Inner tubes - which are the best??

[Jon C C on a Bianchi]

Does it matter??

Well having just been let down (get it??) by a couple of brand spanking new Specialized long valve inner tubes recently, believe me, it does!!

We were having a really good ride in the Southern Sportive on Sunday - easy silver and going for gold when the inevitable happened and sam got a snake-bite puncture. The team car arrived and within 5 minutes we'd changed the tube and pumped it up, when I removed the pump I managed to pull the little screw thingy right out of the valve!!! "don't worry- give me your spare tube, Sam."

"Spare tube? what spare tube, Dad?"

when sam told me he'd forgotten to bring his spare inner tube with him I could have cried!

This is the second time i've had the exact same problem with a specialized long valve tube recently. I've never ever done this with any other tube ever!

Faulty batch??? I dunno but I'll never buy Specialized tubes again but which tube make would any of you recommend?? Let me know. I'm off to the shops to bulk buy.

Thanks.

Cheers

Jon

[MattI]

Spesh inner tubes are known to do this.

The human mind probably cannot imagine a worse inner tube.
What's more, it's been going on for years and they still don't revise their design.
I even emailed Spesh UK about 5 years ago informing them of their hidious products' design fault and pointing them to a cycling forum where people were venting their spleen at the utter ineptitude of the Spesh inner tubes.

That was 2 minutes of my life that I'll never get back.

[Mike I]

Or Vittorias. Whatever you get, buy in bulk though ...

[url]http://www.bicyclerubber.com/acatalog/Vittoria.html[/url]

[Jon H]

I can't say I've noticed any difference at all between brands.

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Michelins all round as they have the smooth valves that are easier on the rubber seal in the pump.
Guru p

[Andrew G]

[quote="Jon Hemming"]I can't say I've noticed any difference at all between brands.

[adrian]

Same thing happened to me all the time when I used Specialized valves. I used to think it was me and that my pumping technique was at fault (easy, Finbarr...).

Haven't had a recurrence of this since I switched to Contis.

[quote="Sean Hogan - 何祥"][quote="adrian"]

Haven't had a recurrence of this since I switched to Contis.

[Andrew G]

Nice work Adrian .

I've been using Specialized tubes for ages now without this problem. Same as any tube - keep the pump head as still as possible so you don't whack the valve about when pumping, and hold the valve when taking the pump off so you don't pull on the valve.

[adrian]

[quote="Sean Hogan - 何祥"]....but can you grease your nipples at the same time ?

[Andrew G]

[quote="Sean Hogan - 何祥"]Whats all this holding the valve guff? If you put in properly in the first place it'll sit right where you want it to, plus with Conti's you get the little locking ring that makes sure it stays where you want it to be. Never had a problem.

S.

[Jon H]

Any brand will do, just make sure it's black, rubbery and the right size

[Andrew G]

Jon, I was just concerned that perhaps some members were yanking on their pump too hard and causing the aforementioned problems they were having.

[Andy E]

[quote="Sean Hogan - 何祥"]Mr Green, are you referring to premature deflation?

[Daniel Gee]

I have heard that the more you cycle the more likely it is to become an issue