Tubolito

S-Tubo Road Tube

Ironman Roadie

Familiarity:

I've used it once or twice and have initial impressions

Rolls fast and light.

Why I put up with these expensive tubes

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

The price is brutal and the first time out with them I got a flat within 15 miles. Why like them? Because they are so light and so easy to deal with. They take up a fraction of space in your toolkit, so you can carry 2 or 3 instead of a single butyl tube. Tubeless rims are an abomination: it used to be SO EASY to get a tire on and off, but the tubeless road rims are a frustrating hassle. In my experience, the smaller profile of these tubes makes it a lot easier to work a tire onto a tubeless rim. This is a delight on the road because fixing a flat feels like the old days when flats took 5 mins to fix instead of a half hour of thumb-busting, swearing, snake-bitey misery. Patching these is a hassle and other comments here cover that. They are also finicky about the sealant you have to use, and it's already a bunch of money, so buying more odd stuff feels annoying, and pouring sealant into a superlight tube feels like missing the point. It feels *terrible* to throw one away after 15 miles, like you're flaring off F1 car money. So how did I get the flat first time? Carpet tack. Not going to defeat the great tire enemies with a special kind of tube. Sometimes you're just done for.

Lightweight, compact, and great

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

I carry two in my saddle bag and they take up less room than one butyl tube. Blow into the stem b4 installing to give it some shape to install without twists or wrinkles. Lightweight, compact, and great tubes. Used them when damage to tire was in excess of sealant ability.

Garbage

I went to pump it up after I installed it and it popped right near the valve close to the seam where the plastic was thin. I want my money back.

Much better options

Familiarity:

I've used it once or twice and have initial impressions

I have used vittoria and ridenow TPU tubes. These seem to be more difficult to install and don’t retain air at all. Put a pair on my bike. One held air for 24 hours the other went flat in 3 days. Bad product. Vittoria and ridenow are great and ridenow is very reasonably priced!!

S-Tubo Road tube 42mm valve, pair review

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Hmm, Guess I should have read better. The MTB S-Tubo apparently have removable stems, the "road" version clearly states it does not on the "tech details". I missed that, I run 404's that require a valve extender. I did actually unscrew the valve stem and use a extender, but I'm 100% I voided any warranty etc. in doing so. MY BAD. Having said that, I blew air in with my mouth, mounted everything and it was "easy", no problems. They seem to actually hold air better than my previous lightweight racing butyl tubes, so that's a positive. I haven't had a puncture, but that was never an issue for me, so I'm not a good judge of puncture protection. I'm not supposed to mount to "rim brakes" and ride hills, but per my infrared thermometer and testing, I haven't demonstrated any temperatures of concern for myself. I certainly cannot endorse, nor recommend, but I'm simply stating, I measured mine in my local area with a infrared thermometer after riding hills. I wasn't concerned with the data my thermometer provided to me, so I'll continue using. They are soft and the ride is nice in conti'5000's on zipp 404's with a standard carbon road bike. Happy riding, may your PR's seem easy and your chamois comfortable.