The world’s lightest inner tubes? First look at Tubolito's lightweight inner tubes + video

Austrian company Tubolito’s unique orange Tubo inner tubes might be the last port of call if you’re looking to shed a few precious grams from your road bike, with a potential weight saving of 120g when you replace regular inner tubes.

With a set arriving in the office, we just had to put them on the scales to see how light they are and talk through some of the key details of this standout inner tubes, so hit play on the video below to see what they’re all about.

In brief, the Tube inner tubes made from a seamless tube of thermoplastic elastomer material that is claimed to be able to stretch to four times its size as well as being tough, the company claiming these properties lend it improved puncture resistance.

On our scales, these 60mm valve models are 42g each. That compares to 100g for a regular butyl inner tube with the same length valve. It’s worth mentioning that a Continental Supersonic inner tube comes in at about 55g, but they’re made from very thin rubber so more fragile and puncture prone than the claims for the Tubo tubes.

The weight difference might not sound like a lot, but many cyclists spend a lot of money on very expensive and lightweight race tyres so why not on your inner tubes as well? Weight at the wheel counts more than weight on the frame, but will you be able to notice the difference on the road? That’s something we aim to find out.

They’re also very small, so ideal for saving space in your saddle pack or jersey pocket as spares, and more space for food as someone pointed out to me on Twitter. If you want to save even more space, there’s the Tubo S we’ve also got on test that weighs even less and has a removable valve stem designed as an emergency backup. The ones in the video are the regular ones intended for everyday use.

What happens if you do get a puncture? You have this special repair kit with five special patches.

So are they any good for everyday use and how puncture resistant are they really? We’ll put them to the test over the coming weeks and report back with our findings.

If you’ve got this far and are sold on their compact size, low weight and not to mention the orangeness, you might be alarmed to find out they cost £30. Each...

More info at www.tubolito.com