Do Lighter Inner tubes Make Much of a Difference?

chris_bass
chris_bass Posts: 4,913
edited June 2012 in Road buying advice
just about to buy an inner tube or two and was wondering if the ultra light ones really make much of a difference over the cheap ones?
www.conjunctivitis.com - a site for sore eyes

Comments

  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,558
    edited June 2012
    if you ride on normal dirty uk roads and are using lighter tyres, the main difference you'll find with ultra light tubes (c. 50g) is how much more often they puncture

    the lightest i usually fit are conti race lights, c. 75g, even these are a bit delicate vs. normal tubes, c. 100g

    btw, long thread on the subject here... viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=12857884
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • singleton
    singleton Posts: 2,523
    I stopped using race lights as I was getting more punctures. I just use the regular conti race tubes now.
  • EarlyGo
    EarlyGo Posts: 281
    Hi Chris,

    You'll probably save 50 - 100g in total. If you were to combine this with lighter tyres then when compared with the tubes and tyres that come on your average £700 bike you'd probably save somewhere in the region of 500g. That amount would be very noticeable, especially as it's a rotating mass which has a higher effective weight as you accelerate. However, on their own, lighter tubes will probably not be noticeable to the average rider (ie me!). Also depending on the surfaces you ride on they might be more prone to punctures. Although I've been running lightweight tubes for a 1,000 miles now with no problems.

    Hope this is vaguely useful?!

    Regards, earlyGo
  • Hoopdriver
    Hoopdriver Posts: 2,023
    Your lighter weight bicycle will roll faster for less effort, and then you'll probably lose whatever you gain n roadside stops repairing the punctures.
    http://www.My-Bicycle-and-I.com
  • iPete
    iPete Posts: 6,076
    I may be cursing myself but I doubt lighter tubes puncture easier and they haven't in my experience. Once something is through the tyre its going through the tube.
  • chris_bass
    chris_bass Posts: 4,913
    thanks for the replies!

    I was a bit concerned that they might be a bit more punture prone, but isnt that more to do with the tyres than the tubes? i might get a couple and see how I get on, but to be honest in this weather any weight i lose in the tubes will just be added in either waterproofs or wet clothes!
    www.conjunctivitis.com - a site for sore eyes
  • smidsy
    smidsy Posts: 5,273
    iPete wrote:
    I may be cursing myself but I doubt lighter tubes puncture easier and they haven't in my experience. Once something is through the tyre its going through the tube.

    Not entirely sure that is accurate. They may well snake bite easier as they are surely more fragile than a thicker tube.
    Yellow is the new Black.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    smidsy wrote:
    Not entirely sure that is accurate. They may well snake bite easier as they are surely more fragile than a thicker tube.

    But snake bites are generally user error.......
    Faster than a tent.......
  • northpole
    northpole Posts: 1,499
    Chris
    I suspect that the answer to your question relates to how fit/ good a cyclist you are.
    I suffered a bit of a reality check yesterday on the Dragon Ride.
    I went very slowly to ensure I had no problem completing the course - tube weights were the least of my worries!!
    There were some very fancy bikes being pushed up hills along the way - no criticism of the owners, but when I looked at the results this morning, it seems like hard, hard work is required to achieve better levels of fitness before worrying about the weight of the tubes.
    The quickest guys were managing an average 20mph over the 130 mile course which included 11,000 ft climbing!
    Sorry for dragging this thread off topic - maybe a different perspective may be off help.

    Peter

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