What are the +/- of running latex tubes. I've dabbled with tubeless, but it's such a pain to change tires, I only have one wheelset. I've heard latex tubes roll better and have a nicer ride, is that true? I know they don't hold air over a long period of time, but I usually check before every ride anyway. (tubeless seems to leak down too) Does cold weather affect them? I'm doing the Melting Mann the first week in March here in Michigan. Thanks
I've been running Vittoria Latex tubes in my road bike for years now and will never go back to butyl rubber tubes. The road feel/feedback riding on latex tubes is phenomenally improved over their butyl counterparts. I've also been in road races where the rider(s) in front of me flatted after hitting a hole in the road and I just rode through it. It still jarred me and loosened the steering but I stayed in the race. I've recently experimented with Challenge Latex tubes in my cross bike and the jury is still out. The compound is definitely different vs. the Vittoria tubes but I cannot yet say it is worse or better. My gut feel is that the Challenge tubes seem thicker but "look" more like a traditional latex product (less pink than the Vittoria). The ride quality is still vastly improved over butyl tubes.
My race 'cross tires are set up tubeless though and I do not foresee that changing in the future. Just too many benefits running a tubeless setup with better air pressure ranges and puncture repair. Though I keep a spare tube with me on long rides... I've not yet had ti use it. (knock on wood)
I log about 5-7 thousand miles per year on the road bike and have changed one tube out from a blowout where the tire's sidewall just finally wore out. I run them with Conti GP4000 4 Season tires in a 700x25 around 90/95psi and I'm 170lbs. Usually once per year in the winter, I'll swap out for new tubes just to put fresh ones in... but it's not absolutely necesary. That's just me being overly precautious. They do require more attention to pressure loss from day to day but any rider worth their salt is checking tire pressures before every ride anyway.
I had the chance to use latex tubes from Challenge Tires, ($18.00 each, as I recall), and they definitely gave the tires a better, cushier ride quality which I felt was akin to tubeless. (I was running a Challenge tire, the Grifo, if I recall correctly)
I change tires a lot, due to having to review them, and found that handling a latex tube is a bit more fiddly. You have to make sure you use talcum powder on them, (Baby powder or Monkey Butt powder will do), because the latex does not like sticking to the inner tire casing, which can make them tear. Also, you have to be very careful not to get a crease or folded over section when airing them up after deflating for a tire change or they will develop a leak.
In the end, I decided to forgo using latex for my purposes since I had a different agenda, (changing tires a lot), which didn't fit the usage of the latex tubes the best. Obviously, I can only speak to Challenge Tires latex tubes. However; if I had one set of tires on a race set of wheels? Yeah, I'd strongly consider latex tubes for that.
I have used them some, on road tires and also on a pair of Conti speed 35mm semi slicks. Definite nice weight advantage over normal tubes, but expensive, they also ride very nice, the Conti speed is already a nice ridding supple tire and the latex tube improves it along with a possible close to 100g weight reduction compared to a normal tube. But they can still flat, there much more expensive, and they can be much more difficult to patch, harder to find a small hole since they don't hold their shape well when not in a tire, so you end up with less pressure in the tube underwater looking for a small leak. I'm running a set of 38mm spec triggers setup tubeless now and I still don't think that they ride as well and as nicely as the Conti speed tire, especially w latex tubes..but I have less worries about flats and know I have a pretty tough tire, though I didn't flat very many times on the Conti tires.
