Wanted Light Weight Tubes / Innertubes 1990's

[MuchAlohaNui]

Hello and thank you for looking,

I am searching for light weight tubes from the early to mid-1990's which must be:
- able to hold air
- fit appropriately w/o too much over inflation of 26x1.95" tires
- Presta
- Sub 95 grams
- Prefer a set of two or more, but would consider one if that is all that you have to offer

Panaracer Greenlite?
Foss?
Maxxis Fly Weight?
Something else?

 

[Obi-Juan]

Good morning.
I also recommend the Continental Supersonics. They're from the same era as the Maxxis and are still manufactured today. They're not too difficult to find; in fact, I just put them on my '97 Marin Team Ti.
I took my Team Marin with Michelin Latex out to take pictures next to the Team Ti, and the tubes were... better to look at the photos.
It doesn't matter the brand, I have latex tubes from Vittoria, Michelin, etc., and they weigh about 124 grams. They don't hold air and rot on their own over time.
I also have latex DT Swiss tubes, which weigh about 95 grams, but they're scary because they're very thin.
I also have Panaracer polyurethane tires, but when they puncture, they're difficult to repair. The best thing was to use superglue and cross my fingers that the superglue wouldn't come loose while I was going downhill.

That's why I always use the Continental Supersonics. But buy them "fresh," don't store them (I only have two in reserve, and when I use them, I buy more, but I don't stockpile them). If they're bent, they'll "crumple" due to the crease.

They usually cost about €14 each and yield 94 grams.
I usually use them at 3.2 BAR without any problems on 26" x 1.9 to 2.1 tires.

 

[MuchAlohaNui]

I will look into those tubes. I see they are currently available. Though...if I can find something just a little bit lighter. I mean, 94 grams is pretty good! Though 70 - 80 grams would be good'er!

 

[hamster]

The Park glueless patch will work on TPU tubes, which are almost as light as latex but don't lose air so fast.

 

[bikeworkshop]

There comes a point where weight saving reduces reliability...
- but if its all about weight, drop a size on a Schwalbe Aerothan tpu i don't think you'll get lighter - and it seems to work fine.

They feel nice too because there's less Friction between the tyre and the tube when rolling.

 

[Obi-Juan]

I will look into those tubes. I see they are currently available. Though...if I can find something just a little bit lighter. I mean, 94 grams is pretty good! Though 70 - 80 grams would be good'er!

I'll see if I can find a polyurethane Panaracer later and weigh it, but I think I remember they weighed about 95 grams.
It's true that they retained air much, much, much better.

 

[tangent]

If not going for period correct the new poly something (bright orange) turbolito’s mught be worth checking out claimed weight for 176g 700c (30-35mm).

For retro add ‘Air B’ latex tubes which were a bright pink - and of course leaked air, but had all the latex product hype.

 

[Obi-Juan]

I don't know if I should show you this, because I think you have the "lightweight" parasite inside you, and it feeds on these images, further disturbing its host... I know this, but I still haven't managed to completely eliminate the cursed parasite.

But if you're going to create a truly light and classic setup, these tires are brutal. The Bontragher XXX Lite tubes are 95g.

By the way, the Matrix Mt. Titan rims surprised me with their weight, very similar to that of the Araya RM 395, although the Mavic 517 are lighter.

 

[MuchAlohaNui]

Thank you for taking the time to weigh all of that and share. Those Kenda's are very light indeed. I searched online for curiosity and it seems those are not made anymore. Same with the Maxxis Maxxlite which are sub 300 grams. So light!

Yes I am most definitely suffering to some extent from the 'light weight parasite' as you say for a build I have been slowly working on. I almost went with the Mr. Titan's but read that at some point the build quality went down after they changed factories some time ago so I avoided those. I am not sure if yours are NOS or a newer release. Rather I went with Campagnolo Atek's which are nearly identical in weight to the Mr. Titan's and mine are NOS.

Basically I have restricted this particular build to 1994 parts and older, but due to the nature of light weight tubed from that era being deteriorated over the last 30 years, I am likely forced to go with something more modern. Though I'd like to see if I can find something from 94' or earlier.

 

[Obi-Juan]

I honestly don't think mine are NOS, although they're certainly VGC.
The truth is that building and truing them was very easy; they were perfect. I imagine someone bought a Trek and decided to swap the wheels for a Mavic or similar. So I've been lucky. In fact, I've looked more for future builds, and everything I find isn't reliable (at least looking at the photos...).

There's another problem with trying to maintain a "historical account": the spokes.
The DT Swiss Revolution spokes are still the lightest spokes from that era, and they're awful. Absolutely disgusting. I just cut and threw away 28 Revolution spokes.
The Wheelsmith DB 15s on my team look fantastic and work very well, but finding enough new Wheelsmith spokes is difficult.
I also found Ritchey spokes in 1.8/1.5/1.8, but I've never used those spokes, and it's a lot of investment without knowing the results.

Currently, the bikes I ride most often use DT Aerolite spokes, but they're more modern. On the Marin Team Ti I just built, I used Sapim CX Ray spokes, and I really liked them. They work better with them than with the Aerolites, but I don't think they're from '94 or close to that year either. But it was the only way to make light wheels (they also didn't have all the Ritchey spokes I needed).