Supple, stretchy, and flexible. They feel better and reduce rolling resistance compared to butyl tubes. No sealant required. No goat heads where I live so your mileage may vary.
These are top latex tubes. They share the pros and cons of all latex tubes. They leak air faster than butyl tubes, so one has to make sure that the tires are re-inflated every time they are used. They are not as resistant to puncture as butyl. But they are much lighter and the smoothness of the ride is unmistakable plus they also have lower rolling resistance, which makes them ideal for race day. They are patchable, although the process is not as easy as with butyl. A patch can be cut out of old latex gloves (biology labs and physician's offices discard tons of these everyday).
Vittoria claims these tubes can save in excess of 5watts per wheel. If that is true and the do feel faster than butyl tubes, then you can get one watt of energy savings for little more than $3 per watt. I can't think of a cheaper price for a watt saved.
I love latex tubes in my Vittoria tires. I've tried some other, lighter latex tubes but had reliability problems. These are a little heavier, but they are reliable and don't sacrifice the great feeling of a latex tube. I pair mine with Vittoria Pave's or Open Corsa CX for the closest feeling to riding a tubular I have found. (A little bit less so with the Pave's, but with Open Corsa CX and a latex tube wow! Simply a great tire/tube combo. Fast, grippy, with great road feel. I love 'em.
Latex inner-tubes reduce rolling resistance and are also lighter than butyl ones. They are also more fragile when mounting a tire and it is more difficult (but not impossible) to patch them. Also, they leak air out much faster than a butyl inner-tube. You definitely have to put some air in before every ride. For all these reasons, I train on butyl inner-tubes, but put these Vittoria latex ones on race days. But the ride on latex is definitely worth the additional price. Smooooooth!
Latex tubes feel and roll great. I'm a huge fan, yes they're a bit delicate when installing and you need to check the tire pressure before each ride (you should check before each ride anyway)
I use these latex tubes on both my road bike and my touring bike. Love the feel of these tubes. They seem to accept patches fine too. You will need to pump up your tires before every ride but I do that anyway except on my fat bike.
If you ride top level high thread count tires, latex tubes are the best bet to get the most out our your tire investment. They do lose air more rapidly between rides than butyl tubes but it's a small inconvenience compared to the benefits of a smooth supple ride. The higher price is the only downside but from a performance perspective they are 5 star tubes.
As with the Corsa G 2.0 tires, these are great for smooth roads that don't have a lot of debris. If you're riding rougher roads, I 'd look elsewhere. Honestly I couldn't feel the difference in rolling weight or smoothness compared to "traditional" tubes. Would also be nice if they made a longer valve stem as these are likely to be going on more aero wheels.
I use these tubes primarily for racing. It is a nice change to put these in with race specific tires. Whether placebo effect or not, they definitely feel like they roll better than a butyl tube!
Always pump air every ride losing air is that normal
Extremely high pressure, soft feel almost like a
Tubular . Very good feel . I like the suppleness the provide.
I rode latex tubes on my mtn bike for 4 years on very technical and rocky terrain. We rode quite fast, with long, vicious downhills, and I only put in 22 lbs of air - I got 4 years and thousands of miles out of 1 single set of these tubes and not a single flat!!!
Fast forward to now, and my mtn bike experience made it an easy decision to put latex tubes on my carbon road bike. Like nearly all the other reviewers, I noticed a significant improvement in ride quality over butyl tubes, I saved about 1 ounce per rim, and I have yet to get a flat after 15 months and more than 3,000 miles of rides on poorly maintained city and country roads. Truth in advertising: I weigh 145 lbs.
So I'm not a heavyweight, but my cousin is a Clydesdale for sure. He checks in at 6'2 and 225 lbs, and he would get at least one flat EVERY ride we took, what a pain! A few months after I got my latex tubes, he made the switch and rode flat-free for 10 months before getting a flat from a pot-hole. Needless to say, he's a convert too, in fact, our whole 90-person cycling club is going to make the switch.
I don't find these lose air any faster than a light weight butyl tube. I do find they are less prone to flats and the ride quality is great. They feel like they make tires roll faster, but that could be placebo effect. A bit pricey, hence 4 stars for value.
As far as I can tell, they are working well; they should save a few watts, if that's a concern. I personally prefer the threaded Presta valve stems; these have a smooth valve stem.
Comes in at 74gm for the 23mm and 80gm for the 25mm - and removable cores! Awesome and totally great that they offer a wider size (25mm) as most have hopefullly taken the leap to wider is better tires by now )
Talk them up and lay down the miles!
It's an okay tube, it does ride very smooth. However it loses pressure after about 3 days, so I'm constantly pumping it back up.
First latex tubes. Ride like I'm on a cloud (paired with 33mm supple tires).
Treated them like fine crystal during install, no issues. Did the typical inflate/deflate every 20 psi and thoroughly checked for pinches in the bead each step. Just a quick check and pump before each ride, so far so good!
OK, yes, it is 2021. Us dinosaurs are hard to change, and with the rolling resistance studies confirming these are the top rated (along with the appropriate tire of course), why go 2021? Tubeless vs. tube? I will take these 10 of 10 times....
it's not a myth, it's a fact. latex tubes paired with high tpi count clinchers enhance the ride experience. gotta say, not all latex tubes are made equal. vittoria tubes are reliable and deliver the goods. i have total confidence in them.
