Tubolito Tubes Lighter Stronger Faster

Just installed Tubolito tubes in my road wheels. 38g/tube and Crr closer to latex with a claimed 2X better puncture resistance. Will report back after I ride them Friday.

Anyone have any experience with these?

1 Like

My riding buddy has just started using them. I’m impressed at how long they stay up! He claims he can feel the weight difference when accelerating. He’s also a weight weener… I mean weeny.

Are they 5x cost of normal tube

1 Like

Looking forward to your follow up?

Wow great link I just got sucked into all there articles. I can save 12-15 watts by going Victoria speed and latex

They are light for sure, savings of around 60g per tube as compared to regular butyl. They hold air pretty well, far better than latex and similar to butyl. I rode them for 6 months with no flats and only took them out because I was selling my wheelset.

While it is generally good practice to inflate your tires to the correct pressure before riding, I always have the feeling that the constant leaking of air from a latex tubes causes stress at the valve junction when you have a tape or something to stop the valve from rattling.

All things said, they are pretty expensive but the cost per gram savings appears to be better than most components on the bike. Caveat is, inner tubes do get puncture and your cost per gram might go up depending on how unlucky you are.

2 Likes

My own experience has been to use them as emergency tubes for my otherwise tubeless set ups. Do note that a lot of the weight savings is in the plastic valve stem, and I can tell you from experience that they are not nearly as robust as metal. I’ve had the stem crack at the core during inflation. If you use them, you’ll need to baby them at every inflation…taking pains to be sure that the pump is absolutely steady on the valve. If you keep them as spares, you may want to hyperly protect them in your saddle bag or jersey…maybe even wind a bit of duct tape that can be removed before mounting.

2 Likes

I use them for my spare… a lot smaller and lighter to carry. I am tubeless for the last 14 months and have not used the spare yet.

1 Like

i carried a tube around for about 12 months before i gave up and just started leaving it at home, still havent needed it another 2 yrs later

Used them for a few months in my aero bike. Had to replace the rear tube 2 times within 3 weeks, because it had a slow leaking puncture. Very expensive experience!

The weight and riding feel was great in my experience. However, keep in mind that the TPU material of tubolitos does not have the capabilities to shrink and “form back” (butyl and latex do!). Once it has been installed on a 28mm tire, you are not adivised to use them in a narrower tire anymore. I would even guess that rolling properties are negatively influenced, if you mount them on a wider rim/tire combo and then mount them back to a narrower combo.

After my (expensive) experience with them, I decided to go tubeless and did not look back since then. However, I think they are great as a first aid spare tube in my back pocket.

1 Like

One thing to note: depending on how you carry your spare tube, they do not stretch/compress. I had one strapped to my bike for about 20min before it disappeared.

These also aren’t great for rolling resistance and flat resistance. For road, stick with vac sealed cannondale tubes.

Just a plug for Silca latex (Vitoria pink) tubes plus extenders. First one that I’ve ever had that isn’t a total pain all the time. Plus their latex is rated for wider tires, if that matters, I don’t know.

Used Turbolitos on my MTB last summer for a few months.
I liked the way the feel. Seem to offer better sidewall support for cornering hard with Magic Mary and Rick Razor.

That said, I got flats. Pinch flats. Which I simply don’t get on tubeless anymore. And one ride.p I snapped the plastic stem in half. Not repairable but they sent me a replacement.

I keep them as my spares now.
Expensive spares but super light!

Make sure you order a patch kit too since regular patches won’t work with them.

I picked a few up to carry as light weight spares for my tubeless XC MTB set up. Knock on wood but haven’t had to use one yet.

The Topeak and Park adhesive patches work with Tubolitos. My Tubolito has six of them attached. Unfortunately the tube now weighs as much as a regular tube :grin:

Mine’s an MTB tube and it’s an emergency tube as I run tubeless. If you do run tubeless and have to use the Tubolito, or any tube for that matter, check the inside of the tyre for thorns (see first paragraph). The easiest way is to use a paper tissue, it will catch on the thorn and leave a little flag of material. Then use a pair of pliers to remove the thorn - I carry a Leatherman Squirt.

2 Likes

Helpful info! I bought Tubolito’s as spares for my gravel bike since the gravel tubes are so big. I run tubeless and have tire plugs so if I’m finally using the Tubolito spare it’s safe to say something has gone pretty wrong.

1 Like

Just one ride with these so file this under not statistically significant… :grinning:

They don’t feel like latex to me. Latex has a subtle suppleness difference compared to butyl and now these. They installed easy enough and held air close to butyl tubes (over the span of two days). No way to determine any difference in Crr but, nothing noticeable…

So if I had to pay full price for these (for me) no way.