# favorite light tire/tube



## b987654

What is your "best" light tire/tube combo? they go on a set of elan aeros. 
I usually use miche carbon. with normal tubes, so durability/flat protection would be nice.
They are for all around riding(not just climbing/racing) 
thanks


----------



## miketrackman

*Kenda and specialized*

I run kenda karma lites. They are labeled as 235 grams but they consistantly weigh about 20 grams less and specialized tubes which way about 90grams


----------



## sitzpickel

*Same, But Different*

Kenda Kaliente tires at 178-180 gr with a puncture belt and Specialized lightweight tubes.
I switched to Specialized tubes when Performance stopped making the LunarLight's with the short valves.

Michael
---------------------------
Ride, rinse, repeat.


----------



## flying

These are my all around choices for clinchers

Michelin A1 Ultra Light Butyl Tube Light at 70 grams but durable as they are butyl.

tires when it comes to clinchers.......
Veloflex paves 180 grams


----------



## Friction_Shifter

I would not recommend latex tubes. Though very light they don't hold air pressure very well. I have used only the speciaized lightweight butyl tubes. No complaints. I don't have any recs for lightweight tires. I still have an older specialized turbo R and avocet criterium 30 slick that are brand new before I will purchase new tires. They are about 18 years old. I mostly ride tubulars.


----------



## Juanmoretime

b987654 said:


> What is your "best" light tire/tube combo? they go on a set of elan aeros.
> I usually use miche carbon. with normal tubes, so durability/flat protection would be nice.
> They are for all around riding(not just climbing/racing)
> thanks


Tire wear and protction depends upon the conditions you find where you live and what you weigh. I ride either Veloflex Pave or Vittoria Diamante Pro Lights with Maxxis Flylight tubes and really don't flat much and get what I consider acceptable mileage from the combination. I usual get about 2,000 miles on the front and another 1,000 after I rotate it to the rear. This is great to me for a tube and tire combination that weights from 225 to 235 grams.


----------



## patchito

Friction_Shifter said:


> I would not recommend latex tubes. Though very light they don't hold air pressure very well. I have used only the speciaized lightweight butyl tubes. No complaints. I don't have any recs for lightweight tires. I still have an older specialized turbo R and avocet criterium 30 slick that are brand new before I will purchase new tires. They are about 18 years old. I mostly ride tubulars.


I think that criticism of latex tubes is overblown. Yes, you have to top of the pressure before every ride, but don't you do that anyway with any tube? I usually pump up my tires to 120. With latex, the psi has dropped to 100 the next day, with butyl, about 110. BFD. I think the ride quality and light weight make up for the air loss.


----------



## b987654

*nice*

the Vittoria Diamante Pro Lights are the ones I was looking at. can anyone compare them to miche carbons? that is my normal tyre.


----------



## Juanmoretime

b987654 said:


> the Vittoria Diamante Pro Lights are the ones I was looking at. can anyone compare them to miche carbons? that is my normal tyre.


I've only used the Michelin Axial Pro Lights and found them to have the same supple ride.


----------



## stihl

Juan, how would you compare the Diamante Pro Light to the Veloflex Pave in terms of ride/grip/durability/puncture resistance?


----------



## otoman

*Pave's/latex*

I second patchito's post.
If you pump your tires up every time you ride (which you should), how much air the latex tubes lose is a non-issue. The ride with Pave's and latex tubes is so supple, so butter smooth, it is phenomenal. 

I have ridden Rubino Pro's and they compare unfavorably to ProRaces and definitely worse than Pave's in almost all categories - grip, ride quality, rolling resistance, puncture resistance. I got about 500 more miles out of the Vittoria Rubino Pro's than I do out of the Veloflex tires, though. I get the same mileage (more or less) comparing Pave's to ProRace's. Still a no-brainer trade-off IMHO.


----------



## garagedog

*Anything lighter than these? (700x23)*

Performance sells a 49g tube. Supersonics by Continental are 155g


----------



## Juanmoretime

stihl said:


> Juan, how would you compare the Diamante Pro Light to the Veloflex Pave in terms of ride/grip/durability/puncture resistance?


I find no real difference, both are excellent tires except the Vittorias are on a average about 20 grams lighter. I have yet to flat one of the Vittoria's although I'm still working on wearing out the first set so long term durability isn't something I'm total positive about but I'm approaching the 2,000 mile mark for the rear tire and with a tire that weighs between 178 to 183 grams that is acceptable. After it's bad I'll rotate the front to the rear and the new tire goes on the front. I would expect another 1,000 miles on the back and that's fine with me for the weight of the tire.


----------



## dhtucker4

I have used Veloflex Pave's (all black) for a couple of years - I'm on my last one! I have found that you can put more air pressure (recommended pressure is 7-8 bar, which is about 110-117 psi). They have a 300 tpi cotton, but the other tires in Veloflex clinchers have thread counts of 350 tpi! The Master (170 grams), the Corsa (150 grams), and the Record (130 grams). They are all 700X20. It's such a hassle to fit out-of-the-box Paves on wheels. 

The only clincher tires that rival these are the Challenge Criterium (195 grams, 300 tpi, max psi 130, 700X23), Vittoria Open Corsa CX (230 grams, 290 tpi - kevlar/cotton, max psi 143, 700X23), and Deda RS Corsa (190-200 grams, 300 tpi, max psi 125, 700X23).


----------



## Peith

garagedog said:


> Performance sells a 49g tube. Supersonics by Continental are 155g



Yeah but supersonics are only rated for like 200 miles or something way low. NOT worth the weight savings unless its for race day only


----------



## dhtucker4

I think Supersonics are rated for over 500 miles (rear tire). Performance has a 49g tube, but it's virtually useless, you have to be very careful to put it on. Personally, I like Continental's Race Lite butyl tube (70g) or Specialized Race tube (it comes pre-talced) or Vittoria Latex tube (60g).

Continental says that their Supersonic is the lightest clincher tire known. I know that's NOT true - Veloflex Record (clincher 700X20) weighs 130 grams, plus it's 350tpi - if you have some clincher race wheels with a cassette, and pump them up on race day and deflate them after the race, However, Veloflex are pretty hard to put on wheels.


----------



## slowdave

i found the veloflex hard to fit at first, but like tubulars they strech and get easyer to fit with time.


----------



## alienator

My Vittoria Evo Corsa CX treads are pretty light and feel pretty nice.....240g.....but they have the tube sewn in 'em.


----------



## SPINDAWG

*I ride Veloflex paves (black) with the Michelins aswell*



flying said:


> These are my all around choices for clinchers
> 
> Michelin A1 Ultra Light Butyl Tube Light at 70 grams but durable as they are butyl.
> 
> tires when it comes to clinchers.......
> Veloflex paves 180 grams



Only downside is that they tend to wear pretty quick.


----------



## Toothpick

*I also ride the michelin/veloflex setup.*



SPINDAWG said:


> Only downside is that they tend to wear pretty quick.


12345


----------



## Towwovnen

Achtung!!


----------



## indianabob

b987654 said:


> What is your "best" light tire/tube combo? they go on a set of elan aeros.
> I usually use miche carbon. with normal tubes, so durability/flat protection would be nice.
> They are for all around riding(not just climbing/racing)
> thanks


If I want to trick out my wheels, I go with veloflex tires, and Michelin latex tubes. Don't even try this on anything but glass-free surfaces, cause they'll flat like crazy. That said, I think that the latex tubes give a different road feel from regular rubber, plusher, and seem to have nicer feel going around corners.


----------



## dhtucker4

It seems odd that every professional cyclist rides tubular (or sew-ups) tires. Almost every tubular tire is made out of latex/rubber, and they hold in awesome pressure (over 200 psi) for over 30 years. 

Over the years, I have found that high-quality latex tubes roll better than high-quality butyl tires, and are more supple when combined with high threads-per-inch (tpi) tire, such as over 200 tpi - Veloflex has clincher tires that are 350 tpi, Vittoria maxes out at 290 tpi, Deda makes a tire that is 300 tpi, and so does Challenge. 

Whenever I ride a decent distance, as soon as I get home, I let some of the pressure out of both tires. That way I make sure to pump them up again when I ride again. It's second nature, sort of like inspecting both tires for cuts and wear.


----------



## dm69

Like others have said I also use ultralite michy tubes and pave's. I really CAN notice the weight difference when it comes to tyres/ tubes. 

Definitely wouldn't train on them though. I train too much to call 3000km's reasonable for a tyre. I want 10000plus out of a tyre.


----------



## Juanmoretime

dm69 said:


> Like others have said I also use ultralite michy tubes and pave's. I really CAN notice the weight difference when it comes to tyres/ tubes.
> 
> Definitely wouldn't train on them though. I train too much to call 3000km's reasonable for a tyre. I want 10000plus out of a tyre.


What tire can you get 10,000 plus km from?


----------



## dhtucker4

Veloflex has the Record clincher (350 tpi) that weighs 130 grams - and it's more durable because of the high threads-per-inch than the Supersonic. Personally, I had lots of trouble with Performance LunarLight tubes (49 grams) - it seems that if you go over any crack or road debris (nothing sharp) they flat. The only combination I found where they didn't flat was a Continental Grand Prix 3000.


----------



## dhtucker4

Specialized Armadillo, Continental Grand Prix 4-Season, Ultra Duraskin, Grand Prix 3000, & Grand Prix 4000 - although the last two tires probably get 8000-9000 km. For two years, I had some Grand Prix 3000 and they lasted over 5,500 miles, which is over 8800 km. I switched them after a year, front tire to rear wheel, rear tire to front wheel. But I would not recommend that, because if your front tire goes bad, you can suffer a serious injury. If your rear tire goes bad, it is usually not that bad.


----------

