3/4/14 1:55 PM

Features

Rides like latex with durability of butyl
Air Flex Lite butyl-latex material
Perfect wall thickness throughout the tube
Seamless construction with hermetically bonded valve stem
Threadless 48mm valve stem with removable core
Feathery 67 grams
Made in Japan

MIJ, hmm...

3/4/14 4:11 PM

No idea. Can tubes ride different? I've had latex, lighweight butyl, heavyweight butyl, no tube, and I have never felt any difference in any of them.

In all cases, I don't trust light weight tubes. If they don't fail they bleed too fast and need pumped daily.

3/4/14 5:03 PM

Anecdotally, I felt an improvement in ride quality moving to latex tubes. This is using Michelin/Vittoria tires.

Some have noted that the difference using latex tubes is less noticeable when using less supple tires such as Conti (terrific durability, but I won't ride them on my main road bike). I think lightweight butyl offers an improvement in ride quality over heavier butyl tubes, but are less resistant to puncturing than both regular butyl tubes and latex tubes.

3/5/14 1:04 PM

I ordered 4, we will see.. Or I will anyway. ;)

3/6/14 4:30 PM

I've long believed that anything that reduces wheel/tire weight, and even almost the entire bike's weight, will improve a bike's bump response, lessening the transmission of road roughness to the rider.

A heavier bike, by comparison, takes on upward momentum when striking bumps, momentum that keeps the bike moving upward, further into the rider's body-suspension zone that exists between the bulk of the rider's mass and the "un-sprung" mass of the entire bike below.

At some point, the upward momentum of a heavier bike is felt as the tires intermittently leaving contact with the ground, something that would only occur at a higher speed on a (all else being equal) lighter bike.

That a bike's frame and wheels has a bit of give allows lighter tires/tubes to even better follow the contours of the road surface without increasing the amplitude of the bumps in the road.

A 40# Schwinn varsity with fat tires, 1" frame tubing, 70-degree frame angles and a thin, non-tubular fork is not a particularly stiff bike, but barreling downhill over bumps sure makes it feel stiff as the rider takes a beating as the bike suddenly becomes "lively".

I like lighter tubes mainly because I can more easily carry two in my jersey pockets.

3/6/14 5:38 PM

Going to try the Atom Comp 23s with these tubes on the HES-Belgium wheels I just built.

Thanks to Walter for the rims and the front hub...

The Atoms are about the best riding clinchers I have ridden. I took the Scott out with the Belgiums with 25C brand new Axial Pros I have 3 of. Boy, close the the seat tube and chain stays, but no so much that I see a problem. The Atoms ride near as well, not quite the deadness of the 25 Axials, but I only went up the block on the Mich, but have done some good miles on the Atoms.

Wheel Build FWIW:
Belgium C2 Al rims; Rear is 32 spoke 3x Sapim Laser&Race on a D/A hub, brass drive side nips [because I have a ton I got to use up]. Front 24 is 1x Sapim Race on a lightness hub I got to match the 24 drilled front Belgium, Al nips. This 24 front is laterally stiffer than my A23 28 spoke wheel with straight 15 ga spokes.

The Belgiums where the most cooperative rims I have built with to date w/Open Pros second, then A-23 and Aeroheads in order of cooperation. Moon phase not withstanding..

3/7/14 1:03 PM

The Belgium rims are easy-building because of fewer spokes and very high stiffness. Good stuff, but the brake tracks are narrow and thin-walled.

Those Axial Pro 25's are a bit fatter than rated, about as fat as Conti 28's.

Adjust the pressure, enjoy the ride! I've got my own hoard of them!

3/7/14 1:52 PM

The A23 brake tracks are more narrow FWIW, by about 2mm [1.8-9]

I find the A23 track annoyingly narrow personally. ;)

Yet another plus for the Belgium for me.

Fewer spokes made no difference as far as I am concerned.

The front 24 I laced one side one hole off and it took me a few minutes to get back on track. Once I figured out how stupid I was. ;O

3/7/14 9:17 PM

Gad, does anybody even make a brake pad that is that narrow???

3/7/14 10:12 PM

Most taper, on the bottom side. It is when they are 1/2 worn that they might start climbing onto the black part....

3/11/14 6:59 PM

Fist ride out I had the 25C Axial Pro New Old Stock with regular tubes, like 135+ grams FWIW. Long valves too

The 25C Axial Pro are fat suckers, Ballonish Dare I say sit really round on the 23mm wide rim. I had built the front up first, waiting for Laser 14/17 spokes for the non drive side of the rear wheel. Stupid me thought in my head I inflated the front with the rear to pressure., but had aired/built it and rode it as a front on the SS two weeks earlier. I thought I was flatting, but it was my stupidity surfacing 10+ miles into the ride with both 25c Axial and the Belgiums Thurs last, dumbass. You'd think I'd notice the squirm sooner, boy it was cushy, well mushy more like.

Anyway, pumped it up and did the rest of the 35 mile ride. 80 front, 85 rear[ish] More cushy than that carbon frame needs, and the rotational weight [perceived] I disliked.

40-50 grams more per C2 rim over the A-23, 25C Axial @ 280 each ish, heavier tubes.

Today test and ride. Conti 4kS 25C rear, 23C Conti front, R-Air tubes 32mm stems, aired to 90 lbs both. Thus average 70? grams each tire lighter, tubes 1/2 the weight. So maybe just short of 300 grams less weight out at the Rims for the pair. And I felt the difference...

Yada, yada.

Tubes definitely improved the ride. Blatantly obvious especially when you pop a piece of gravel, and this at higher pressure that I usually use.

Tubular nice, yes, cheaper tubulars. Cotton tubular nice, partially. But an improvement IMO for sure.

Want to get some Challange tires at some point to try them with these tubes. Actually I have one mint Vit CX. Should I put the CX Vit front or rear ??

So to repeat, The C2 are stiffer wheels laterally, no question.

3/13/14 12:06 PM

Many years ago, I flirted briefly with Air-B butyl/latex tubes. They were supposed to represent the best of both worlds.

I found them less reliable than plain butyl.

Sandiway

3/13/14 11:02 PM

I think the Air-B were latex, yes?

The R'Air are light weight butyl.

I still have some Latex MTB tubes, never flatted and in good shape. i bought them probably in 98 ?

10/8/15 9:19 PM

90lb in a 23mm Service Course Michelin with a latex tube and sealant. No tire damage I can find thankfully being a newer tire. ;)

I was in a pace line and rear tire hit a single 3/4" piece of errant bluestone/gravel. Snake bite/dual pinch. No way I could see it, nor did I see a wiggle around it from the guy I was behind...

One of the bites was a tiny hole, the other about 3mm. Latex tube did not tear in length as I have read happens. Obviously hit it to the bigger hole side. :0

Air was out of the tire before I got stopped in 20-30 feet or so. And came out so fast so no sealant was between the tire and tube.

Second non sealed latex flat. I believe the tube my be absorbing the latex based sealant. Like the first flat, the tube was way light on sealant when I patched it. I did add sealant to both after the first flat. I may try the Bontrager RL instead of the Stans next. I read on slowtwitch.com sealant review pages the RL actually works well in butyl tubes. I got a quart of it too. ;)

And life goes on... ;)