Inner tube help

daniel_b

I'd go with (and have myself) the valve extenders, where you screw the valve part into the top of the extender.

If you don't have some already, grab some cheap as chips ptfe tape for the threads top and bottom to give you a better chance of a lasting seal.

I can't recall the make of my latex tubes now, but I got them from merlin.
Actually looking now it was Silca, as I bought the speed shield thingies as well.
When I bought them you could get them for £13 each, seem to be at least double that now

pblakeney

daniel_b said:

ibr17xvii said:

daniel_b said:

I'd be very keen to hear if and what they come back with, as I was planning to give some repeat business, probably for the 'weightier' and wider ones too for other bikes, well when the butyl ones run out anyway.

I did have a quick look elsewhere at other sellers, but I thought (and it was a brief look) that prices seemed to be higher, and I saw no mention of the 24g ones - not that that is the end of the world of course.

If you happen to find a goo alternative, would be keen to hear about it.

I'll update the thread if / when he comes back to me.

In the meantime after what appears an eternity of browsing Aliexpress (which isn't the most user friendly experience) I've come across this seller:

https://aliexpress.com/item/1005005044251602.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.0.0.7325zZYlzZYlCU&gps-id=pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.40000.327270.0&scm_id=1007.40000.327270.0&scm-url=1007.40000.327270.0&pvid=c9ec843f-2fac-473b-b373-dd34b03e91c1&_t=gps-id:pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller,scm-url:1007.40000.327270.0,pvid:c9ec843f-2fac-473b-b373-dd34b03e91c1,tpp_buckets:668%232846%238113%231998&pdp_npi=3%40dis%21GBP%214.15%210.4%21%21%21%21%21%40211b801816831864301882356ea301%2112000033167478914%21rec%21UK%21

Similar price but limited to 1 set per customer.

I'll see what the other guy says 1st though as I know he's legit & the shipping time is good.

Random at one set per customer - just found this seller as well, only the middle weight ones, but a similar price by the looks of it, though postage is slightly more, so probably about even. Not many sales though, and looks like slow delivery.

*Edit - just noticed this is the exact same seller you posted, but a slightly different listing I think.

https://aliexpress.com/item/1005005213459823.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.704238danUKA56&mp=1

I looked on ebay, some people are trying to knock them out for £17 a pop

I ordered 4-off to try 1-1/2 weeks ago, delivered today.
Will fit them later but initial impressions are extremely small and light as reported.

daniel_b

Be intrigued to hear how you find them @pblakeney , and how easy or not the fitting is.
I believe from the guides they do stress to only inflate them very slightly prior to fitting, otherwise they can presumably stretch too much and become useless.

I'm hoping to not need to fit any for a while, as my current wheels have the Pirellis fitted, and I'm not just going to swap them out for fun.

pblakeney

daniel_b said:

...

I'm hoping to not need to fit any for a while, as my current wheels have the Pirellis fitted, and I'm not just going to swap them out for fun.

I'd rather fit them at home and do a local short road test than have them as spares for use out on the road. Will report back Sunday/Monday.

pblakeney

Each inner tube is 77g lighter than Wiggle's Lifeline version. Not inconsequential.
That's a 231g saving for 2 tyres and a spare.

Fitted them as I would a normal inner. Enough air in to make the tube take shape but no more then fit as normal.

Road test report.
Road feel? Can't say I noticed at 100 Psi inside Vittoria Paves, much like my experience with latex. They do hold air better than latex though. Nice noise.

All in all, a lot of positives, no negatives, and fairly price competitive.

daniel_b

Great review @pblakeney , glad they have worked out for you.

Pound for pound versus weight saving, I'm not sure there is anything that represents less of a penny cost per gram saved on the bike.

A lot of people will be spending £4 or more per tube already, and for someone like me that prefers to carry two spare tubes, that's arguably a 300g saving for no extra cost, maybe even a cost saving - I used to buy Conti tubes, and they are somewhere between the £4-£6 mark I think.

Be interested to hear how they continue to hold pressure, and how you find them longevity wise.

super_davo

Love the review too.

Mine hold pressure at least as well as Butyl. I never got on with Latex tubes due to the fragility and needing to pump up every ride, TPU seem to avoid both issues.

Yet to need to fix a puncture, but I was sent the special patches to do so, and the costs aren't outrageous to replace the whole tube if it proves a ball ache.

ibr17xvii

So my 2 tubes turned up yesterday. Took 10 days which is pretty good.

They weigh 24g as advertised & are comically light.

I have to say they are so thin they look like a puncture magnet to me but I've put one in just the front for now so interested to see how they cope with UK roads.

ibr17xvii

pblakeney said:

Each inner tube is 77g lighter than Wiggle's Lifeline version. Not inconsequential.
That's a 231g saving for 2 tyres and a spare.

Fitted them as I would a normal inner. Enough air in to make the tube take shape but no more then fit as normal.

Road test report.
Road feel? Can't say I noticed at 100 Psi inside Vittoria Paves, much like my experience with latex. They do hold air better than latex though. Nice noise.

All in all, a lot of positives, no negatives, and fairly price competitive.

I have some Bontrager tubes in at the mo that are 108g each. Coupled with the fact I usually carry 2 as spares if I can switch to these it's a 336g saving for not much outlay.

Puncture protection is more important to me than weight though so if these don't hold up I'll go back to my regular tubes & maybe just carry these as spares to save a bit of weight.

ibr17xvii

daniel_b said:

Be intrigued to hear how you find them @pblakeney , and how easy or not the fitting is.
I believe from the guides they do stress to only inflate them very slightly prior to fitting, otherwise they can presumably stretch too much and become useless.

I'm hoping to not need to fit any for a while, as my current wheels have the Pirellis fitted, and I'm not just going to swap them out for fun.

What's the difference between these & the Pirelli's? I appreciate you pay a little more for the name but they are pretty much 3 times the price of the RideNow's.

I would've probably bitten the bullet & bought the Pirelli's if I hadn't stumbled across this thread & maybe still would if they were discernably "better" than these.

daniel_b

ibr17xvii said:

daniel_b said:

Be intrigued to hear how you find them @pblakeney , and how easy or not the fitting is.
I believe from the guides they do stress to only inflate them very slightly prior to fitting, otherwise they can presumably stretch too much and become useless.

I'm hoping to not need to fit any for a while, as my current wheels have the Pirellis fitted, and I'm not just going to swap them out for fun.

What's the difference between these & the Pirelli's? I appreciate you pay a little more for the name but they are pretty much 3 times the price of the RideNow's.

I would've probably bitten the bullet & bought the Pirelli's if I hadn't stumbled across this thread & maybe still would if they were discernably "better" than these.

I don't think there is any real difference, simply where they are made (maybe), and the Pirellis are a much nicer colour ;-)

I only bought them as I was searching for lightweight tubes, and at the time these seemed the most likely suspects - I needed them for an imminent lightweight best bike build, so pulled the trigger and ordered 3 of them plus a repair kit iirc.

pblakeney

daniel_b said:

Be interested to hear how they continue to hold pressure, and how you find them longevity wise.

Installed at 100 psi on Saturday. Passed the thumb test but decided to measure. They were 80 psi rear, 85 psi front this afternoon. That was including 2 rides and 120 kms.

daniel_b

That's probably easily as good as butyl I would have thought.

pblakeney

daniel_b said:

That's probably easily as good as butyl I would have thought.

That's my non-scientific conclusion.
I gave up on latex and my days of buying butyl are now over too.

i.bhamra

i.bhamra said:

I've just ordered some of these from Ebay. No idea what the quality will be. I run tubeless on most bikes but always carry a tube (never needed one in 3 yrs of tubeless!) but figured for the space saving these are worth a punt.

https://ebay.co.uk/itm/134513406691?var=434004590119

I do have one set on non-tubeless rims which I sometimes use so might fit them here as a test case for reliability.

Ordered yesterday, already marked as dispatched with an expected arrival by 22nd May.

Will update when they arrive.

So, they arrived on the 21st May, very happy with the size and weight (28g on my scales and that's for up to 32mm width and with an 80mm valve stem), certainly takes up less space in a jersey pocket than a butyl tube....

Curious as to whether other ones people have bought have a similar joining method? It just looks like two ends of a linear tube overlapped and bonded together. The joint is pronounced but seems well bonded.

I lost patience trying to fold it up more neatly without the long valve stem sticking out.

I haven't got around to fitting one yet.

pblakeney

i.bhamra said:

...
I lost patience trying to fold it up more neatly without the long valve stem sticking out.
...

I just left mine in the supplied box.

jdee84

daniel_b said:

Well they have indeed arrived today, pretty impressive, and good news for anyone who can't wait the predicted time, well unless I got really lucky.

Delivered packed in two jiffy bags, slightly squashed but no issues that I can see.

They are comically small, and light, 22g on my scales.

Compared to a continental tube, I'd say volume wise they are around a quarter if not a fifth of the size.





I did rotate the images correctly before pasting in, no idea why they are anywhere but correct, but there we go, you get the idea :-)

Hi, how have the tubes been so far any issues? In the images it says something about free repair kit, did they come with one?

pblakeney

Mine came with a couple of patches each.

daniel_b

jdee84 said:

<

Hi, how have the tubes been so far any issues? In the images it says something about free repair kit, did they come with one?

Hi Jdee84, I've yet to fit any, as my current tubes are fine - I will start taking them out as spares though.

I'm collecting a bike from a wrapper (not Eminem) tomorrow which these tubes were specifically destined for, but that one has some Pirelli's already fitted - of the same material as these, so it should have it's maiden voyage at the weekend if the weather holds.

I noted it said about patches being supplied, but I also ordered a couple of repair kits, which were a few £ each.

ibr17xvii

pblakeney said:

Mine came with a couple of patches each.

Mine too.

I would say they leak slightly more air than a conventional latex tube but apart from that I've got zero complaints.

pblakeney

ibr17xvii said:

pblakeney said:

Mine came with a couple of patches each.

Mine too.

I would say they leak slightly more air than a conventional latex tube but apart from that I've got zero complaints.

Just proves that people have different experiences. Mine leak air similar to butyl and nowhere near as fast as latex. I had to top up Vittoria latex on a daily basis. Weekly with tpu.

vincesummerskRoxcBTr

I have used Tubolito and they seem to lose pressure a little faster than butyl tubes, but not much. Just bought a couple of RideNow ones , not used them yet though.

DeVlaeminck

That's an impressive space saving - didn't realise they were quite that compact

N0bodyOfTheGoat

How are these fancy tubes holding out while being used and as spares?

vincesummerskRoxcBTr

Have some tubolito ones on the road bike, seem to be lasting ok, fairly easy to patch.