Why are decathalon tubes so bad?

[Gattopardo]

Have seen mentioned that decathalon tubes are poor quality.

Have two on the road bike (700) and they seem fine, so was wondering what experience people have had to draw that conclusion.

[Charlotte]

Mainly watching Phil pop about three inna row whilst trying to fix his pu***ure on the Christmas ride.

His flow of idiomatic Anglo Saxon invective was enough to persuade most of us never to buy one again 

[Gattopardo]

Mainly watching Phil pop about three inna row whilst trying to fix his pu***ure on the Christmas ride.

His flow of idiomatic Anglo Saxon invective was enough to persuade most of us never to buy one again 

Bit of a stupid question, but was he using the compressed air cannister or a foot/hand pump?

Were they 26 or 700?

[Charlotte]

700c with a hand pump as I recall.

[Phil]

700x23, and a variety of handpumps.  The valves kept breaking either by disintegrating or by pulling away from the rubber of the main tube.  And I'm quite good at changing tubes, so I don't think it was poor technique. 

They were the very cheap ones bought from the Decathlon in Mondeville outside Caen. 

[Gattopardo]

700x23, and a variety of handpumps.  The valves kept breaking either by disintegrating or by pulling away from the rubber of the main tube.  And I'm quite good at changing tubes, so I don't think it was poor technique. 

They were the very cheap ones bought from the Decathlon in Mondeville outside Caen. 

Oh think they could have been a bad batch?

Mine seem fine or are they hit and miss.

[Phil]

They must have been worse than usual, or nobody would be able to use them at all.  Others I have used have p*nctured within a couple of hundred miles though, so I don't think they're much good. 

[rogerzilla]

Specialized tubes are also notorious for valve separation.

[hellymedic]

Specialized tubes are also notorious for valve separation.

That is certainly also my experience.

[Ivo]

I quite often use Decathlon tubes, especially the mid-price range, the wider edition (25-32mm). The cheap ones I occasionally use, never had any problems with valve separation or early puncturing.

[Phil]

Specialized tubes are also notorious for valve separation.

That is certainly also my experience.

Oddly enough not my experience at all.  I will use Specialized for preference.  I find their tubes resist p*nctures far better than any other brand, and I have never had any valve problems at all. 

[kyuss]

Oddly enough not my experience at all.  I will use Specialized for preference.  I find their tubes resist p*nctures far better than any other brand, and I have never had any valve problems at all. 

Give it time.   

[Gus]

Specialized tubes are also notorious for valve separation.

+1   

[PeteB99]

Specialized tubes are also notorious for valve separation.

That is certainly also my experience.

Oddly enough not my experience at all.  I will use Specialized for preference.  I find their tubes resist p*nctures far better than any other brand, and I have never had any valve problems at all. 

I'll second that - though Conti also seem to work for me

[Domestique]

I must admit I am confused by these Decathlon tube threads.
I use Decatholon tubes all the time and to date have not had any of the problems described above.
I did have an issue when I tried to put a tube for 19-23mm tyres into a 28mm tyre, but that was a long shot and it did exactly what it said on the can, and it didnt inflate evenly.

[Wibble]

I must admit I am confused by these Decathlon tube threads.

My experience has been good too.  They're of seamless construction and the valves resist mistreatment quite well - I've had a go at a couple after reading complaints about 'em here.  My guess is some folks have got unluxky with a batch of faulty ones.  That said, I never had a problem with Specialized tubes either so maybe I'm just too soft on 'em.

[kyuss]

Spesh tubes seem to get the odd bad batch now and then. Some will last forever (I have one on the commuter that's at least two years old), yet I've some that have lasted less than a week before coming apart at the valve. They are just too much of a lottery.

[fred the great]

I've had one problem with a Spesh tube about 5 years ago. I can't remember the actual problem now but it was a"must buy a new one issue"

[Dunedin]

I've had one problem with a Spesh tube about 5 years ago. I can't remember the actual problem now but it was a"must buy a new one issue"

With the light weight Spesh the valve often parts company with the tube when putting air into the tyre if not v. careful.

But Spesh 26 X2 inner tubes at 5 for £10 was too tempting