Seems like semi-aero is the way to go and I’ve got a bunch of standard tubes that don’t have enough stem to inflate properly. You need about 10mm to make sure that a presta tire pump works.
ENVE has a nice table for this but basically
- Standard rim is 25mm high (an inches). Use standard 32mm high tubes.
- 35mm. These are semi aero and need 48mm. You will have an inch sticking out.
- 45mm. Use the 48mm. Hmm seems like a tight fit.
- 60mm, 65mm and 70mm John. Uses the 80mm
Excel Sports has a good set of general recommendations:
- Continental Race Light. These are about 20 grams lighter than the Continental Race so more likely to puncture, but grams are grams 🙂
- Valve stems should be 18-20mm longer than the wheel set height. That means for standard get 34mm, for semi-aero get 42mm and for deeper you need 60mm or 80mm. You do add weight with the longer stem and they don’t look pretty.
Finally what width should you run. Well 700×23 was what have been using but many folks have been switching to 700×25 for durability. Although some wheel sets (like the ENVE SES 3.4 for example are optimized for 25mm to be more aero?). It is 38mm deep in the front and 42mm in the rear, so you would need 38+18 = 56mm minimum in the front and 42+18mm = 60mm in the rear, net, net the 60mm works.
Also if you have 23mm you can use the lighter and less durable 18-23mm or the heavier 23-25mm.
Tubes do weight something. The continental race light is 65 grams vs 120 plus for tougher tires. So that’s a 130 grams (5 ounces) across too tires.
