Eclipse Tube Review
A few months ago I decided to put together an ultralight 650B wheel set. Although the wheels themselves aren't complete, I switched from Hetres to Pari Motos on the current wheels, and I continued to use Eclipse 26" tubes, which are about 55 g (vs 150 g for a conventional 650B tube). In other words, just switching the tubes dropped about 200 g from the wheels, or about 0.44 lbs. The tubes themselves cost about $50 each, and I believe they cost about $75 retail. You could buy 5-10 regular tubes for this price. Crazy, but...
I've ridden the tubes, same set, no patches, no flats, for about 1100 miles under the Hetres and another 660 miles under the Pari Motos. Keep in mind that I do two types of riding: 20-25 miles per day in New York City, and 80-120 mile dirt/rough road rides outside the city most weekends. A pretty stringent test for any tube. In fact, with conventional tubes over 10 years of riding I averaged about 1 flat per 500 miles, generally from broken glass on multiuse paths.
Luck? Maybe. They'll probably pop tomorrow. But if this represents typical flat resistance, than combined with the tremendous rotating weight savings they might be worthwhile.
Do they change ride quality? There have been some claims that they will make a tubed tire ride like tubeless. I don't really detect a difference, although losing almost half a pound in rotating weight is quite noticeable during accelerations.
In short, I'm a believer, although once these go I won't replace them with another set. If they could get the price down to $30-40, and if the flat resistance is real, I'd use these tubes all the time. If they miraculously last >3000 miles, I might be willing to pay the going rate. We'll see how they do this winter.
Update: They've made it 3200 miles on my 650B bike. Amazing puncture resistance and super light. I think I can recommend them now, although one caveat is that I might have gotten lucky with my set; my understanding is that there have been some quality control issues.
Eclipse Tube Review
A few months ago I decided to put together an ultralight 650B wheel set. Although the wheels themselves aren't complete, I switched from Hetres to Pari Motos on the current wheels, and I continued to use Eclipse 26" tubes, which are about 55 g (vs 150 g for a conventional 650B tube). In other words, just switching the tubes dropped about 200 g from the wheels, or about 0.44 lbs. The tubes themselves cost about $50 each, and I believe they cost about $75 retail. You could buy 5-10 regular tubes for this price. Crazy, but...
I've ridden the tubes, same set, no patches, no flats, for about 1100 miles under the Hetres and another 660 miles under the Pari Motos. Keep in mind that I do two types of riding: 20-25 miles per day in New York City, and 80-120 mile dirt/rough road rides outside the city most weekends. A pretty stringent test for any tube. In fact, with conventional tubes over 10 years of riding I averaged about 1 flat per 500 miles, generally from broken glass on multiuse paths.
Luck? Maybe. They'll probably pop tomorrow. But if this represents typical flat resistance, than combined with the tremendous rotating weight savings they might be worthwhile.
Do they change ride quality? There have been some claims that they will make a tubed tire ride like tubeless. I don't really detect a difference, although losing almost half a pound in rotating weight is quite noticeable during accelerations.
In short, I'm a believer, although once these go I won't replace them with another set. If they could get the price down to $30-40, and if the flat resistance is real, I'd use these tubes all the time. If they miraculously last >3000 miles, I might be willing to pay the going rate. We'll see how they do this winter.
Update: They've made it 3200 miles on my 650B bike. Amazing puncture resistance and super light. I think I can recommend them now, although one caveat is that I might have gotten lucky with my set; my understanding is that there have been some quality control issues.