It is probably the best way to spend cash and no you are not late to the party. In fact bike shops better step up as Amazon now has free same-day delivery via Amazon Prime with $35 purchase of Vittoria Latex (bike shops better step up).

There is no better watt to dollar savings than latex. In addition, they flat less and are more comfy. On the downside, they take more time to install as you have to be very careful not to pinch the tube, and they require daily pumping of the tires.

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I've always daily pumped anyway.

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

Keep your butyl for emergency spares. So, get three latex tubes... two for the bike and one for inventory. Then, pack your repair kit with butyl. If you flat, you replace with butyl, then put your inventory latex on the bike when you get back home and reorder the inventory.

Hello exxxviii and All,

Also worth noting that latex tubes patch easily as you do not need to use the sandpaper to rough up the patch area on latex (you do on butyl) since latex is a bit porous.

With just a dab of glue smeared on ... 30 seconds or so to dry ..... stick on a patch and ready to go.

Aside .... still waiting for my https://patchnride.com/ ............. waiting ..... waiting .......... waiting .............

Patchnride phone number .... Yes, you may reach us at 1-855.720.4170

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

Make sure you read and understand this before deploying them:
http://austintriathlonstore.blogspot.com/.../01/latex-tubes.html

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

My $0.02:
I bought a red and pink latex tubes last year, they're 4 times the cost of butyl and certainly not 4 times the quality.
Are they more puncture resistant? Not in my experience, both tube punctured within 6 months of normal riding
Do they ride better? Yes.

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res, non verba

Worth the switch? What are you looking for? More speed....durability.....ride quality? Do a search on this forum.....all you need to know if they are "worth it". If you want more speed......absolutely.

My training wheels have butyl. My spare is butyl. Wife's tubes are butyl. Race wheels get latex.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Understanding that latex tubes have to be pumped every day, how does this work with occasional use wheels? I was thinking about switching to latex for my outdoor wheels (used at least weekly during warm weather and rarely during winter), and for my race wheels (used once a month or every couple of months late Sprint to early Fall). Is the latex going to stick to itself if it goes flat? Can sealant be used under these circumstances? Thanks.

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No coasting in running and no crying in baseball

Does everybody use rim tape before installing latex?

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just your average age grouper . no one special . no scientific knowledge . just having fun.

No. But IME, it's the best overall solution.

I've used latex tubes with everything from cloth rim tape to fiberglass reinforced strapping tape, and tubeless rim tape is the clear leader due to the ease of making sure all rim holes are covered and it also stays put better. It's thinness also is an advantage in more easily mounting tires if your putting tires and tubes on a rim with a "tubeless-ready" bed.

Plus, if you ever want to run a tubeless tire on that particular rim, you just install a tubeless valve and go ;-)

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Latex is the better option and I'll be making the switch myself this year as well. But be aware that you aren't supposed to use them in some wheels. Carbon rim brake clinchers in particular, the additional heat from the braking surface can (in theory, I've never tested it) cause a latex blowout. Additionally, enve says no to latex for their disc models as well, something about the rim (I need to look it up again, don't want to do it on my phone).

I've got an enve disc brake model on order. I'll have to investigate further, but I might just go tubeless (according to bestbikesplit, tubeless splits the difference in speed between latex and butyl).

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

x2. The flat-resistance is, in my opinion, latex religious dogma that gets repeated here ad-nauseam as fact with no real evidence. It's just a theory that latex is able to do the matrix-fu and flex around piercing objects. Or something like that.

Maybe that's true. But no one's ever demonstrated it in a meaningful way. I rode latex exclusively for 6-7 years, and I didn't have any subjective perception of improved flat resistance. They definitely had more flatting due to any sort of tire casing tear. E.g. if there's *any* significant hole in the casing, the latex bubbles through then pops. And it's my subjective belief that they pinch flat more easily.

Now I just use latex for A races, with Supersonic tires. The rest of the time I'm on tubeless which *really* have improved flat resistance.

Sealant has a much greater chance of success with latex than butyl. I also find if you use latex that the PSI loss is very low compared to without sealant. You may not have to pump everyday but good idea to check for a while until you get a hang of how much bleed happens

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Well I hope Enve is communicating that to their customers in any marketing data, because not being able to run latex is going to make them slow

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Everybody but Tom A. Yes you should absolutely use rim tape if you want to avoid mysterious flats. Silca Rim Tape is my new preference, but Stans works if you got some lying around.

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Thanks. I always pump before riding. My question is more about leaving tires with latex tubes untouched for weeks to months at a time. Should I avoid using sealant in that situation? If a tire with latex eventually gets very low due to non-use, will the insides of the latex tube "stick" together?

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No coasting in running and no crying in baseball

Huh?

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

I mean the strapping fiber tape. Ok so that may be an exaggeration, I am sure there are others that do your method, but for 95% of the latex people not using regular tape I am going to say they use a Stans or equivalent rim tape.

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Yes it can be get a bit messy and stick together. If you aren't going to maintain the latex, I would maybe suggest skipping the sealant.

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Enve, does in fact have a paragraph on their website recommending not using latex tubes with their clincher wheels but it has nothing to do with heat buildup....more about "consistency" and "holding up". Note this is a "recommendation". When I bought my set of 8.9 carbon rim clinchers just before the start of last season, I spoke to one of their engineers about it since I'd been using latex with my previous Zipps. Bottomline, if you install correctly with the right rim tape, you shouldn't have a problem. Got the impression the notice was to satisfy any potential legal issues. I used Vredestein latex on both wheels all last season and had no problems.....no flats. Of course, I try not to brake too much :).

I don't use that any longer, which I mentioned above. I too prefer rim tape intended for tubeless applications.

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Hello Tom A. and All,

Even thinner than tape .... and lighter ..... (faster than a speeding bullet and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound) Veloplugs take a little longer to install than tape ..... and I put just a bit of tubeless mastic glue in the hole on mine to be sure they don't fall out when fixing a flat (and carry a couple spares in my flat kit)

Oh ... and use the handle end of a screwdriver to force them into the spoke holes snugly.

http://www.velocityusa.com/product/accessories/veloplugs

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

But...you can't easily switch to a tubeless setup just by putting in a valve, though ;-)

Knowing how latex "likes" to find any sharp edge or hole, I've never quite warmed to the idea of using them with veloplugs.

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/