I like the Silca latex tubes the most. Their shorter stems work better in disc wheels and normal rims. And, if I will need an extension anyway for a 60mm or 90mm wheel, the shorter stem saves weight by letting more of the length be a plastic extension.

Silca's rim tape is the best. But, I have Velo Plugs in one set of wheels and HED stock rim tape in another with no issues.

The old rule of thumb was you need 20mm of valve above the rim. I've had 14mm work, but it's pump dependent. 808s are 81-82mm deep, so if you stick with the Silca extensions, you'll need the 70s. 60s from another manufacturer would work, but Silca makes a top-quality product.

Silca used to have a great matrix for sizing extenders, until they pivoted to the white-label route with Enve. Here's a copy. Per above, you need minimum 60mm extenders with the 42mm Silca valve stems on 80mm clincher wheels.

Stan's rim tape is great too. You basically want rim tape that's both slippery-ish and strong enough to not get crammed down spoke holes (if you have them) by the latex tube (which are great at filling spaces). The slippery-ishness is so installation is a bit easier and safer. You can get the tube in the middle without it hanging up on the tape. Velox cloth isn't great, for example.

Thanks all... I have read about powdering latex tubes but saw nothing about it on the silica website. I'm thinking not necessary??

Not necessary.

They come with a light dusting of powder. More wouldn't hurt, but not necessary. But if you take them in and out of wheels for whatever reason, you might want to powder them for second installs and beyond. I just took some out to see if the sealant was liquid or a clump and powdered them to get them back in better.

Ya make sure to use a good quality tape, wrap it tightly and maybe add an additional layer. Skip the regular rim strips. I had the HED C2 rim strip in my disc wheel and you could see how it deformed a bit and dipped in at each spoke hole. It wasn't anything you would think of as a problem, but once you put a latex tube in there and pumped it up it must have depressed a bit further. This deformity was enough to thin the tube and cause it to fail.

Thinking of trying them out as well. Was wondering if people put sealant inside or is it not nessessary ?

I don't not recommend it. My prior post on the subject, based on ~2 years of running sealant in latex tubes.

IMO, it helps a lot. Tube doesn't stick to the tire and is less likely to get wrinkled, twisted, or pinched.

I thoroughly coat the inside of the tire as well as the tube.

So in fact you do not recommend it?

Just want to clarify if the double negative was accidental!

Yes, I meant a single negative. Sorry.

Thanks!

I had no idea special rim tape is needed. I'm switching to Silca's latex this season too. Is the standard rim ENVE 7.8 rim tape acceptable?

I'm going ahead and getting the new tape.

Now I'm following the latex with sealant thread that's running down the board today

What kind of Pandora's box have I opened?

I’m setting up my Zipp’s with laytex tubes, the tape inside my rims seems to be in good shape except it dips down a bit where it covers the spoke holes. Do you think this is going to be an issue ? I’ve included a picture in the link below

It's fine.

Thanks to everybody for the kind words on the SILCA tubes and tape!

Here is my personal recommendation:

Use adhesive backed tubeless tape.. I recommend SILCA tape for obvious reasons, but Stans will work, use 2 wraps. Tubeless tapes are thinner which helps with installation and also have a slippery exposed surface which will help the tube move into position, plus the adhesive helps the tape stay put as the tube moves and prevents the tube from moving the tape if it twists and turns as it inflates. I recommend cleaning the tire well with denatured alcohol with acetone and then installing the tape as tightly as if I were going to do a tubeless setup. If the rim has complex tire well geometry maybe even use hair-dryer on it a little bit to warm everything and then do a couple of rotations with thumb firmly sticking down the tape to the rim.

I'm +/- on the talc or other powders.. they can help the tube not stick to the tire in some instances (most tires aren't water tight, so this effect is lost in a few months as water intrudes) and they can help the tube not stick to the rim tape (which is less of an issue using tubeless tape that is properly stuck down), but as a negative, if you get talc on the tire or rim during install, you will find your fingers quickly lose effectiveness and you will be reaching for a tire lever for install which is a big NO NO.

Personally, and I install quite literally hundreds of these per year, I get everything really clean, get the tire just right on the rim, inflate the tube a bit to give it some shape, and then carefully work the tire in being careful to keep tension on the bead so that it stays in the center of the tire well all the way around.. I find that being careful in this part of the install and not having talc on anything makes it easier to get the last few inches of bead over.

Hope that helps, but also we have some videos on our youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2zt1UUll5E
Best of luck
Josh

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That looks jut like about the same amount of depression as I had on my HED C2 rim strip. This might be one reason why all the HED wheels now ship with HED tape. The HED tape sometimes doesn't stick super well after the first pass, so there are differences in the quality of rim tape. I would just use the Silca tape.

It's not a Pandora's box, sealant is an option that's there for butyl too, it just works better with latex. I still don't use it, it's not essential.
Regarding rim tape etc - they're just new tubes that are more compliant so will get into smaller gaps and perhaps contact sharp edges that the butyl sat above. If the tape you have already allows the tube creep through to holes or edges, it may be wise to replace it. Also many people like tubeless tape, but it's not essential.
This is ST, everything is discussed to death in excrutiating detail (I'm as much a culprit as anyone). Don't let that make you think something as simple as switching tube material is a huge deal. It's not. There's just a couple of things to be aware of to avoid any unnecessary problems and the rest is straight forward. If you have your butyl tubes installed well, the same will probably be fine for latex. But plenty people probably get away with sloppy rim tape and careless tyre installation when they're using butyl and might have problems when they switch. Really you just need to take a little more care than is necessary for butyl with installation to avoid the tube getting pinched or finding a sharp surface.

Thanks Josh... I will be putting my order in today

Good common sense advice here. I rarely if ever have flats using butyl. I have had the same tubes in for probably 3 seasons. I don't want that to change. I'm going to re-tape using the Silica tubeless tape just to be extra careful.