The Continental Road Race tubes are a high quality product for road cycling both training and racing. I use them with my Continental Grand Prix 4000 S II tires. One of the best things about the tubes is that they come in a variety of stem lengths. I have two sets of deep rim carbon fiber wheels on my road bikes and being able to get the longer stem is a key feature of this product. The tubes are long lasting and are great when paired with almost any wheel tire combination you have. Highly recommended.
I've been using these tubes in Continental Gran Prix 4000 All Seasons, 4000S, and now 5000 tires for years. While they're not bombproof (what road tube is?), they provide a good balance of weight and puncture resistance, particularly when coupled with Conti tires. Available in a variety of stem lengths, they're my go-to road tube year round.
Great tube with my rig once up and running; I find it a little fussy to install because of its lightness -- easy to catch the tube between the tire bead and rim; a bit of thought to have just the right bit of inflation to seat the tube properly.
I bought a couple of these tubes to use in an old school single walled 27 wheel. I liked the stem size. At 42mm instead of 48mm (too long) or 32mm (too short), these were the goldilocks size, just right.
But what impressed me most is that they held air pressure better than most any other light weight tube I've used. So I tried them in my 26er and had the same results. Before I knew it was was switching my 700C wheels as well.
I know many will say a tube is a tube and only as good as the tire that surrounds it. But for me, the light weight, perfect stem size and proven less air lose makes this my choice for tubes going forward.
I wanted new inner tubes with my new Grand Prix 5000 tires. The old inner tubes were still good, but had gotten a little heavy from repeated refresh doses of Stans tire sealant. Why not start with everything new for just a few dollars more? Thats what I did. The quality and ease of installation of these tubes was clearly superior to the no-name brand I used to buy. Continentals products do cost more, but everything they make is of the highest quality, durability and performance. It was true 40 years ago when I was a young racer and its still true today.
Sure, it is just a tube. But have you ever really considered the gravity of your decision when selecting a tube for your bike? Some tubes are made from crappy parts or fall apart. I cannot count the number of times that Kenda-made tubes have had valve stems which bend/break or generally deform. Continental tubes cost a bit extra money because they are quality parts. These are not high end frou frou race tubes which need to be treated with extreme care and cuddled throughout your ride. These tubes are for when you want your tire to stay round, not break valve stems, and generally be the last thing you worry about. This is not to say that there are not downsides to this tube. If you run over a thorn, some improperly disposed glass beer bottles, or if a youth decides to slash your tire with a butterfly knife, then it is likely that your wheel may go flat. This is after all just a bicycle tube, not an indestructible ring of fury and speed. But, I am confident that this is the tube for me, possibly for you. When in stock, it is the first place I go.
TL,DR - Quality tube at decent price, won't fall apart.
I've come to expect quality in Continental products, having run my Bianchi road bike with GP 4000s tires for many years now. This is the first time I've gone with Conti tubes as well, and I'm glad I did. A cycling tour in New Zealand exposed us to some rough roads and more than our share of gravel. Punctures were the order of the day. The Conti tubes held up. Yes, we had one flat, but their frequency was way down for our group of 10, part of a larger group of 110 riders.
