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Found: World’s Lightest Bicycle Tubes from Eclipse

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Ask most riders what the single greatest upgrade to your bicycle is and 9 times outta 10 they’ll tell you it’s new wheels. Slap on a pair of stiff wheels, drop some rotational weight, and that sucker will feel revitalized.

Budget’s not quite big enough for a set of new wheels? A new pair of tires and some extra light tubes is a great way to start dropping the pounds. These ultra-light tubes are lighter than a (non-ghetto) tubeless setup and might just be what your bike needs for extra e-cred on the Weight Weenie forums…


As with most things, weight savings don’t come cheap. The 26″, 27.5″ and 29er tubes come in at 49.00 CHF (Swiss Francs). A 700c road tube is 59.00 CHF. (about $68 USD) They also don’t come without limitations – they’re not to be used with carbon clinchers stopped by rim brakes as the heat created can cause the tubes to burst.

The upside? Beyond the ludicrously low weights, they are reportedly very puncture resistant and can be easily repaired with their own special repair kit.

Eclipse.ch

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WV Cycling
11 years ago
A new record
A new record
11 years ago

$ 63.52 for a tube..the mind boggles.

They have “eclipse(d)” the record for the most ridiculously priced bicycle component. And here I thought the electronic $950 Campy derailleur was over the top.

JMH
JMH
11 years ago

Only $63.50, not bad!

MulletRacer
MulletRacer
11 years ago

That would be an expensive week of riding for me.

Markus
11 years ago

This tubes are light, expencive and very damageable.

Ripnshread
Ripnshread
11 years ago

Thats more than a rim strip and sealant for TWO tires…why? What are they made of? Do they change the way the tire rolls?

Canucklehead
Canucklehead
11 years ago

@Ripnshread: They’re made of Unobtainium®

Topmounter
Topmounter
11 years ago

Back in the day I tried super light weight latex tubes… after two flats in short order (expensive and unreliable is a BAD combination), I went back to butyl tubes.

I can’t say enough good things about my NoTubes setup now though.

Tubes are for rubes!

KG
KG
11 years ago

, I think Ripnshread was talking about the price, not the actual physical weird.

djconnel
11 years ago

The principal consideration on tubes for racing, besides puncture resistance, should be rolling resistance, not weight. Light tubes are generally more supple and have lower rolling resistance, and these promise low rolling resistance, but it would be interesting to see some numbers.

JRA
JRA
11 years ago

People still run UST tires? Doubtful. NoTubes is the way to go!

carl
11 years ago

Well, I guess….. as long as they’re explosion proof.

Keith
Keith
11 years ago

What’s a tube?

spokejunky
spokejunky
11 years ago

If it doubles as a prophylactic, then I’ll take ten.

Mark W.
Mark W.
11 years ago

just how thin are they actually, they seem super thin with how tightly they are tied up in the first pic.

RandyL
RandyL
11 years ago

My Continental SuperSonic Race Light tube is 56g on my scale (32mm). But they usually don’t last for a ride…

Jordan
Jordan
11 years ago

According to the posting on their site which at least appears to be from a german magazine “bike tipp” in testing they were as puncture proof as a 400g butyl tube and as pinch flat proof as a 180 grams tube. Intrigued, but not paying that price!

Chris
Chris
11 years ago

I had to check that it wasn’t April Fool’s.

Hobbanero
Hobbanero
11 years ago

I tried to get some of these last year, and the listed US distributor had no stock, and no expectation of getting any. I have also seen some reports on the forums of explosive decompression, as it were, with these and Foss tubes. They are apparently very sensitive to how you install them–no stretching, no wrinkling. They certainly are promising in terms of weight and rolling resistance, but they seem a bit delicate.

EricNM
EricNM
11 years ago

@Chris:
+1–> I thought the same thing!
@Keith:
Perfect comment! +2 points for that one! : )

Mindless
Mindless
11 years ago

Tried Foss tubes. Three of them. All valve stems separated. Heard the same stories about Eclipse – looks like in three years they went nowhere.

Got back to tubeless. Just switched all wheelsets to the new Caffelatex – with some additives.

MsC
MsC
11 years ago

We sold about 20 of these tires, but just had to quit – out of the 20 sold, 16 were returned due to leakages located at the valve. Eclipse isn’t very supportive for their customers either.

uzurpator
uzurpator
11 years ago

A group of my riding buddies and me bought a batch of FOSS tubes – similar to these – about 30 in total. ALL of them seperated at the valve or got ruptured to a level where they could not be repaired with the dedicated FOSS patches.

Avoid like plague.

RacerTB
RacerTB
11 years ago

new category: garbage stuff … these tubes are well known and the worst tubes ever made.

WG
WG
11 years ago

They are very similar to FOSS tubes which are complete rubbish. DON’T BUY THIS CRAP.

gringo
gringo
11 years ago

I agree with the bad quality comments. I bought a handful, every single one had a leak and they would not return my money or exchange them.

I have nothing good to say about these guys!

Luix!
Luix!
11 years ago

I’ve been using the FOSS counterpart for about a year with great success. From my experience, all the separated valve stems I’ve seen happened with Presta-style tubes. Since I use the Schradder ones, my tubes have been hanging on without major issues, and I have been able to repair them with the dedicated patch system (which also works on normal rubber tubes, BTW) and with a cigarette lighter a couple of times. The only tube I had to throw away got damaged not by a puncture, but by me when I overheated it (the tube caught fire) while trying to fix a puncture.

I even got to the point of riding a whole week with a punctured tire without noticing it, since the air loss was minimal.

But, as usually said, your mileage may vary.

Danno
Danno
11 years ago

Swiss made – I’m in!

RUSTYDOGG
RUSTYDOGG
11 years ago

Yikes. Stans, NON-UST tire, problem solved. (I have never run a “UST” tire tubeless and never had a problem).
Hot topic I know, but who still runs tubes?

Slow Joe Crow
Slow Joe Crow
11 years ago

So how do these compare with the Panaracer Greenlite polyurethane tubes? Those were light, exotic, and made by a major tire company instead of some tiny outfit you’ve never heard of.

MaLóL
MaLóL
11 years ago

People who have used these tubes, would not use them again, even if they are paid to do so… These could win the prize of the worst new component of the decade. Easily… Tubeless ready tires + latex, are exactly the opposite.

Epci29r
Epci29r
11 years ago

so as soon as we’re fixing our bike with a lighter….it’s gone too far.
Puff Puff Give.

Johnny B
Johnny B
11 years ago

Used these tubes along with

Schwalbe Ultremo ZLX tires
Dash Hubs
Pillar ti spokes and sapim cxrays on the drive side
Stans alpha 340 rims
Red cassette.

built up clinchers at 1096grams. 1700 with tubes tires skewers and cassette.
Tney ride great. The only flaw with them is that they can be punctured otherwise its actually cheap weight to take off your bike.

LanceA
11 years ago

offer them in 26″x5″ and fat bikers will pay $150 for them… we are already paying $200 for cheeply made tires and $400 for winter boots… bring it on.

sam
sam
10 years ago

What you have to realise with these tubes is that they can shave any where from 0.5lb – 1lb plus off the weight of your bike depending on the weight of your tubes. To lose an lb in weight from buying say a new set of wheels it would cost you about a grand so they are a good and cheap investment if you are a weight weenie.

Gumby
Gumby
9 years ago

While late to post perhaps a review would be timely?
April 14 2014. I have 2400 km worth of positive experience to share re: FOSS.
In case anyone cares?

Mike
9 years ago

I’ve had 1 puncture in a year on Eclipses, inside Mich Pro 4 Endurance.

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