Saw this review and it got me interested
https://road.cc/content/review/253312-tubolito-tubo-road-700c
38g per tube (700c) apparently more puncture resistant than butyl and less leaky than latex.
Problem is they're £23/tube online at the moment!
I'm a bit of a faff/mess-o-phobe so gave up on tubeless a while ago, and am also (hope I don't jinx it) relatively blessed with few or no punctures on any of my bikes, so I see this as a decent weight saving on the wheels with no obvious drawbacks (except £46 for two innertubes...).
That said, I think my Rose came stock with some superlight butyl Schwalbe tubes, so there's probably not much weight to be saved there, but if these tubes are as airtight as they claim I see no reason not to put them on the second-best bike, easy weight savings!
I bumped into a chap in the Elan Valley toilets who was scavaging tourist leaflets to stuff in his tyres. He was using tubolito tubes and the patches wouldn't stick in the wet weather.
You'd have to be mad to spend that money to save bugger all weight and still be lumbered with tubes. You can buy proper tubeless tyres for less than these tubes cost and you'll see some real benefits.
Hardly new I've had a Tubolito spare tube for my MTB for about 18 months. Unfortunately the one and only time I came to use it, it didn't hold air 😭 and would deflate over a period of about two to three hours, I think it may be the valve, it's sat in the greenhouse since I used it so probably best check.
Note that you need specific patches for them, normal puncture repair stuff doesn't work.
@JohnnyStorm - That rings a bell, did he have a rather large beard and spoke with a heavy Spanish accent? Sounds like Javi http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=13346&p=164774&hilit=bb200#p164774
Aye, Javi and I were having a miserable time on the BB300! He had the unfixable flat and my lights had fizzled out in the rain!
Johnnystorm - I should have made it clearer I was just talking road bikes. I don't believe tubeless road would save any weight, heavier tyres plus sealant would be heavier than lightweight tubes and lightweight tyres, and I already run pressures as low as I want to without pinch flats, so in reality going tubeless would just cost me money for more weight and additional messing about with sealant. I like being able to swap tyres and wheels quickly and cleanly so that puts me off tubeless also.
These tubes would save approx 70g per wheel which for £46 quid isn't bad, I'm not saving that sort of weight elsewhere for that sort of money. Especially if they are also more puncture-proof.
BUT... reliability doesn't sound great, sniffing about online I've read a couple of experiences like Whitestone's
Ooops, missed it back then!
Shall look forward to 1 year's worth of updates and experiences then 😉 so far - two negatives : (
I’ve had a pair of them on my road bike for the last four months or so. They do hold air more than latex tubes and are half the weight of latex, too. I find that they don’t roll as nicely though. They pump up rock hard and don’t mound on to the road surface as well as latex at the same pressures.
I carry 2 Tubolito spares on bikepacking trips. Significantly lighter and more compact than a standard B+ tube. Given how much I've spent lightening the rest of my load they're decent value.
Ok, fair enough. I'm a "fit tyres then replace them when they are worn out" rider. Especially on my road bike!
I find that they don’t roll as nicely though.
I was going to raise this point as a question - the point of latex (and tubeless, and tubs) is to reduce rolling resistance as much as save weight. 50g extra per wheel for 1W saving on the flat is more than worthwhile, and if you can feel it it's >1W.
I can't say I've ever felt any significant differences in RR when I've swapped tubes or tried different pressures, for a given tyre size (25c). I even rode at 130psi in Mallorca because the hire place insisted on sending me out with that pressure and I couldn't get my hands on a track pump to drop it. So either I'm so shockingly inefficient a rider than +/- 1W doesn't make a difference, or I'm just numb to it.
But I do notice the difference between winter bike with heavy wheels and summer bike with light wheels, hence why I'm interested in dropping wheel weight if it comes with no additional drawbacks.
OK, did the bath test (too effing grim to go outside and use the water butt 😨) and there's a definite hole in it. Whether that was the original hole or it's grown I don't know. Also the valve core wasn't properly seated - I could screw it in and out with finger pressure, hmmm.
Anyway I remembered a thread on Bearbones about the repair kit, here's the relevant bit:
Thought people may like to know what a Tubolito Flix Kit repair kit consists of.
It's simply a few pieces of (badly hand) cut McNett Gear Aid tape and some alcohol wipes. 5 pieces each.
I think Go Outdoors do the tape.
I can’t say I’ve ever felt any significant differences in RR when I’ve swapped tubes or tried different pressures, for a given tyre size (25c).
Nor me. Also didn't feel any difference when removing the tube and going tubeless. What I did notice is when I used to switch to Marathon Plus tyres but that was adding more than 200g per tyre and a squidgy tread.
So either I’m so shockingly inefficient a rider than +/- 1W doesn’t make a difference, or I’m just numb to it.
Haha I wasn't suggesting you'd feel +/-1w, and going between different pressures won't usually make a huge difference in the real world (on road at least). What I was suggesting was that if the poster above had noticed a difference, it was probably pretty big, and in terms of performance, 50g an end is going to make zero difference (Even if you can feel it, which I can believe you might be able to).
Of course maybe most of what I feel when I run faster tyres is actually them being lighter, but I'm not convinced as running procore in some light tyres they still feel very fast - and the whole setup is certainly heavier than my commuter, but feels faster (though my commuter usually has panniers on it.).