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!
Use Vittoria tires and the latex work better for me with mounting, tires go on hard and tubes easier to install properly.
The knock before I switched to latex was they dont hold air pressure over a longer period, check my pressure before every ride and run 110psi....no big deal
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.
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!
They might cost a little more. But my ride seems a little smoother and the flats come less often. These tubes usually outlast my tires and I transfer them on to the new tire without any blowout issues like the standard tubes.
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.
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 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.
The best latex tube bar none. Far superior quality to Michelin in both the latex material and valve sturdiness. In combination with Veloflex tires or Vittoria open corsa it's the greatest ride quality comparable to a tubular.
Tried these after numerous failures with Michelin latex tubes. So far so good. All Michelins that I bought for the same or higher price failed where the tube is spliced together. They overlap a short section and at the end of the overlap they would get a tear, as if weakened by the joining process. Has not happened yet with the Vittorias. These are quite thin. I have run in CX tires but not sure if they would be good in larger sizes. Nice valve stems.
