Vittoria

Competition Latex Road Tube

Solid alternatives to standard old tubes

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

I've tried a few different brands of latex tubes over the years. They do ride softer, you'll notice that without even doing a side by side test. Does it turn your stiff, rocketship of a carbon race machine into a steel cruiser frame? No. But at least it does something noticeable. There's even less difference noticed with your power/speed. You won't go faster because you have them in there. I do notice less punctures for sure, that's a bonus. And yes, you can patch them using standard old patches, or if you're fancy and have the cement, you can also use an old latex tube for the perfect fit. Of note. I haven't had these things fail from any brand out of the blue. However, I have had them fail around the valve stem. However that is joined to the latex, seems to be the issue and the thorn in the side for these. When you go to pump them up, you'll be pumping away, and all of a sudden, a whoosh of air will come out and you're done, you can't fix that. 15 bucks gone. I haven't figured out why, but that seems to be where these things are a pain. The new white box Victoria are better than the old black box ones, but I've had it still happen and it's aggravating. I also, when installing, generously use baby powder on them, and inside of the tire, to help everything slide together nicely. It'll avoid pinching the tube when you install. And no, it doesn't have to be special powder from unicorns that is sold, baby powder is fine, and I've been doing it forever.

Don't Listen to the Haters...

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

These tubes work great. Been running them for over 2 years nonstop. I've probably gone through 6-8 of these in that time period - only replacing tubes when I would get punctures from nails and such - nothing that was the tube's fault. Thousands of miles every year on these things. I ride them hard too. Racing crits, intervals, sprints, climbing, descending...you name it. Yes, they slowly bleed air...that's what latex tubes do! No big deal, just make sure you pump them up before every ride. That little hassle is well worth the noticeable performance benefit. I'm guessing that all these poor reviews of so-called "failures" are mostly due to user error. Try them out and see for yourself!

Terrible

Ordered 2 tubes, both popped with less than 20 psi.

Vittoria Have QC Issues

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Size Bought:

700x30/38C - 47mm stem

Height:

6' 2"

Weight:

195

I'm a bit of a luddite when it comes to tubeless so I'm still running tubes and I continue to run latex tubes as I do perceive a difference in "suppleness" in the ride. Aside from that they are a "crap shoot". I've had latex tubes go months and thousands of kilometers and I've had days like yesterday where two brand new tubes, mounted in my shop the night before failed within 15 minutes of each other on a century ride the next day after about 50km, first the rear went, then the front. Leakers in both cases, deflation vs. catastrophic failure. Popped in butyl tubes and finished the ride, no worries. I do think I've had better luck with Challenge vs. Vittoria but don't really have data to back that up. Tubeless for road/gravel I still find to be a bit fussy and I'm still not sold. Proper latex tubes can be tricky to mount but if you do it right and you have a decent quality tube they work great. Seems with the trend to tubeless that decent latex tubes are going to probably get more difficult to find. These last two are getting returned, Vittoria need to get their act together.

I hate reviews like this...

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

I have never had a problem with them and I've used them for many years. I love the feeling of the ride. When I get a new set of tires I usually put new tubes in also. I'm overly paranoid about a failure at speed. But sometimes I've simply reused the Vittoria tubes. No problem. I've tested the max psi on one of my wheelsets to the point where the brake area moved slightly outward from the pressure. I run them anywhere between 90psi and 110 psi. I ride consistently at 100 or so, depending on how my body weight is fluctuating and the road surface. And I recall a chart, maybe on the box, about recommended psi/bar for a given weight. I use them on both an Easton wheelset and a Zipp 303 wheelset. If I do get a problem like the other reviewers I will be back to this post for the update with pictures.