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Tubolito tubes leaking air
Have you had problems with Tubolito tubes leaking air - and I don't mean slow leakage but from 90 psi down to 70 in just a few hours? My wife bought them - two brand new tubes, both installed as replacements for old and trusted butyl ones, certainly not damaged during installation (no levers whatsoever were used, I seated the tyre using hands only and the tubes were not pinched in any way), no punctures during the ride, but she finished the ride with unacceptably low pressure in both wheels. Re-inflated the tyres on both wheels and let them for a few hours - the same story. So both appear to be defective. The question is - is this a common occurrence? Do you have any experience with Tubolito, or perhaps with Schwalbe Aerothan, favourable or otherwise?
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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13 comments
I bought a bag of these years ago for about a tenner. Literally about 15-20 of them. I carry one in each saddle pack along with valve extenders of various flavours, already prepped with PTFE tape along with a new spare tube, core loose.
They are tiny, take up no room and the hole with flats acts as a key for the cores, and the open ended spanner works on the flats of a valve extender. Brilliant little bit of kit. Individually they look a bit pricey for what they are, but I bought a load knowing that some will easily be lost in long grass on a verge side!
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-valve-core-remover?lang=en&curr=GBP&de...
I've a customer who asked me to fit these tubes along with some Pzero tyres.... He's back on good old sturdy butyl ones since a puncture... He's a 60kg whippet who still tries to save grams here and there...lol.... seriously... always check the valves on any tubes with removable cores
Do they have removable valve cores? If so, are they tight?
Yep, they do, and we retightened them yesterday, since this appears to be the obvious point of failure. Now reinflated and waiting what happens next. If this proves to be the source of the problem, it appears that the cores in our tubes have not come not fully tightened from the factory, although there did not appear to be any play when installing them.
I've had no problems with mine - indeed, they hold air better than butyl tubes. Sounds as if you have either a manufacturing defect or have punctured them.
As Podc above has suggested, the problem may be insufficiently tight valve cores. This was also something that we thought of yesterday evening, so we retightened them (using latex gloves gives better purchase than using bare hands, and they are pretty tight now) and we'll see what happens.
Conti tubes have flats on the valve core so you can get an adjustable spanner or plier on them. They only need to be nipped up, not really tight, but I suspect finger tight might work loose or not quite seal.
I got caught out by this the other day, ended up taking the wheel off and hunting for a puncture that wasn't there. Wasn't a new tube either - been on years!
Tubolito tubes also have these flats, but I managed to tighten them properly using latex gloves (hey, we have tons of these after the initial COVID panic!) and the problem did not recur, so the tubes are fine (as they should be, since they are pretty expensive at around 17 quid each).
Good news that has sorted it.
I reckon the thing that causes my valve cores to work loose is the head on my track pump. It's a clamp on type and just the process of attaching and removing this is enough to work the core loose after a while.
If it happens again, you could try using a wrap of ptfe plumbers tape - often used on valve extenders to give a better seal. It is slightly squishy and will help the thread grip a little better but still let you undo the core if you need to.
that's a good tip - got some in the garage (somewhere!)
I had this over the last week; an infuriating 'slow puncture' (losing roughly 30 psi a day) that I spent hours looking for then changed the tube, despite finding no damage to the old one. After reading this thread I've just fished it out of the bin and checked and yep, very slightly loose valve core on the outgoing tube, caused (presumably) by my slide on track pump. Oh well, lesson learned and an extra spare tube!
Always do the squeeze while submerged test, that would have been an expensive waste.