Quote:
Originally Posted by CapriRacer
Latex vs Butyl Rubber: Butyl rubbers are used where air retention is needed. In a car tire, that’s the innerliner – the innermost layer of rubber. In a bicycle tire, using an innerliner adds weight, so some bicycle tires are made of butyl throughout to reduce the weight – BUT – a racing tire (both bicycle and car racing tires) don’t need to hold air pressure for very long – just enough to finish the race – so they may not even use butyl at all.
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Former bike racer here. Yep, a lot of people have switched to latex tubes for racing (and some for training); tubeless road bicycle wheels and tires have been a thing for 10+ years, but have been slow to catch on.