour race.

My experience is that you could expect to lose 10-20% in 24 hours with
reasonably fresh tires (tubes). My experience also has been to see
that number deteriorate as tires (tubes) get more use, maybe related
to inflation/deflation cycles or keeping the tires (tubes) pumped up
between rides (but could just be coincidental slow punctures- I don't
know).

As I've said before here, I've had fewer punctures with latex tubed
tubulars, but that may be because generally with tubulars the better
tires have latex tubes.

JP

Alex Rodriguez said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

What I appreciate about latex tubes is that they are slightly quieter
and give a softer ride at a given pressure. Sure they lose air but
that's no more than 5% over a 12-hour period. At 70g they are slightly
heavier than the lightest butyl (55g) but it's the comfort I like. Feels
like I'm riding singles (tubulars again).

Quieter?!?! I don't recall every having someone comment on how load their
tubes were.

Fair enough. And you've ridden both latex and butyl, according to your
earlier posting. Do you notice any difference between them (apart from
the air loss issue), or do you find that they feel essentially the same
when you ride? /Robert