Topic: Tubes - anyone having GOOD luck?

[HondaMan]

I'm having trouble keeping air in any tire with tubes made since about 2018 or so (all from China, natch...).
Has anyone had better luck, like with finding some that are NOT made there?

I get about 7 days or so before they have to be re-aired. With the previous tubes I rode entire seasons without having to add air. Normally synthetic tubes don't leak (my old ones) but can tear if punctured, making for a rapid deflation, while 'natural' rubber tubes tend to not tear, but do slowly lose air over time. Typically the Continental (German) natural rubber tubes would lose about 2 PSI per month, that sort of thing.

[madmtnmotors]

Subscribed.

[PeWe]

Michelin tubes are OK.

[WideAWAKE]

I find if I ride a bike regularly the tires don’t need air, if they sit for a few weeks, they need air.

I put some IRC tubes in the tires I mounted up a few months ago. They sat on the bike for a few months before riding and did not need air.

I also always double check that the valves are snug.

[Don R]

 Mickey Thompson tubeless drag slicks were notoriously leaky, guys would paint the insides with Palmolive dish soap a couple times before mounting them. It worked. The theory is the air causes the soap to fill the microscopic pores. It's pretty hard to paint the inside of a tube though.

[grcamna2]

Michelin tubes are OK.

I agree,but where can I purchase online ?

I also lose about 4-6+psi pressure per month with cheap China inner tubes,with the resulting wear caused to my tires(flat spots,etc)by running lower pressure w/o continuously topping them up;so now,I refill the pressure lost in my tires about every week or so.. 

[pjlogue]

Hmm, I thought I had nicked a rear tube when I mounted new rubber on my bike.  I wonder if this "China" tube is the reason for the slow air loss I have seen for the last 4 years.  After ripping a tube many years ago with cheap tire irons, I purchased a good set of long irons and then carefully smoothed and polished the ends and use extreme care when mounting tubed tires so I don't nick the tube.  The tube I have the slow "leak" in was purchased in 2018 oddly enough.

Some years ago using Nitrogen to fill tires was all the rage.  Tire places said it didn't leak out as fast.  I wonder if using N2 or even CO2 (larger molecule) would reduce the rate of leaking from these "China" tubes. 

-P.

[69cb750]

Bridgestone, Dunlop, Michilin are good, they cost more.

I bought a radiator for my truck on ebay, when it came made in China, the drain was loose and leaked from day one, seller did not help, had to figure diameter and pitch, ordered bolts from McMaster, used an O ring, six months later radiator leaking, the parts from China are junk, bought some throttle cables, made in China, junk, Bought some bearings, Made in China, junk, don't want anything from China.

[Alan F.]

Sometimes I wonder if China sends their better quality stuff to the rest of the world, and sends everything they know is junk to us.

They are capable of producing a quality product, we just never see 'made in china" on those, they're usually rebranded and sold by someone else.

[Don R]

 I installed a Pirelli heavy duty tube once, it was so thick I wondered if it needed a tire.

[Bodi]

Watching a lot (way too much!) of China dashcam videos, it's apparent that the general apprehension about Chinese tires is not a mistake. In almost every daily episode some cars spin out on dry roads at far from excessive speed. Maybe the roads are oiled daily, but that seems unlikely. And how do they get so many videos? Wish I could read the captions.
After much poor experience with "white box" tubes - presumed China origin but not labelled and could be from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia etc - I stopped using them and searched out Michelin Airstop or Pirelli. True, Pirelly heavy duty tubes are overkill and add quite an unsprung weight.
I have not been seen either in Canada for a while and hope they are stll available if I need one. Just the metal threaded valvestems make them worth the cost premium. Plus durability and airtightness of course.

[stocky]

Wait, what? This is a thing? Didn’t know the source of my leak could’ve been cheap china made inner tubes. I thought my leak was an actual slow puncture somewhere so I recently added inner tube tire slime, which seems to be holding so far.

[grcamna2]

Has anyone installed Butyl tubes,which are supposed to be superior to plain rubber ?

[HondaMan]

Has anyone installed Butyl tubes,which are supposed to be superior to plain rubber ?

Typically, the butyl tubes are the ones that are famous for ripping wide open when punctured with something small, like a nail, but they historically were superior at holding pressure. The 'natural rubber' ones don't rip so much, but slowly leak air: I used them for almost 20 years (patches and all, from nails, etc.) before having to install these Chinko tubes about 3 (or was it 4?) years back. I've been refilling them ever since. They lose about 5 PSI per week, just sitting still. Grrr...

Thanks 69CB750, I'll see if I can find a couple of those. Got 3 more months (or more) of riding season here, best time of the year! Don't want to waste one of those fine days with tire irons (and probably bad words...).

[ofreen]

Funny you should bring this up, Mark.  I've always liked Michelin tubes but I couldn't find any in stock locally or online when I put new tires on the 750 a couple of months ago.  So I ended up with IRC tubes.  I wasn't impressed when I took them out of the box.  They are light weight and had no powder coating on them.  No biggie, I have a lifetime supply of talcum powder on hand, but the thinness of them bugs me. The Michelin tubes with over 15,000 miles on them looked better than the new ones, but I resisted the temptation to put them back in.   And you seem to be right, they must be more porous, because I have been adding air more often than before.  I have a hard time trusting them.

[grcamna2]

Would there be a supplier Overseas with Michelin tubes ?

[PeWe]

I have ordered Michelin tubes from xlmoto. Their swedish site.
https://www.xlmoto.com/search/result?query=Michelin&page=1

The stock varies. Sometimes lots of sizes and thicknesses.
I'm currently waiting for some tubes. They had discounts so I ordered extra.
Front wheel 100/90-19 or 3.25-19
Rear wheel for 4.0-18 and 130/90-18.


I like to have some when it is so easy to pinch during assembly.
Not inflate tube a little making it round before using the irons will pinch the tube, 100% sure.
Learned the hard way.

[70CB750]

Looking back - using 78 Comstars without tubes was a good decision.

I had my doubts, technically that year Comstars are not tubeless, but with NAPA valves there never was a problem. 

[MauiK3]

I have the same problem, slowly leaking down.
I'll have to find better tubes.

[Quattrocilindri]

I'm having trouble keeping air in any tire with tubes made since about 2018 or so (all from China, natch...).
Has anyone had better luck, like with finding some that are NOT made there?

I get about 7 days or so before they have to be re-aired. With the previous tubes I rode entire seasons without having to add air. Normally synthetic tubes don't leak (my old ones) but can tear if punctured, making for a rapid deflation, while 'natural' rubber tubes tend to not tear, but do slowly lose air over time. Typically the Continental (German) natural rubber tubes would lose about 2 PSI per month, that sort of thing.

Pretty much the same with mine. The original 49 years old Bridgestone tires and tubes that came with my 350F seemed to hold air way better than the new ones I replaced them with:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZPF3L60/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

These are MMG brand, but appear to be heavy duty, made of thick rubber. Past experience with Michelin brand on other bikes was the same., and they were made of thinner rubber.
But really it is the front one that loses about 1 lb a week, while the rear loses about 2 lbs a month.  I contacted Amazon to return them, and they sent me another set, and let me keep the ones I had.
The new front one still acts the same way, even after removing it, inflating it, and placing it in the bathtub immersed in water.  No bubbles at all over a 12 hour period.
So, I think the overall quality of tubes is not what it used to be, and, seems that the smaller the size of the tire/tube the more the air loss is noticeable.

[andy750]

I only use Michelin tubes in my CB750s - never a problem.

[HondaMan]

OK, I think I'll give the Michelins a try.
They show lots of good 'buzzwords' in their description. One note says they are 4mm thick (yowza!) so that ought to add some unspring weight!
Maybe I should get some Lester wheels?  Then go tubeless... 

[Magpie]

I can't tell you what tubes I have in my CB77 and CL77 but both bikes get low tires after a week or 2. The tubes are less than a year old. Cliff.

[74CB750K4]

When I put new tires on last year I used Bikemaster tubes. They have metal valve stems which are nice but they probably lose 1psi each week or two, I always check them before I ride since I'm only getting the bike out on the weekends. Issue I have with them is sometimes the valve sticks open after taking the air compressor off and I need to pop that pin in the valve stem quickly to stop the air from coming out, annoying.

[Dunk]

I used Michelin butyl tubes on my K5 last time around just over a year ago, part numbers 39186 and 35537. They have held air the best of anything I've got in recent years. Lose maybe a couple psi per month at most. Other tubes I've used in the past year (IRC, Metzeler) usually need a few psi per week but it veries even with the same brand and product line. I'll use the same Michelin tubes next time if they're available.