There was a study posted just recently that showed the conti supersonic tube did much better than most others. It basically split the difference between most butyl tubes and latex.

I'll start searching.

Has anyone tried the Tubolito road tubes?

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Revert to butyl if you must, but still check your tires, rims, and rim tape. Blowouts indicate a hole somewhere: unless you pinched both tubes on install that's the only way the tubes could escape.

From late September:

https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...utyl%20test#p7043220

https://www.aero-coach.co.uk/...e-rolling-resistance

My N=a few experiences with this type of blowout is that occurs when you shove the tube up into the tire while attaching the chuck. This causes the tube to no longer be seated against the rim. The blowout often occurs at the edge of the stem rubber and the latex. I think latex are more suseptable to this because they are often totally deflated when we pump them up, so it is easy to shove the stem up into the tire. When I inflate, I attach the chuck, then I tug the stem back down to ensure that the tube is seated firmly against hte rim.

You didn't state what your goal was with tubes (ie. lowest rr, durability). If you really want the best performance it is latex. Instead of giving up on latex, please tell us about your install process, did you do pump to 15 psi and do the extra check to make sure no tube was sticking (peeking) out, did you use smooth tape? I 100% believe that latex tubes, when installed correctly are safer than butyl, but if you want butyl, and I never had good luck with the Supersonic tubes, they were 10x more fragile than latex. But, if I were to race butyl, and to answer your direct question, I would go with Conti Race Light tubes. In fact I stopped carrying a spare Supersonic tube many moons ago in favor of the Race Lights.

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In my experience, superlight butyl tubes don't survive very well (i.e. worse than latex). Latex works well and actually seems to be *more* puncture resistant that standard butyl tubes - if they're installed perfectly. And I also think it has to do with the latex tube itself... I've had the most success with Bontrager. Had a flat with Michelin, but could've been a fluke (and I have no idea if they're being made in the same factory anyhow). Challenge latex tubes have been problematic for me... I've had several with very inconsistent wall thickness and abandoned them. Have heard of others with the same problem.

For everyday training use, I run standard QBP Q-tubes (made by Kenda) or Michelin Airstop butyl.

Best tubes are the Conti racelites (IMO). Great mix of durability and performance.

I use a bunch of Kenda standard ones that I got cheap on eBay for training (my race wheels have latex tubes). Inexpensive, durable, disposable. Also, the local specialized dealer tends to have 50% tubes during their biannual sale. Basically stock up when things are cheap.

Avoid the non-name tubes from China/Taiwan (also typically used as house brand for places like Performance). I've had numerous "flats" where the issue was the valve stem not being well fused to the tube (basically a mfg defect).

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Flew to Italy for IM. Built my bike and rolled it down to the local shop to air up the tires as I didn’t want to haul around a big bike pump on the plane and I couldn’t pack co2 cartridges. It exploded at the shop when pumping it up. The shop tech looked at it and it blew where it was seamed, near the valve. Looked like a failure on construction. Other time was at a half Ironman. I pull my bike off the rack, lay it down next to the car and I am unloading gear from the car and ...BOOM, it just exploded. That tube lasted 1 day.

Other than those explosions, I never had a flat or an issue with them. However, I have never had explosions with butyl. Not sure if it is worth it.

My biggest goal is durability, no flats.

I did notice the last set of latex that sat in my wheels, and not ridden or pumped up for about 2 years..... the tube folded against itself and became discolored and stiff. I threw them away. It seems as though latex has a shelf life, where I haven’t seen this with butyl.

I was using Vitoria, FYI. It would also be nice if someone made a 60 or 80mm stem length latex. I think my Victoria’s were only like 42mm and I needed to use valve extensions. S

exxxviii is correct on this

latex does not do well when it is allowed to go totally flat. when the tube flattens out inside the rim and is then re-inflated, strange things can happen like kinking, folding, creeping, etc. Our latex tubes comes with threaded extenders and our speed-shield with tubeless type nuts on them which helps to eliminate both stress and the likelihood of kinking at the stem, my experience has been that this makes a big difference over the long run, but you still need to try and keep at least a few psi in them at all times. In my experience with the new latex formulation we are using, this means putting air in the tires at least once a month even when not using them.

I agree with Thomas Gerlach that latex tubes have proven safer and more puncture resistant than light butyl or any of the other options like Tubolito, FOSS, and R'Air (all of which have higher rolling resistance) in my experience, but this comes at the cost of putting in a little effort here and there to make sure all the little details are covered. Since I first started using Latex tubes with pro triathletes to introducing them to Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara in the late 2000's I've quite literally installed 1000+ latex tubes for athletes at every level without any issues. We probably install 4-6 tubes per week into prototype tires and test tires as part of our tire testing and again, after years of this, never an issue in testing or on the road with any of these.

You are 100% correct that they are different than, and a bit more particular than butyl, and that they have a bit of a reduced lifespan compared to butyl, we recommend 2-3 years tops for latex compared to 4-5 years for butyl, but from a ride quality, handling, efficiency perspective, there just is no other single thing you can do to a bicycle that will make this much difference for this little money and effort.

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I'll add the Josh makes some great tubes and tape as well. I really would like to see you give Latex another shot, but yes, old Latex can be problematic. I like to run sealant in my tubes as well for a little extra insurance and when the sealant gets to dried out and clogged I like to replace the tube. The sealant, if it doesn't seal the hole helps slow down the rate of air escape leading to a more controlled stop in the event you are bombing down a descent.

The really nice thing about Josh's tape, is that it is super thin, and semi transparent. Being thin means tight tires slip on a bit easier, and I found the semi-transparent tape slightly useful when wrapping two layers to line it up better. Also could still probably read a Zipp serial number if you ever needed to without taking of the tape in a warranty issue as well. Here is Josh's tape. I used the 25mm tape for HED and Roval Wheels (these wheels are 21mm internal), but probably going to use 21mm for most other wheels still.

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Good work that man.

I’ve been saying this for years, most folk come round when they realise that latex is pointless and dangerous.

Thin conti race tubes are much much better. Or run tubeless if you can, but even that’s not always ideal.

Good info on latex maintenance. Not totally sure that applies to my situation 2 times. 1st was in a half ironman and my latex blew 7 miles into the race. Obviously for such a 'short' race, that wiped out my goals. It is possible the tube was flat before I pumped it up, but it didn't blow up when I pumped up the tire that morning. 2nd time was just a few months after I pulled my tri bike out after a year hanging in the garage. I had gone for several rides with no problems. Then after just a short ride, the same blow up after about 8 miles. This time on the rear tire vs the front tire the first time, so maybe just due to a couple of years latex. Does that possibly mean my collection of 'old' unused latex tubes might not last? I bought a bunch since I got a discount on 20. I sold quite a few to my friends, but still 6 left.

I have never had a latex flat thank goodness. Only the 2 blown tubes during rides. Both blew near the stem so I just assumed a bad tube. Both were Victorino. I have a few Michelin's that haven't blown up, but I didn't put that many miles on them.