Do You Put Sealant In Tubular Cyclocross Tires

Inner tubes do quite a lot more than than but hold the air in your tyres. The best inner tubes tin can make your bicycle faster, lighter or – by preventing punctures – more reliable. The road.cc squad take ridden hundreds of thousands of miles on a vast range of inner tubes. These are the best inner tubes yous can purchase.

Best overall inner tube: Schwalbe SV15 Road Tube — Buy Now for £4.00 from Merlin Cycles | Observe out more
Lightest inner tube: Tubolito Tubo Route 700C — Buy At present for £20.90 from Mantel | Find out more than
Best on a budget: LifeLine Route Inner Tube — Purchase Now for £2.49 - £2.99 from Wiggle | Observe out more than
All-time rolling resistance: Michelin Air Comp Latex — Buy Now for £10 or 5 for £40 from Mantel | Find out more
Best puncture resistance: Slime Smart — Buy At present for £14.50/ii from Amazon | Find out more

Choosing the best inner tubes is a surprisingly inexpensive style to improve some aspect of your cycle's operation, exist it speed or reliability. If all that matters to you lot is going fast, the best inner tubes — and the choice of fast riders for many decades —are made from natural latex prophylactic, simply read on: they have downsides.

Fed up of flats? Inner tubes with built-in sealant can fix punctures for you as you ride, oftentimes before you even know they've happened.

Every few years a new inner tube applied science pops upwardly, unremarkably involving high-force exotic plastic; we talk over the latest one beneath.

The ten best inner tubes you tin purchase in 2022

Best overall inner tube: Schwalbe SV15 Route Tube — Buy Now for £4.00 from Merlin Cycles

To exist off-white, the mid-priced tubes from the likes of Michelin, Continental, Schwalbe, Specialized, Hutchinson at al are all pretty decent. Nosotros're going for Schwalbe here because they're a very sensible price, good quality, have removable valve cores so you can put sealant in them if y'all desire and come with a absurd transparent valve cap. As with all removable-core tubes you lot do have to make sure the cadre's screwed in nice and snug or some pumps can unscrew information technology.

Best on a upkeep: LifeLine Route Inner Tube — Buy Now for £2.49 - £2.99 from Jerk

The market for cheap standard inner tubes has become very competitive in the concluding couple of years. With a weight of around 120g, these tubes are expert value at around 2-l each (£2.99 for the longest-valve version).

They hold air perfectly fairly but their manufacturing tolerances are surprisingly broad. I bought four recently and they weighed 110g, 116g, 118g and 131g, and we've seen the occasional Lifeline tube showroom random bulges when inflated off the bicycle, merely for £2.49 who'southward really complaining?

Best puncture resistance: Slime Smart — Buy At present for £14.50/2 from Amazon

With a payload of Slime sealant within a butyl tube, Slime'southward Smart tube weighs 170g, and so the very constructive cocky-healing capability has a penalisation of virtually 70g over a standard tube.

Our tester experienced no punctures while using the Smart tube, merely that might just have been the Puncture Fairy looking the other style for a few weeks.

So he deliberately ran over a drawing pin, then took it out straight abroad and establish the sealant stopped air escaping after the force per unit area had dropped past about 30psi, leaving enough air in the tyre to get you habitation, and of course it's rather easier to add 30psi to your tyres in the field than to supervene upon a tube.

Read our review of the Slime Smart tubes

Vredestein Race Latex Presta — Buy At present for £xi.seventy or £46.70 for 5 from Mantel

At just 50g each, Vredestein'southward latex inner tubes are as lite as Continental Supersonics, but being latex will be more flexible and therefore make for tyre/tube combinations with lower rolling resistance. The porosity of latex means you're going to take to inflate your tyres every twenty-four hour period, so these are tubes for a special pair of race or time trial wheels, to be rolled out when every second counts.

Kenda Thorn-resistant inner tubes — Buy Now for £9.99 from Winstanleys Cycles

There are situations — like thorn-strewn subcontract lanes and city streets infested by cleaved drinking glass — where the simple bulwark of an extra-thick inner tube can assistance reduce the frequency of punctures. As tester Shaun institute, "made from 4.6mm thick butyl, they're four times thicker than your bog standard tube. Aboard my four-seasons logroller with 38mm condom they've laughed at flints,and thorns. Riding through shards of glass may take nicked the tyres merely it'southward never touched the tubes."

Read our review of Kenda Thorn-resistant inner tubes

Everything you need to know about inner tubes

Inner tubes impact the rolling resistance of your tyres, how easily yous can terminate up sidelined with a puncture and the rotating weight of your wheels. If you care most performance — whether y'all hateful by that speed or robustness and reliability — it'south worth thinking about the all-time inner tubes yous could apply and not simply where you can get x for £20.

Rolling resistance

The rolling resistance of tyres comes from the force needed to bend the tyre where it contacts the road. But the inner tube has to curve also, so if it's thick, then the rolling resistance of the whole combination goes up.

The flexibility of the inner tube material makes a divergence too. Inner tubes are made from either constructed butyl safety or natural latex rubber. Latex is more flexible and thinner besides, then if you want to reduce rolling resistance then latex is the way to go. According to Jarno Bierman at bicyclerollingresistance.com, you'll salve 4-5 Watts using latex inner tubes over butyl tubes. That'due south probably non a difference you can feel, just it'south one you can measure with a stopwatch.

Then latex inner tubes are the best inner tubes? Not necessarily. The big disadvantage is that they're more than porous than butyl tubes. That means that they leak air sufficiently quickly that you'll need to pump them up every 24-hour interval.

A wrinkle to all of this is that thinner and lighter butyl inner tubes have become available in the last few years. Bierman tested a 100g butyl tube confronting an 80g latex tube, but yous tin can go butyl tubes every bit light as 50g. Because they're thinner, they take lower rolling resistance but won't lose air like latex, but their increased fragility means they need more care in treatment and puncture more easily.

Tyre maker Challenge cautions against the utilize of latex inner tubes with carbon fibre rims. It says: "Carbon rims practise non misemploy heat likewise equally aluminium and prolonged braking, such as on long descents, may lead to hot spots along the braking surface. This increased rut can damage the latex material leading to a failure."

Puncture resistance

Latex inner tubes take been claimed to be more puncture-resistant, because the rubber is inherently stretchier. Whether that makes a difference on the road is debatable equally a tube held in identify by a tyre may not be able t stretch every bit much as a tube being pressed confronting a broken canteen in an advertising. For everyday riding you probably don't desire fewer punctures to come at the expense of daily inflation anyhow.

Sealants are a ameliorate solution. Preparations such as Slime contain minor rubber particles suspended a liquid that dries on exposure to air. It's pretty effective at sealing holes upward to almost 3mm across. However, information technology's hard to clasp a sealant through a standard Presta valve so sealant makers offer tubes with the fluid already inside. If y'all want to roll your own, and so you want tubes with removable valve cores.

Sealants aren't perfect. If you get a big enough cut, the sealant won't piece of work and you'll need to install a regular tube. Sealant-filled tubes are hard to repair because the sealant stops the patch from sticking.

Sealants also add weight, just for the kind of everyday cycling application where you lot'd use them to prevent flats, y'all're probably not going to listen an actress few grams.

Weight

If you're not aiming for everyday riding puncture prevention, then a weight reduction is overnice to have. A typical inexpensive inner tube — similar the ones your bike probably came with — weighs 100-110g; Continental's Supersonic tube weighs 55g (all weights for inner tubes with 60mm valves).

A 100g weight saving isn't huge, but a pair of Supersonics is less than £20. In that location aren't many places on a cycle where you tin go a weight saving of 5g/£. If y'all're replacing a bike'southward stock tyres with lighter safety, it'south worth getting better, lighter tubes too.

Cafe wisdom: road.cc readers weigh in on inner tubes

Our readers are always a valuable source of information, experience and stance on all aspects of cycling. Here's the pick of what you had to say almost inner tubes in a previous version of this article.

JL77:

Schwalbe Aerothan?

Nick T:

Near important factor which is shockingly overlooked in the article, is whether the valve is i of those shit amateur looking threaded jobs that some fools screw that poxy little nut onto the rim with

wycombewheeler replied to Nick T:

Strange I accept the reverse impression, the worst tubes I have had came with completely smooth sides.

Vredestein, core came out when removing the pump every time, valve body looked to exist fabricated from two bits of metal to be suitable for deep rims (like they had taken a standard valve, and stuck an extra chip on, rather than producing to the total length first time.

All conti tubes and schwalbe tubes take come thread and with a nut to stop them rattling around in the hole in the rim. Also useful for standard tubes and valve extenders.

NZ Vegan Rider:

No mention of tubes that specifically assist STOP punctures - thorn proof etc.

I utilize 3mm thick walled tubes in two of my training bikes. They make the wheels heavy (difficult work but fine for training on my own) but I've never had a puncture with them

RoubaixCube:

I used to be a long time user of conti tubes simply the removable cores have left me stranded before afterward using up all my Co2 and having to borrow i from a fellow cyclist.

I usually give the core a tightening with a pair of Pliers before i put them in my puncture kit but this time it didn't help. I now stock up on Lifeline or Planet X Vavert tubes whenever they come on offer every bit they don't take removable cores.

Less things to get wrong after swapping out a roadside puncture and finding out all your CO2 has been blasted into the ether instead of your fresh newly installed inner tube.

kil0ran:

Standard Michelin Air Comps for me, mainly considering they don't have removable cores and I've had ane too many instances of my Lezyne-head pump unscrewing the core. Only consequence is that I run 28mm tyres now so I'm stretching (literally) the limits of the 18-25 version.

The other selection I use is Conti Race Wide (28-35mm) now that I've got a pump with a proper head (Topeak Mountain Morph - awesome power) but they're too bulky for my saddle bag and so I carry a skinny "get home" tube and Lezyne self-adhesive patches in the issue of a double puncture.

I've also got a load of stock of 42mm valve tubes which are pretty much useless now I've gone to 35mm depth rims...

In the interests of penny-pinching/recycling and because I've got time on my hands I'm going to spend a few hours at the weekend patching old tubes, I must have a dozen in the shed. That should run into me through until the apocalypse, or the end of the lockdown, whichever is later...

ktache:

The P word is definitely an inner tube give-and-take (and very much "flat"), at that place has to a different word for pulling multiple thorns out of your tubeless setup and seeing the holes seal themselves within seconds. Nonetheless technically a P, a sharp object has penetrated the tyre, only somehow it doesn't convey the thwarting, the burdensome upshot on the soul of a deflating inner tube.

And maybe realising that you might have been riding with added thorns for several days.

Smugness does convey some of the feeling...

EddyBerckx:

Continental Race 28 light (upwardly to 25mm tyres only) are a halfway house weight wise between the super frail supersonics and a normal tube.

They also pack up existent small-scale compared to normal tubes which is a big bonus in my book.

Peter Westward:

Was so excited when I discovered the Tubolites, that I immediately bought four of them, two Road and 2 Road S, from 2 different sources.

Three of them were leaking at the valve core straight out of the box, i held upward for three days earlier the aforementioned happened. Inflated at max 80 psi (I ride 28mm tires).

Large waste of money.

check12 replied to Peter W:

did you get a refund on them?

theslowcyclistxx replied to Peter W:

I have used Tubolito on both mtb and road bikes for near two years now. Never experienced anything like that with whatsoever of my tubes. Must have been a bad batch you got yours from.

Geoff Ingram replied to Peter W:

Bought 6. Used 4. No issues at all at first only 3 different tubes punctured in a month. I used to go several 3 between punctures in butyl tubes. The Tubolitos were easily repaired with their specific patches. Simply the repairs worked bang-up for well-nigh a month and and then suddenly gave up going from 100psi to 0. Luckily overnight: then the next repairs did the same except for 1. And 1 tubo hasn't punctured after a few months (probably tomorrow). So for me, OK only for a hill-climb cycle or to acquit a lightweight spare tube. BTW, Decathlon here in Spain sells them at a reasonable discount.

slappop:

Subsequently experimenting with diverse tubes over the years, I ended up with latex - they just feel then expert. The porosity isn't a problem at all since maintaining the correct tyre pressures is simply function of the 'pre-flight bank check' you lot should give the bike before every ride (or daily).

I carry a Tubolito (plus C02) in case of punctures - never had to utilise it (only, then again, I exercise ride on Swiss roads).

StraelGuy:

Aaaaand, I've given upwards on latex and gone back to bog standard. I fitted some new tyres to my winter bike recently and the latex tubes were un-reusable. The actual circumference had mysteriously grown about six inches and would under no circumstances go back into the new tyres.

bechdan:

I at present avert annihilation by Lifeline, I've used a few of their products and take ben let downwardly each time, especially tubes.

Conti Supersonics - institute they punctured more than easily as well equally a few separate seams

Slime tubes / Slime in a tube - fine for a penetrating puncture simply not for pinch flat / snakebite as the sealant gets spun away from the inner and leaks air, plus the slime seems to stop puncture patches sticking too.

Conti Race tubes are great.

Latex might be fine for some just non worth the hassle for me.

BehindTheBikesheds:

I acquired 30-35mm latex tubes to put in my 38mm slicks, 92g and that'south with a 60mm valve. The tyres are only 360g and requite a very cushy but quick ride. A chip of talc on the rims can help non knackering the tube when plumbing fixtures a tight tyre.

Does a bit of talc on the tubes assist crr, maybe, maybe not only it'd be really difficult to prove definitively 1 way or the other, in that location is a fleck of science behind why t will in terms of tyre/tube non being 'stuck' together giving one thickness of tyre and tube together to deform, hence why thinner tyres/tubes roll improve than the same chemical compound if thicker. if people desire to do it, why does it matter if it'due south not going to affect prophylactic.

Besides, not everything Jobst Brand says is accurate or truthful, same with Sheldon Brown.

If yous fancy giving latex a go on the cheap just ask around for tubs that might exist discarded and just remove the tubes.

I tried the Conti supersonics, the valves were the weak part merely inside a pair of Maxxis Xenith Equipe Legeres, information technology was like having a push all the time, problem is you'd only take to look at them the wrong manner and they'd puncture, got 500 miles out of a rear!

StraelGuy:

I've just fitted some Vittoria latex tubes later reading this thread. I went out and did my local 25 mile ride today and I'1000 never going back to butyl! Amazingly supple feeling and when y'all stop pedalling at speed it feels similar you lot don't slow down at all, almost like you're being pushed.

froze:

I tried latex tube various times over the years and I'll never apply them again. I've institute they actually apartment more often than butyl tubes, and they don't last as long virtually one season vs 3 to 5 seasons for a butyl tube. Faster? I don't know and I don't intendance since I'm non racing! Besides if you use baby powder liberally on a butyl tube before installing the watts usage will drop to within one watt of latex. The only thing I liked about latex tubes is that they rode a tad more comfy, they felt similar you were riding on butyl tubes inflated to 75 psi instead of 100 psi. But latex isn't worth the actress coin and hassles.

All I use is glueless patches, last fourth dimension I tried latex tubes I tried a glueless patch and it didn't hold, but I had gum patch kit just in example the glueless ones didn't piece of work. I've never had a failed glueless patch (except on latex) and my Park glueless patches will concur for the life of the tube. Mucilage-on patches do piece of work reliably on latex but yous take to put a thin layer of glue on the patch and on the tube. There is another option for patching if you find that glue-on patches are not working and that is to cut upwards 1 inch circular sections of an onetime latex tube, than utilize tubular tire mounting glue and glaze both the patch and the tube and apply.

I use Specialized Turbo tubes only because I oasis't had whatsoever issues with the tubes and they're sold locally. I did try the Slime tube but the Slime crud wouldn't seal a tire once the force per unit area got above 65 psi it would simply blow crud out the hole, also I found them to accept crappy valve stems.

Bungle73 replied to froze:

Non certain where you got that figure from? Because putting talcum pulverisation on inner tubes does absolute zippo to affect rolling resistance. It'south a total myth that it has any benefit.

froze replied to Bungle73:

I tin can't find the article at present where they actually tested talcum powdered tubes vs not powdered, but the idea was (before their examination proved it) that latex tubes decrease rolling resistance by decreasing internal friction between the tube and tire, talcum powder does the same affair with butyl tubes.

Talcum pulverization is made upwardly of talc, a mineral consisting magnesium, silicon and oxygen. It is used in industries, plastic, paints, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. The idiosyncratic holding of this talcum pulverisation is that it absorbs wet well and cuts down the friction. when an object is made to motion on a surface, the microscopic cavities are responsible for increasing the frictional forcefulness but this talcum powder fills the cavities present on the surface. Thus it provides an even surface and levels the surface, this alleviates the friction of the surface.

I did find this to confirm what I've said: https://www.roadbikerider.com/should-i-powder-an-inner-tube-d1/ (link is external)

If you notwithstanding call back that this is non true then stop wasting money on latex tubes because they exercise supposedly the same thing, reduce internal friction, and if Talc doesn't do that then neither does latex.

ktache replied to froze:

I use latex tubes and talc them a great deal, to get double the benefit and double the fun. Latex does similar to stick to stuff, and without talc seems to want to bond with the inside of the tyre, and the carry around spare if not talced and wrapped in paper and the bagged likes to destroy itself.

I take always used plumage edged patches with standard vulcanised rubber adhesive and never had a problem, and quick patches to get me home.

ianguignet:

i utilise slimes on all my X/Gravels. love them.

surly_by_name:

The only affair ameliorate than a latex tube in a proficient quality clincher is a tub. Porosity means they aren't get-go pick for commuting, merely for your "good" bicycle, buy latex tubes.

rix:

I had a bad experience using Michelin Air Comp Latex. They are fabricated in such a way that they exercise not inflate evenly and have a modest narrowing which feels similar a bump when riding. At the valve two ends of tube are glued together, and then that they overlap and tube there is twice every bit thick for nigh 4-5cm. This segment of thicker latex does non inflate as much every bit the rest (single latex layer) of tube. And I could see from exterior that chip of tire (GP 4000 II) around that segment is slightly narrower. Vibration caused past this is so slight that you probably would not notice it on regular roads. Information technology was noticeable only on very smooth surfaces.

P.S. Claiming latex tubes do not endure from this.

rix:

Quote: The large disadvantage of latex tubes is that they're more porous than butyl tubes.

Well, the biggest disadvantage is that yous can non repair puncture, mid-ride, on a latex tube with a simple self adhesive patch like butyl tube. To my knowledge there is no manner to path latex tube reliably.

edster99 replied to rix:

Interesting. I've used an former latex tube to brand latex patches and so glued them with rubber adhesive, and had no issues. Not sure information technology makes a departure, but this is in tubulars not clinchers.

Some of the time information technology merely comes down to luck - like they say, correlation does not imply causation.

froze replied to edster99:

Latex tubes used in tubulars is the aforementioned material that latex tubes used in clinchers, thus your method of cutting patches out of an old latex tube is indeed the best and but effective fashion to making a long lasting patch for a latex tube.

Ideally the patch should be cut round, non square so as to equalize the pressure level when inflated. like any other patch the patch needs to be larger than the hole. I also used Pastali tubular rim glue because I establish that standard butyl patch glue did not last, and some old guy told me about the Pastali glue way back 40 years ago when I use to use tubulars, and it works the aforementioned back so with tubulars every bit it does today when I utilize to utilize latex tubes.

The merely trouble is, if you beginning using latex tubes for the first time you lot won't have an old spare to cut, so you may have to purchase a tertiary latex tube to sacrifice for patches. Or you can carry a new tube in your seat pocketbook and so when ane does become flat replace it with the new tube and cut the sometime 1 up to make patches.

The other problem with latex is that I institute them to actually increase the number of flats I got vs butyl, plus they don't last nearly as long as butyl, and since I don't race my days of using latex or well-nigh over.

kide replied to rix:

I've patched Michelin latex tubes with Park Tool GP-two Super Patches, plainly old Rema Tip Tops and with pieces cut from old latex tubes. All with success. One tube stock-still with a self adhesive patch started to leak a few months later but that is to exist expected.

I would not buy Conti Supersonics again. They seem to exist fine at first merely they are the ones I've had almost trouble with. The Michelin Ultralights are a much better purchase IMO.

hampstead_bandit:

If running high quality open tubular tires like Claiming, Veloflex or Vittoria then latex tubes really provide the benefits; incredibly supple, fast rolling, grippy, resistance to punctures. Install with talcum powder, inflate daily, remove debris and wipe tires with vinegar.

If riding vulcanised tires you might as well run butyl tubes.

I run tubeless with Stan'southward sealant on my MTB, and open tubs with latex on my road bicycle.

Many happy kilometres....

upriver:

Running tubeless or latex on all my bikes. Life is way too short to not splurge out on what i consider a much more supple and less puncture prone tube. As for needing regular air, unless you are touring, it'southward really not a hassle to do this every ride.

Since running latex, I've had two punctures in most 4000km, and 1 of those was a pinch apartment.

I've all the same to come across any tube rot or brittleness.

urbane:

Latex sounds like a bad idea for bicycles because information technology will rot if lube gets on them or get brittle like safe bands do eventually.

I apply Continental inner tubes with threaded, car blazon valves, filled with Slime, on Mavic wheels (with decent arranged bike tape), in Kevlar containing tires, with pressure indicator valve caps from ebay, so that I tin can come across when they rarely need more pressure gauged, runway pump air. I rarely accept to do inner tube replacement* despite cycling over drinkers drinking glass and $.25 of vegetation etc. while commuting, and I've seen Slime piece of work for months afterward a thorn puncture.

* inner tubes are cheap, and so I have plenty spare, and a replacement is much faster than hopefully repairing an inner tube puncture.

andyp:

Latex rocks. I've a pair of Air Bs from approx 1999 notwithstanding going potent. Yes, they need a eject every day or so, simply I ever bank check tyre pressure before a ride no matter what tyres/tubes I'm using.

Mike T.:

I've used Conti Supersonics in my "good" summer wheels for years with perfect success. They counterbalance 50 grams (half of my other tubes' weights) withal don't puncture whatever more often than my heavier tubes.

If anyone is puncturing them during installation they should adopt proper fitting techniques and use no levers. Apply talc to them, inflate them by mouth outset and so insert them into the rim and non just into the tire. This fashion, there is no tube stuck nether the dewdrop of the tire while trying to get the bead over the edge of the rim.

Peowpeowpeowlasers:

I'd pay extra money for inner tubes with valves that aren't made from cheese. I've had valve heads suspension on several occasions, and I expect we've all had inner tubes where the valve separates from the tube torso.

onecogmind:

I used Conti Supersonics. Got 2x punctures on the first two ride compared to one or two punctures for an unabridged year on normal butyl tubes.

Spent £20 on them then speedily filed them in the bin.

Stef Marazzi:

I'd avoid the lifeline like the plague, they seem to explode for a pastime.

One brand I accept plant really good - are Halfords bones "v for a tenner" tubes - really skillful, concluding for years, I think they are really Kendas.

Hypoxic:

Love latex tubes! No big deal having to inflate them before a ride. No more than of a hassle than putting h2o in your bottles! It actually makes me more than aware of my wheels and I detect I tend to quickly roll the cycle over and check out the tread, whatsoever cuts, any bits of drinking glass or gravel... lost count of the number of times I've establish and flicked out a bit of drinking glass earlier it's had more time to make it'due south way through to the tube and cause a puncture. Be One with your Wheels, Luke!

Veloism:

I've been using the AirComp - considerable difference over standard tubes merely is a scrap annoying pumping them up for every ride!

peted76:

+ane for the Conti Supersonics - awesome tubes.

Earlier tubeless, I ran them for a couple of years without effect, I can't recollect of 1 puncture incident, simply there MUST have been one....

(FYI I'm 75kg and I'd accept ridden them at them at 95PSI+)

However biggest hassle is fitting them, every bit existence thin walled they get caught on tyre levers moreso and you'll get pinch flats before you actually getting onto the road.

don simon fbpe:

I've got some puncture proof jobbies in the wintertime bike. They're non puncture proof, but the air evacuates slowly enough that I'll be able to go home and change/repair in the warmth of the kitchen rather than on the side of a cold, moisture and windy route. Perfect for the commuter wheel too.... available in all sizes.

FatTed:

Does information technology affair much what size Latex inner tube y'all use? ie the Vittoria inner tubes are xix-23c, nineteen-24c and 25-28c all for 700 sized wheels. I take 25 Contis on HED C2 rims.

marche:

How often should you bandy the innertube? I'm using latex tubes and have been told to change them once a year at to the lowest degree because they could "explode"… (though I've never had a puncture or any kind of bouum!)