Road tubes

[m@]

Schwalbe SV15. Hands down best tube on the market. For those worried about threaded stems, do what I do and go to jay car and get some heat shrink. The size that just slides over the valve. Cut about an inch off and shrink it on the valve stem. A piece one metre long costs about $3 and will last forever. The small diameter heat shrink also works really well as cable end crimps. Looks really sleek too.

Cool, will have to give those a try. Generally use Conti race 28 - or lately, whatever someone in the bunch hands me after I've used up my spares! I've obviously offended the puncture fairy somehow...

Good tip on the heatshrink; my modus operandi has been to apply a thin smear of epoxy resin to the end 5mm, then heatshrink the last 10mm. Looks pretty slick, especially on a murdered-out black-on-black bike

[harmonix1234]

Schwalbe SV15. Hands down best tube on the market. For those worried about threaded stems, do what I do and go to jay car and get some heat shrink. The size that just slides over the valve. Cut about an inch off and shrink it on the valve stem. A piece one metre long costs about $3 and will last forever. The small diameter heat shrink also works really well as cable end crimps. Looks really sleek too.

Cool, will have to give those a try. Generally use Conti race 28 - or lately, whatever someone in the bunch hands me after I've used up my spares! I've obviously offended the puncture fairy somehow...

Good tip on the heatshrink; my modus operandi has been to apply a thin smear of epoxy resin to the end 5mm, then heatshrink the last 10mm. Looks pretty slick, especially on a murdered-out black-on-black bike

I used to take the time to actually solder then ends of my cables up by unwinding the end of the cable and laying a 2cm sliver of solder inside the cable and wrapping it back up and then heat it up with a small blow torch.
It would all ooze through the end of the cable and the excess would run out. Then use a small wetstone to smooth and round off the end. Looked real tidy, but I stopped doing it when I blow torched past the cable end and but my frame. Lucky it was on my alloy bike. Eek!

[CXCommuter]

Don't overthink it. If you're not getting Latex, Lifeline tubes from Wiggle. 6 for $18.

This- I have used just about all the tubes out there on Wiggle/c r c and they were all good- ie they held air and didn't blow along seals etc. These are cheap and do the same job. For ultralight purposes (racing) then yes, worry about weight or get puncture resistant if required, but otherwise for most riding their purpose is to hold air reliably and these do the job.

[kenwstr]

Well the GP 4000SII tyres arrived today. I put them on, readjusted the bearings and went for test ride. They seem pretty darn quick to me even with the gosh awful headwind today. Will see how they go after a few longer rides.


Regards,
Ken

[Tzantushka]

I've swapped out some Michelin Dynamic Sports for the GP4000 S2 and really happy.
Have saved some weight going to the Conti's so I'm not that fussed on tubes

[kenwstr]

With tubes it's not about saving a few grams for the sake of weight, it's about compliance. Low mass in the tyre and tube combination improves compliance to the road and therefore reduces rolling resistance. As latex is a more compliant material than butol, it gives lower rolling resistance which is why it is favored in racing. However I am not prepared to pump tyres every day so I just settled on low mass butol tubes. It's an experiment to see where the acceptable trade off between efficiency and reliability is for me on my road bike. If it were a commuter or tourer, I would be placing more importance on reliability.

Regards,
Ken

[flyby]

I think you're at a good compromise, I run GP4000s with Vittoria ultralights. The GP4000s seem to last me about 3,000 km. The first 1500km is puncture free (touch wood), then next 1,000 has the odd puncture here and there, and then you get them all the time. I couldn't find the wear indicator on my rear when I changed it recently so obviously tried my luck a bit there.