I hadn't either but Michelle and I seem to have an uncanny ability to get flats. In Michelle's case it was often irreparable even with patch, gorilla tape, and new tube. Can't count how many times I've had to go pick her up. She seems to be a glass and nail magnet. I may explore less brick-like tires in the future though.

---

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
Join us on YouTube → Saturday Morning | Ride & Run Faster and our growing Saturday User Hub

FWIW, when folks consistently have that kind of "luck", it's almost always a case of needing to learn how to avoid riding over the crap that is causing the problem. Eventually, if you don't learn how to not run over that stuff, it's going to catch up with you in a race. Removing the "damn, I flatted again" stimulus by running bulletproof tires makes the lesson really hard to receive.
Michelle's talent and hard work has let her vault so far up the typical development timeline that I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's a fair bit of fertile ground in this area of her skillset.

---

Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

Agree with every word. I may have watched this in action, in horror, in front of me (I'm always drafting). This has probably contributed to my "luck" as well. Perhaps I should develop enough fitness that I'm not blindly drafting 80% of every ride...

Very good thoughts re: it catching up to her in a race, and lesson receipt! I'll ponder.

These will be the most negative words I ever publicly author about my wife! Good thing she doesn't get on this forum. ;)

---

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
Join us on YouTube → Saturday Morning | Ride & Run Faster and our growing Saturday User Hub

Hah! Mum's the word next time I see her!

---

Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

Update -

Rubber cement (Elmer's fwiw) failed after a couple of hours on two tubes, both lifted again in the same area. One held overnight (at least within normal loss of latex) but middle of the day in the garage gave up, other one lasted only a few minutes. Another one has (so far) held for over a day.

Ordered some Rema Vulcanizing fluid on Amazon, will see if that holds better. Will also probably go back, clean everything and re-try.

---

My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

Caffelatex then ride them for a year until it dries.

I had one fail. Given it was a 1 year old tube so a year of use was pretty good. My guess is Silca is more durable than most but it has its limits.

FYI, I have had rubber cement fail on butyl tubes too, and I am under the impression that rubber cement is not vulcanizing fluid, and the latter is what patches tubes.

It seems like I am not the only person to have some latex tubes fail near the valve patch. My failure mechanism is different from what I think the original post is saying. I had some little micro tears develop by the patch, as if they were punctured but this is the side of the tire facing the rim cavity. Both times, the issue happened on my rear wheel. There weren't any rough or sharp edges inside the rim, so I am guessing that it was that rim strip and that one only. I replaced it. The front rim (same model, same rim strip) had no visible issues with the tube.

FWIW, both failed tubes were either Vittoria under their own name or Silca, which is made by Vittoria. The replacement tube that Silca was nice enough to mail me used the small round rubber patch.

I don't want to believe that latex tubes will fail at the seam eventually. If literally all of them do, why isn't this common knowledge? Latex tubes are presented as a slam dunk if you're willing to pump up your tires every day. I am still on that side of things. Maybe they're just more sensitive to imperfections in the rim or rim strip. A different post here attributed the failures I experienced to not holding the valve in place when pumping it up - OK, but how come that procedure isn't common knowledge, how come Vittoria's tubes don't have external threads for valve nuts, how do you actually expect me to hold a stem firmly in place with my fingers, etc.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but latex tubes are a balancing act of reward and hassle. Like I said in post number 2, I have never, ever had a latex tube "wear out" after many years of use. Not once. On several occasions I've maybe managed a year or two of use from one tube if it was a race wheel that I did not inflate often, my rim strip/rim did not have any imperfections, I stored it inside and frankly, I was just lucky. In most cases they fail near the stem where the ends are joined. On a wheel I use regularly, if I get six months usage then I consider it best case scenario.
Inconsistency is what drives me nuts. This most recent case was one of the worst. I developed a slow leak that I could not identify, even under water. It would sometimes last an hour and one time lasted through a nearly eight-hour ride but then lost air quickly leaving me stranded. I put some sealant in and it fixed the flat and then the next time I went to air it up, it blew at the seam for no apparent reason.
You can't store them long term either, or buy them in bulk. They dry out and crack. I put them in baggies once, even tried a vacuum sealer. When I pulled it out six months later it immediately cracked and split. Latex is just fragile.
If I ever decide to race again, I'll probably buy them for the 4-6 watts, but otherwise I swore off them last week, right before this thread started.

seems to be right in my experience right now :D

---

My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

Let me guess...you used the Michelin green tubes, right? ;-) Those are notorious for drying out/cracking, unlike most every other latex tube (i.e. Vittoria, Silca, Challenge, etc.)


Not really. Like I said above, it depends on the brand. I have MULTIPLE latex tubes I've had on hand for years. I store them in a ziplock baggie, in a relatively cool, dark environment (in a cabinet, in an attached garage, in a moderate climate). The only tubes I've had (new, or used) that have done what you describe are the Michelins.

---

http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

maybe by cruel chance, the only latex tube I had laying around that didn't have (this specific) issue was a green Michelin I pulled out of a training wheel.
It's a tough bastard, easily the oldest of the ones I had, and used vs. new in the box like the Vittorias

(although I do agree with you, in the past I had bad luck with Michelin's, and also no removable core)

---

My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

I have a few Vittoria latex tubes I bought in Dec. 2017. They're still like new, no evidence of cracking or drying out. I installed one a few months ago with no issues. Just my experience.

To add: I just keep them on a shelf in the garage in the original box. I haven't bothered with a Ziploc bag.

Let me guess...you used the Michelin green tubes, right? ;-) Those are notorious for drying out/cracking, unlike most every other latex tube (i.e. Vittoria, Silca, Challenge, etc.)

No, that goes across all brands I have used over the last 20 years. Michelin, Silca, Challenge and Vittoria. I have lived in a hot, dry desert climate but when I stored them it was often indoors in my closet or under my bed.


Fine, then pick a different word that describes how they will "fail for no apparent reason.' There have been a couple of user errors situations that were my fault, but 9 times out of 10 I have to throw latex tubes away after they spontaneously lost air somewhere in such a way they could not be patched. Most often it is where the tube is jointed near the stem.
In 30 odd years of cycling, I've tossed several butyl tubes that had 8, 10 patches but I've never done that with latex. Eventually every one of them failed in a way that no butyl tube ever has.
It is good some of you have a different experience, but like I said above, latex has always been a balance of hassle and reward and after a number of failures over the last few months, I'm on a latex thumbs-down cycle.
I would run everything tubeless, but the same heat that dries out latex tubes also turns my sealant to sludge in two or three weeks. If I could keep all my bikes in the bedroom, that might be less of a problem...

I'm at the same point now. Ran latex for a year without any issues. Then got a flat from debris and have gone through 4 more tubes since then. One from a puncture and the others at the valve stem where rubber meets latex.

Considering a switch to Aerothan or using my spare butyl tubes until my current tires wear out and then giving tubeless a try.