Are lightweight inner tubes worth a go?

Darra8

Hi Guys,

As ever, I'm trying to save some weight off the bike. I have knocked a pound off it by changing the tyres, so thought about the tubes too. The ones I have do seem very thick and heavy...Are the lightweight ones usable for general MTBing? If so, any recommendations?

Cheers,

Steve

bomberesque

Maxxis fly weights are 90 gr each, a saving of about 100gr over a standard tube which is a great saving for a tenner, especially out at the rim, where rotating weight is worth the most. The trouble (ofc) is that tubes are essentially a consumable item so you need to keep spending as you puncture ... so it kinda depends how much you puncture. I have them on my weightweenie SS bike but wouldn't use them elsewhere.

I've not worked out the weights, but tubeless maybe almost as light and a year without punctures on my Evil (pinchflat) Sovereign has convinced me of the joy of not stopping twice a ride to change out tubes.

The Rookie

Tubless works out heavier than the lightest tube/tyre combo's.....

Schwalbe tubes tend to be a little lighter (around 120g) without the cost/expence of 'proper' lightweight tubes...

Simon

bomberesque

The Beginner I didn't know that about Schwalbe tubes and I must admit I was a bit wary of the claim but weight weenies says you're about right (they say 130gr average). that is good value as they're only 5 quid each. That means the difference to Maxxis fly weights is 5 quid more for an extra 40g off per tube. Probably only worth it on a bike that is already very light to start with

Go Schwalbe tubesthen!

Darra8

I have just weighed one of my tubes, and they are 200g. Don't know if that's heavy or not for a cheap tube.

Steve

ride_whenever

tubeless isn't any lighter, but they make the bike accelerate faster because the tyre is more supple, so less rolling resistance.

VWsurfbum

i bought some michelin latex lightweight tubes, apart from being vivid green they recon that they reduce rolling resistance? (it could be my imagination but it does seem to?)

joshtp

i swaped a thick "normal tube for my mates superlight one once, he kept getting punctures, so it made sence, and i put ti on the front, i dont puncture very often, and virtually never on the front, it always seems to be pinches on the back. it hasent punctured yet and the increase in accelaration speed and genneral dynamics has been huge, really good dif! i wouldnt risk it on the back tho, i dont like fixing punctures!

The Spiderman

After years of using reliable Specialized 160g tubes,I tempted fate and tried the Schwalbe 130g tubes recently(which unusually for presta have the advantage of a removable core) and they have been OK so far,though I don`t tend to get many pinch flats.

Probably OK for most general xc use.

Surf-Matt

I tried a Conti Supersonic tube (£10!!) - inflated it very carefully to 50PSi - it burst. So I stick to lightish weight but not the lightest tubes.

bomberesque

Surf-Matt

you inflated it inside a tyre on a rim to 50 and it burst? That is surprising.

As I said I have Maxxis flyweights on my weight weenie bike and run them at about 30psi. No punctures (yet, benn about 3-500km I guess) but for sure I will get them. When I run out of the 5 pack of tubes I bought I may swap up to the schwalbes depending on how ascendant the pikey in me is on the day.

Surf-Matt

Bomber - to be fair CRC did send me two "normal" tubes as replacements - must have been faulty but put me right off.

Northwind

I used Schwalbe XXlights (about £7 from Dotbike) for a good time before I went to tubeless, they're great- light (100 grams-ish) and though they're rated for 2.1s they were happy inside my (massive) 2.35 Nevegals. Despite being stretched out past their official size they weren't at all fragile, I got about the same number of flats as I did with heavier tubes- they weren't phased by a day of uplifts at fort william frinstance

You wouldn't want them on a dh bike but as long as you're not trying to run low pressures, you should be fine. Only time I ever had any problems was when I flatted one at high speed on a rocky descent- the puncture was from a big thorn I think but by the time I stopped, the tyre had been mashed off a hundred edges so it had about 7 pinches in it from rolling along while flat. But then that can happen with normal tubes too.

My tubeless setup's lighter, but only because I have one of the lighter tubeless solutions, stans strips + sealant are heavier than these tubes. But of course there are other advantages to tubeless.

Personally I can't feel any difference at all in rolling resistance between tubes and tubeless from "suppleness", at the same pressures I'd say they act exactly the same other than the weight. But that's not to say there's not a difference, I just can't feel one.

Darra8

Thanks Guys.

I have ordered a couple of the Maxxis flyweight tubes to try.

llamafarmer

Surf-Matt wrote:

I tried a Conti Supersonic tube (£10!!) - inflated it very carefully to 50PSi - it burst. So I stick to lightish weight but not the lightest tubes.

I tried some Supersonics and they worked ok, but I can't really live with paying £10 every time I need a new tube. My LBS have recently started stocking Bontrager Race X Lite tubes, which are not a great deal heavier and seem a little more resilient for a fiver.

hoathy

i supprt the use of ghetto tubeless, cheap and excellent. light and fast. What more do you want?

mattbarnes

I've been using Conti Supersonics on my xc bike for nearly a year and have only punctured once. Yeah, they aren't cheap but if you're hoping to lighten your wheelset lightweight tubes are the way forward.
I've tried tubeless and it was a nightmare. I found that I could buy two tyres, same make and model and it would take five minutes to fit and inflate one but the other would take hours to seat and inflate and would, more often than not, end up lying thrown in the corner of the shed while I nursed my bleeding thumbs from trying to force them onto the rims. Plus, what do the vast percentage of people do when they puncture using a tubeless setup? Thats right, they stick a tube in! The thought of puncturing out on the trails with a tubeless setup filled me with dread because of the grief of fitting/seating/inflating etc. Does anyone carry soapy water with them out on a ride to ensure ease of fitting? I dont think so. God, it makes me angry just thinking about them. :evil:

bails87

Hoathy wrote:

i supprt the use of ghetto tubeless, cheap and excellent. light and fast. What more do you want?

How exactly is an (admittedly small) tube and sealant lighter or cheaper than a tube?

Dazzza

I refuse to use schwalbe and conti tubes, i constantly pick up thorn punctures from them, yet oddly im running very light specialized tubes and so far i get on great with them.

hoathy

bails87 wrote:

Hoathy wrote:

i supprt the use of ghetto tubeless, cheap and excellent. light and fast. What more do you want?

How exactly is an (admittedly small) tube and sealant lighter or cheaper than a tube?

not sure its lighter, but i didn't say that, did i? and for the record its not a WHOLE small inner tube.

and its cheaper because you don't have to keep replacing inner tubes and fixing punctures. time is money!

so....

bails87

Heh, ok, fair enough. I may well go tubeless myself, but I don't expect it to be any lighter, I mistook "light" for "lighter".

The Rookie

Dazzza wrote:

I refuse to use schwalbe and conti tubes, i constantly pick up thorn punctures from them, yet oddly im running very light specialized tubes and so far i get on great with them.

I've never met a tube yet that doesn't puncture to a thorn - if its gone through the tyre the tube is easy meat, so I'd say that's luck not the tube!.

Simon

Darra8

Just got the Maxxis fly weights in the post this morning. Wow, they really are light. The box they come in is around half the size of a standard tube box.

I have just weighed the bike now and it's 23.6 lbs without the pedals.....result

Dirtydog11

The Beginner wrote:

Dazzza wrote:

I refuse to use schwalbe and conti tubes, i constantly pick up thorn punctures from them, yet oddly im running very light specialized tubes and so far i get on great with them.

I've never met a tube yet that doesn't puncture to a thorn - if its gone through the tyre the tube is easy meat, so I'd say that's luck not the tube!.

Simon

+1

ACDCwmb

For fair weather marathon events & races I use continental supersonic tubes and 2.1 speedking supersonic tyres, saves me almost 1lb of rotational weight, which is a bonus when you have 60-100miles ahead of you.

For training and over winter I use full fat tubes and tyres.