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TECH NEWS
tubo inner tubeThe world’s lightest inner tubes? First look at Tubolito's lightweight inner tubes + video
Austrian company Tubolito’s unique orange Tubo inner tubes might be the last port of call if you’re looking to shed a few precious grams from your road bike, with a potential weight saving of 120g when you replace regular inner tubes.
With a set arriving in the office, we just had to put them on the scales to see how light they are and talk through some of the key details of this standout inner tubes, so hit play on the video below to see what they’re all about.
In brief, the Tube inner tubes made from a seamless tube of thermoplastic elastomer material that is claimed to be able to stretch to four times its size as well as being tough, the company claiming these properties lend it improved puncture resistance.
On our scales, these 60mm valve models are 42g each. That compares to 100g for a regular butyl inner tube with the same length valve. It’s worth mentioning that a Continental Supersonic inner tube comes in at about 55g, but they’re made from very thin rubber so more fragile and puncture prone than the claims for the Tubo tubes.
The weight difference might not sound like a lot, but many cyclists spend a lot of money on very expensive and lightweight race tyres so why not on your inner tubes as well? Weight at the wheel counts more than weight on the frame, but will you be able to notice the difference on the road? That’s something we aim to find out.
They’re also very small, so ideal for saving space in your saddle pack or jersey pocket as spares, and more space for food as someone pointed out to me on Twitter. If you want to save even more space, there’s the Tubo S we’ve also got on test that weighs even less and has a removable valve stem designed as an emergency backup. The ones in the video are the regular ones intended for everyday use.
What happens if you do get a puncture? You have this special repair kit with five special patches.
So are they any good for everyday use and how puncture resistant are they really? We’ll put them to the test over the coming weeks and report back with our findings.
If you’ve got this far and are sold on their compact size, low weight and not to mention the orangeness, you might be alarmed to find out they cost £30. Each...
More info at www.tubolito.com
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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31 comments
These are expensive, but I sprung for a set. They’re awesome! Super light and conparable to latex for ‘road feel’. No punctures either. Don’t understand the negative comments; don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it...
I looked into those and they're way too expensive, and supposedly the rolling resistance was in between a layex tube and butyl tube so nothing gained there. The other issue is flat repair, which I couldn't find any info on that, but can a normal patch kit fix one of these tubes?
The 23 gram tube is not made for rim brake bikes, I guess the heat will make them explode.
As far as flat resistance goes...so what? I mean really, the first line of defense is your tires, I use Specialized Roubaix Pro tires, and other tires in the past, and there are a slew of tires on the market designed for the demands of riding on surface streets, and in the last 5 to 6 years I've only gotten one flat and that's because tire technology has improved immensely over the last 8 to 10 years. So to pay that sort of money for tube that claims to have flat resistance built in just doesn't make any sense when the tire serves that purpose for me. Weight wise, you're only losing a ounce to an ounce and half over lightweight butyl tubes so I don't see the advantage there, maybe racing the weight reduction may help IF the rolling resistance is lower than latex.
I'm sorry I can't buy into tubes like this because it's too much money for just a tube and I don't race so have no need for such a tube; now maybe if you're one of those kind of people that ride city streets with a pair of $3,000 wheels on a $10,000 bike then I doubt the financial impact of those tubes would even make you flinch.
Don't like the colour........
It's the perfect 'get-you-home' tube to keep in a jersey (or rucksack) pocket. But latex is the way to go for the long term.
Need to see rolling resistance test results by one of the independent testers like wheel energy. Maybe as part of a review road.cc could buy a tyre or inner tube and send it for testing to wheel energy.
I am thinking this would be a good light option to carry around to suppliment my tubeless wheels on long rides. If i get an irrepairable gash then pop one in. I carry a butyl tube around for those long rides now. Actually lighter than all the gubbins to repair said gash!
Nothing worse than an irrepairable gash. This is why we try to perform episiotomies rather than letting nature take its course.
The last road.cc review by Neil Gander in December promised a long term use update on punctures and reliability after a whole season of use through the winter grime.
What happened to the promised update ?
How are these different to the ones you reviewed 5 months ago? I'm struggling to tell.
https://road.cc/content/review/253312-tubolito-tubo-road-700c
Those were 42mm
That's the valve length.
I still don't see the difference.
Yes they have been reviewed previously, as you've pointed out. We've not done a video before though, so we've done one, if that's okay with you?
I plan to carry out some roll down and puncture tests with these inner tubes over the coming weeks too
World's lightest inner tubes = world's fastest to puncture inner tubes, probably.
Not everything lightweight is positive.
Maybe not, but latex is lighter AND more puncture proof, so no reason why these wouldn't be.
I need to be able to run the same road tube from 23 to 35 and $3 bulk purchased 26"mtb tubes in 27.5 tyres (Apparently they're fine in 29ers too).You can do it with butyl.How would these go?
Despite the (now gone) rude comment earlier these can give a good overall weight saving. Especially as they have a 23g option! Not forgetting that on the average weekend ride one takes at least one spare tube. I'm also interest to know if the stem is plastic as it appears, because that would significantly improve the imbalance introduced by long brass valve stems.
weak point on the valve stem has always been at the base, I know one of my conti supersonic went there far too easily without me barely touching/using it.
I reckon they could lose the brass in any case and come up with a material that intergated better with the tube compound - whatever that happens to be, and also be a bit lighter. The brass adds a significant weight in a long valve like that 60mm which at higher speeds can imbalance wheels, even if it's only a smidge it can be noticeable.
Indeed, it looks from the pics like the stem is maybe integral on these. Not seen enough pics to tell. Expensive but maybe the thing as a compact spare at least.
As an aside I remember some translucent "plastic" mtb tubes back in the day, I can't remember from who though. They were okay but a bitch to repair.
Hopefully this picture helps... they look a bit rough around the valve, but construction is pretty solid.
IMG_1059.JPG
They should use carbon fibre if only for the marketing opportunities.
I didn't consider it a rude comment - just pointing out inaccuracy. I'm all for saving a few extra grams and would have been disappointed if the saving proved to be 25% less than originally quoted.
Is it possible to feel out-of- balance wheels while riding? I can't even tell the difference between different grades of Reynolds tubing without looking at the sticker!
On the smooth roads of mallorca I could feel an imbalance when freewheeling. In the UK less so but it tends to be when freewheeling downhill. The bounce from an imbalance on a fast descent is the last thing I want.
How can this "problem" have gone unaddressed for so long when the solution seems so simple? What do the pros do about it?
I'm thinking you're going to lose energy more than a thin butyl tube and even more to a latex, but I have no way of knowing for sure and only a side by side run by the likes of bikerollingresistance could give us a hint as to actuality.
The sizing (and from that the weight) could be interesting with regards to using larger inner tubes for training/touring if the claim regarding expansion viability is true and doesn't detract too much from puncture resistance - though by nature you would think as it gets bigger it'll get thinner so would be less resistant to such.
The comparison size wide to an ordinary tube is somewhat distorting, I've got a Schwalbe tube that's meant for 35-38mm tyres, it takes up 2x2" when deflated and rolled with an elastic band around it, it weighs in at 146g, so space wise it's not a big deal but weight compared to a bigger/wider tube could be 100g per wheel. A Continental Race 'wide' is about 125g.
Not for me but if like me you use a different width tyre on the back for a lot of your miles then the one size fits all might be useful.
Cool!
I’d buy these... is the ride quality anything to write home about?
"Lollipops, come and get your lollipops..."
lollipops.jpg
I was thinking this would make a nice back up for a puncture that won't seal in a tubeless tyre, but then I saw the price.
Been a fan of these for a couple of years now, so I struggle to see what is new here. As far as I am aware, the new product by tubolito is a city tube (and their gravel tube is also made quite recently). After an entire winter season with no punctures, I think durability is one of their main selling points!
OK, I'm in. Twenty quid apiece on bike-discount.de is worth a punt if it means fewer punctures.
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