Montage
Generally, latex inner tubes are more 'delicate' to handle than their counterparts made of butyl rubber. This means, that a 'softer touch' is required; excessive force will lead to 'holy' results. The powdered substance covering the tube is meant to protecting it from the (outer) tire, therefore it should stay on.
To replace my 'old' Continental Race 28 butyl rubber tire with the 'new' Vittoria latex inner tube in my 'used' Continental GP 5000 tire was quite straightforward. The old tube came out easily and has since served as my emergency tube on the bike.
Tools
to exchange the older one with a new inner tube you need:
-Two tire levers
-One Pump, preferable a track pump with a pressure gauge
-Two usable hands with a touch of 'feel'.
-Two eyes
-One common sense
Mounting Instruction:
I mounted the new Vittoria latex inner tubes in the same way as I would my butyl rubber tubes:
- take away the plastic sleeve on the valve stem of the powdered Vittoria latex tube. My latex tube came without a valve cap. If you should have a valve cap, take it off.
- push the valve into the rim hole until it does not move further outwards; the new latex tube has no (!) nut to fix the valve stem on the rim!
- pump up the tube with a few strokes until it straightens up. Take off the pump or pump head and close the French valve.
- place the 'stroked' tube parallel around the rim and tire
- I start from the valve to pull the tire over the tube or push the tube into the tire on the rim. As my older tire was already a little stretched, this went quite smoothly. I carefully had to use only one tire lever for the last few centimeters, preferably not over the valve.
Don't use excessive force or anything slightly sharp during the montage (!), the inner tube could be damaged. If the montage gets problematic, like the latex tube might get stuck, or become tangled, etc.; don't continue with force but rather start again.
- check, if all of the pink-colored inner tubes are 'inside' the tire by squeezing the outer tire with the inner tube between your thumb and forefinger; repeat this around the whole rim. You could additionally visually check that both sides of the tire are not shown between the tire and rim. When the inner tube is not visible outside of the tire, you are done.
- pump up to tube to the desired pressure and let it sit for a while. Check the pressure again; if it is similar to the original pressure, you can mount the whole tire back on the bike.
'Finished' Montage pressure
The final 'montage pressure' should be slightly higher than the riding pressure. A latex tube is elastic, a slightly higher pressure ensures a proper seat of the tube and tire under load. There is no recommended inner tube pressure either on the packing or on the leaflet inside the box. I suggest only a slightly higher pressure than recommended by the tire manufacturer shown on the sidewall of the tire. Too much pressure will surely explode the inner tube!
Riding Experience
With all the hype concerning latex inner tubes, I honestly did not have any high expectations. As we all know, the industry and sponsored reviewers all serve the 'one' great purpose: to push a product from the shelf into the homes or garages of buyers.
But what a surprise, that I was corrected in a very positive way! From the first pedal stroke on, the bike on the new latex inner tubes felt more springy (elastic quality) and livelier. The same tires smothered out 'natural' imperfections of different road surfaces very noticeable, leading to a more refined and consequently faster ride.
For those interested in numbers, www.aero-coach.co.uk concluded after extensive rolling resistance testing that:
With either the 'correct' 123 psi 'or the more comfortable' 100 psi (see below) pressure, I've felt a slightly more comfortable ride which led to a higher speed. My GPS-based bike computer showed an improvement of up to 2 km/hr. on average. Of course, it takes much more than latex inner tubes to win the 2020 Tour de France Stage 2 win, but Julian Alaphilippe showed the possibility of an improved tire/tube set-up using latex tubes.
Riding Pressure
My Continental Grand Prix 5000, 700 x 25 c, has the max. the pressure of 8.5 bar or 123 psi which is shown on the sidewall. But riding with this recommended pressure, I felt rather sitting 'on' than 'in' my bike. The ride was very 'nervous'; it seemed to jump more than I liked. I thought this is the price to pay for latex inner tubes.
One day I forgot to pump up my tires before the ride, and, surprisingly, a smoother ride was the result without any noticeable influence on speed. Back home I checked the pressure, and it showed 8.0 bar or 100 psi. Since then, I use this 'lower' pressure as my 'sweet spot' for comfort and speed.
Reliability
The montage was plain and simple, the slightly higher mounting pressure did not result in the expected explosions of the latex tubes. Taiwan has some high mountains with steep climbs, subsequently fast and technical downhill sections. I've heard stories that the latex inner tubes might explode from the heat of caliper brakes on the rims, but I haven't experienced anything like this. I rode over badly maintained roads with closed and open road surfaces, over fine gravel and even glass splinters. I never had a flat with the latex tubes in combination with my Continental GP5000 clincher tires.
Verdict
Positive:
- easy to mount
- latex is lighter than rubber inner tube (81 g vs. 97 g per tube).
- good puncture protection
- livelier and faster ride
- Watt savings of 7-8 Watts compared to standard butyl tubes
Negative:
- pump-up procedure before each (!) ride
I would recommend the Vittoria Competition Latex Inner Tubes; they are my choice as a replacement for all of my butyl rubber tubes in the future. The ride quality and the speed improved significantly without any sacrifice of reliability. They are a little pricier than their rubber or butyl counterparts but still a cheap performance-wise upgrade. I like them a lot...
Ride carefully, Gerhard
Disclaimer: I am neither sponsored nor affiliated with Vittoria; I bought, mounted, and tested my latex inner tubes. I am independent and therefore come to my conclusions...