Guys, awesome podcast here. I had 2+ hours to listen on my run, so apologize that I did my own deep dive on this one!
@Jonathan, I’ve run latex in my HED Jet’s no problem for at least 6 years. I feel like you are selling them short in their delicacy based on your experience. I’ve literally not ever had a problem with them aside from them starting to leak down more as that joint near the valve stem starts to wear over a season of riding. In fact that’s the only place I’ve ever had them fail and it was a slow leak down due to using sealant with it.
@Nate_Pearson and you asked so I wanted to give my input. Latex tubes with sealant is what I run in both my TT bike (half and full ironmans) and on my road bike. Specifically, I put vittoria latex tubes in GP4000s with flat attack sealant. I finished Ironman Lake placid a few years back and came back from the run to a rear tire that was completely flat but had sealed up during riding that I didn’t lose any noticable amount of pressure. I have to think that extra layer of latex just gives me additional puncture resistance during those long rides. That’s the advantage to me in using latex vs tubeless, since you can’t say that tubeless is necessarily faster than clinchers, based on some info I heard on the Faster Podcast:
Tubeless is definitely faster than tubulars, that’s for sure, but it’s more the tire compound than the actual attachment method to the rim. It’s definitely not that one is always faster than the other. These are two really good listens explaining it.
~12:15 - explains that tubeless can be 4-5 watts slower than clinchers any why. again, really depends on the construction.
- This is the other good one to listen to. https://soundcloud.com/user-198147103/faster-podcast-by-flo-episode-23-rolling-resistance-with-tom-anhalt
Short story, definitely better going to latex tubes with a good tire, but just like with a clincher or TLR, it’s key to select the right tire to be as fast as possible. Don’t assume a TLR is always better than a traditional clincher.
another good resource to compare tires and efficiencies.: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vTm2AQYKeDuabP8Qiv5_AjatJVNYSY_DRBOeFmO3-_8/edit#gid=2047093726