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Tyres and Tubes - please educate me :)
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Hi all,

I have decided to take the plunge and change my race setup for the remainder of the year. For whatever reason I have always run Butyl tubes and 23c GP4000s, pumped to 120PSI (i weigh 87kg, 191lbs). Ive always done it, whether it be my road bike or TT. It would appear im losing valuable time, so I figured I'd take the plunge into latex but am curious as to what pressures I should run and what latex tubes will work with a FFWD disc and 90mm front, noting I will need some value extenders (removable or screw in).

Current thinking is to switch to Michelin Air Comp Latex after applying some tubeless rim tape. Pair it with some new 5000s.

I'd value any thoughts you may have :)
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Re: Tyres and Tubes - please educate me :) [ToddRodd] [ In reply to ]
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For your wheels, 23C tires will probably be faster than 25C. The 25C might be a wash on the rear (discs are lees impacted by tire size, and the leading edge is drafting your seat tube) and add extra durability, comfort, and flat protection. IRRC, Rapp used to run 25C on his race disc for these reasons.

Any high quality latex tube will work. Michelin and Vittoria are the most common. Tire pressure is the same for butyl and latex (though latex loses pressure faster and needs to be topped off before each ride).

Wrap the valve threads with plumber's teflon tape so you get a good seal when you screw on the extender.

For pressure, use: https://info.silca.cc/...-pressure-calculator

Conti 5000 are an awesome all around tire. A nice upgrade from the 4000S (not that it was a bad tire to begin with).

ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
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Re: Tyres and Tubes - please educate me :) [ToddRodd] [ In reply to ]
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I am pretty sure the Michelin tubes do not have removable valve cores, so extenders don’t work. Vittorias are a good choice. The 23s might be narrow for the application. I would at least do a 23/25 front/rear combo
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Re: Tyres and Tubes - please educate me :) [ToddRodd] [ In reply to ]
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Yes you are definitely losing free and relatively cheap speed by avoiding latex. You will get different opinions on latex pressure but I tended to run around 90 PSI (155lb) on 23mm tires in wide 21mm rims. If you are going latex I would recommend Vittoria latex tubes as far as I know Michelin doesn't have removable valve cores unless something changed in last few years. You can get the screw on extenders but they are hassle and problematic in my experience. Much better just to get removable valve cores like the following.

Also, I wrote a primer many moons ago, just skimmed it really quick to make sure everything is relevant and made a few short edits. Anyway I cover Why latex along with covering rim tape, sealant and valve extenders here if you are interested.


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Re: Tyres and Tubes - please educate me :) [grumpier.mike] [ In reply to ]
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grumpier.mike wrote:
I am pretty sure the Michelin tubes do not have removable valve cores, so extenders don’t work. Vittorias are a good choice. The 23s might be narrow for the application. I would at least do a 23/25 front/rear combo


Removable cores are not necessary. You can use the "straw" style extenders (I have this setup on both my training and race wheels).



https://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/Valve_Extender_How-To_3007.html



ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
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Re: Tyres and Tubes - please educate me :) [Titanflexr] [ In reply to ]
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Agreed about the old school extenders, but they are often fiddly and The cheap ones can leak around the threads. I used Teflon tape to make sure they wouldn’t leak, but I wouldn’t recommend those to anyone now that the new extenders work so well.
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Re: Tyres and Tubes - please educate me :) [ToddRodd] [ In reply to ]
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Thank you all so much. That is fantastic!
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Re: Tyres and Tubes - please educate me :) [grumpier.mike] [ In reply to ]
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grumpier.mike wrote:
Agreed about the old school extenders, but they are often fiddly and The cheap ones can leak around the threads. I used Teflon tape to make sure they wouldn’t leak, but I wouldn’t recommend those to anyone now that the new extenders work so well.

I switched to exchangeable valves too (vittoria or silca), because it is nice to have the valve on the outside. With the Michelins I used to have, you always have to take a tool (eg a bent paperclip) if you want to let air out.
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Re: Tyres and Tubes - please educate me :) [grumpier.mike] [ In reply to ]
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What new extenders are you referring to ?
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Re: Tyres and Tubes - please educate me :) [IMF] [ In reply to ]
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I use the Silca latex tubes with their extenders. It's easy breezy. With removable core and a good extender, no tape should be necessary. The oring/gasket in it should take care of it on its own.

I tend to always assemble these by hand, without levers. Just to be sure I don't pinch something. Buy the actual clincher tire so that's easier to do than a tubeless tire run as clincher.
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Re: Tyres and Tubes - please educate me :) [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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burnthesheep wrote:
I use the Silca latex tubes with their extenders. It's easy breezy. With removable core and a good extender, no tape should be necessary. The oring/gasket in it should take care of it on its own.

I tend to always assemble these by hand, without levers. Just to be sure I don't pinch something. Buy the actual clincher tire so that's easier to do than a tubeless tire run as clincher.

This is good advise. I kind of like to use rim tape though. Some of the rim strips will flex or depress quite a bit At the spoke holes. If you have a flexy rim strip, the latex tube will stretch and deform at the spoke holes. This probably doesn’t matter with a set of race wheels that get used infrequently, but I use latex tubes on my everyday wheels and the daily inflation/deflation cycles can really deform the tube at the spoke holes.
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Re: Tyres and Tubes - please educate me :) [grumpier.mike] [ In reply to ]
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"I am pretty sure the Michelin tubes do not have removable valve cores, so extenders don’t work."


Why wouldn't a valve extender work?
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