PISSED OFF about TPU "RideNow" ultralight tubes

[EtoDemerzel]

Dunno, my experience with tpu is that they hold air about as long as lightweight butyl did. Latex, of course, drops in a day.

[froze]

Dunno, my experience with tpu is that they hold air about as long as lightweight butyl did. Latex, of course, drops in a day.

TPU is in between latex and butyl tubes for holding air, it's all over the internet that this is the case, they'll lose roughly 10 psi in 24 hours, butyl will lose roughly 5 psi, and latex will lose roughly 20.

Keep in mind these reported averages of air loss are over 24 hours, so you're riding for 6 hours, with latex you will lose roughly 4.5 psi, not a big deal. And so what if TPU loses 10 psi, or latex loses 20, or butyl loses 5, you're still having to inflate all 3 different types of tubes before every ride. So it's all rather a moot point.

[Dentaltechbiker]

i have never got a flat from a TPU tube but if i did, i wouldnt even bother patching. why bother when they are 6-7$ each on ali express?

If your getting a flat every ride that is completely on you. Install them correctly, use a good tire that isnt easily punctured, and watch where you are riding. if your hitting an object that is able to go through your tire every ride then thats a skill issue (or your tires suck) im sorry but I really just think that 260$ worth of TPU tubes in less than a year, meanwhile plenty of others have gone over a year on a single tube (myself on a 16g ride now), is quite indicative of where the source of the problem is. its either how your riding or how your installing them, or your tire choice, or a combination of everything. also from my perspective when tubes last 1 year+ without issues why bother patching... my 2 cents is figure out what is causing the flats on non patched tubes then go from there

[wheelbuilder]

i have never got a flat from a TPU tube but if i did, i wouldnt even bother patching. why bother when they are 6-7$ each on ali express?

If your getting a flat every ride that is completely on you. Install them correctly, use a good tire that isnt easily punctured, and watch where you are riding. if your hitting an object that is able to go through your tire every ride then thats a skill issue (or your tires suck) im sorry but I really just think that 260$ worth of TPU tubes in less than a year, meanwhile plenty of others have gone over a year on a single tube (myself on a 16g ride now), is quite indicative of where the source of the problem is. its either how your riding or how your installing them, or your tire choice, or a combination of everything. also from my perspective when tubes last 1 year+ without issues why bother patching... my 2 cents is figure out what is causing the flats on non patched tubes then go from there

Basically.

[theyoungconnoisseur]

WOW, these new patches acutally work!!!! thanks guys!

got 3 rides on a patched tube no issues. 2 of which were personal record breaking 65k

[TobinHatesYou]

Dunno, my experience with tpu is that they hold air about as long as lightweight butyl did. Latex, of course, drops in a day.

TPU is in between latex and butyl tubes for holding air, it's all over the internet that this is the case, they'll lose roughly 10 psi in 24 hours, butyl will lose roughly 5 psi, and latex will lose roughly 20.

Keep in mind these reported averages of air loss are over 24 hours, so you're riding for 6 hours, with latex you will lose roughly 4.5 psi, not a big deal. And so what if TPU loses 10 psi, or latex loses 20, or butyl loses 5, you're still having to inflate all 3 different types of tubes before every ride. So it's all rather a moot point.

Back when CyclingTips existed, they arrived at different results.

Standard weight TPU tubes held air better than anything else.
Standard weight butyl tubes and lightweight TPU tubes held air about the same.
Lightweight butyl tubes were significantly worse at holding air than lightweight TPU tubes.
Latex was clearly the worst in terms of air retention.

[froze]

Dunno, my experience with tpu is that they hold air about as long as lightweight butyl did. Latex, of course, drops in a day.

TPU is in between latex and butyl tubes for holding air, it's all over the internet that this is the case, they'll lose roughly 10 psi in 24 hours, butyl will lose roughly 5 psi, and latex will lose roughly 20.

Keep in mind these reported averages of air loss are over 24 hours, so you're riding for 6 hours, with latex you will lose roughly 4.5 psi, not a big deal. And so what if TPU loses 10 psi, or latex loses 20, or butyl loses 5, you're still having to inflate all 3 different types of tubes before every ride. So it's all rather a moot point.

Back when CyclingTips existed, they arrived at different results.

Standard weight TPU tubes held air better than anything else.
Standard weight butyl tubes and lightweight TPU tubes held air about the same.
Lightweight butyl tubes were significantly worse at holding air than lightweight TPU tubes.
Latex was clearly the worst in terms of air retention.

All I can go on is what several internet sites say about air loss, and they all echo the same results, that on average that was what occurred with psi loss that I posted earlier, they were using regular weight TPU and not the ultralight thin stuff. I never tried TPU nor do I! I am completely happy with butyl and latex, however, my friend tried TPU last year and was not pleased coming off of latex, he said the ride the harsher and made more noise than latex or butyl, and when I rode beside him the tires did make quite a bit more noise, now some people may like that noise as a zen effect, sort of like loud rear hubs, so I admit I am a bit bias against noise like that, but the noise was there, and some might like that sound. I didn't ride his bike to test the harshness myself because his bike is too tall for me, I'm just taking his word for it, but I have read several reviews that echo the same thing. He did say they rolled about the same as latex, but he couldn't tell if one rolled better than the other, and then one of his TPU tubes spit a seam about 6 months after he bought them, he had Tubolito brand. He has since gone back to latex.

Like I said before but for some reason it keeps coming up like I'm listening to a broken record over and over and over, it doesn't matter which tube type loses more air, you still have to top off whatever tube type you use before each ride, so that is a moot point.

[EtoDemerzel]

Dunno, my experience with tpu is that they hold air about as long as lightweight butyl did. Latex, of course, drops in a day.

TPU is in between latex and butyl tubes for holding air, it's all over the internet that this is the case, they'll lose roughly 10 psi in 24 hours, butyl will lose roughly 5 psi, and latex will lose roughly 20.

Keep in mind these reported averages of air loss are over 24 hours, so you're riding for 6 hours, with latex you will lose roughly 4.5 psi, not a big deal. And so what if TPU loses 10 psi, or latex loses 20, or butyl loses 5, you're still having to inflate all 3 different types of tubes before every ride. So it's all rather a moot point.

Back when CyclingTips existed, they arrived at different results.

Standard weight TPU tubes held air better than anything else.
Standard weight butyl tubes and lightweight TPU tubes held air about the same.
Lightweight butyl tubes were significantly worse at holding air than lightweight TPU tubes.
Latex was clearly the worst in terms of air retention.

Yeah that sounds about right.
When I ride tpu, I didn't air up for a week. It was fine.
Latex, it's about every day.

[TobinHatesYou]

Like I said before but for some reason it keeps coming up like I'm listening to a broken record over and over and over, it doesn't matter which tube type loses more air, you still have to top off whatever tube type you use before each ride, so that is a moot point.

Are you still running 23mm tires at 120psi or something?

Starting at 75psi in a 28mm tire, standard weight butyl tubes might lose 5psi in a week. Standard weight TPU tubes might lose 3psi in a week. I’ve also had Goodyear tubeless tires lose just 3psi in a week. At those deflation rates, I would just slightly overinflate my tires once a week and then do a squeeze test before riding.

[froze]

Like I said before but for some reason it keeps coming up like I'm listening to a broken record over and over and over, it doesn't matter which tube type loses more air, you still have to top off whatever tube type you use before each ride, so that is a moot point.

Are you still running 23mm tires at 120psi or something?

No, I use 19mm tires and run 143 psi...DS

[NickB]

I have TPU and Latex. I prefer Latex, I'm 100kg and have suffered less punctures on latex and GP5000 than both butyl and TPU. Nothing scientific, just real world experience. What I will add is after having a flat in the lashing rain I've gone back to butyl for my spares. Getting a soaking wet TPU into a soaked muddy tyre in the rain is like chasing the soap around the bath. Summer may be different..
Oh and patching vs new TPU....Landfill

[EtoDemerzel]

clean the tube with alcohol and a park patch will form a bond so strong it cannot be removed without ripping the tube.
I use actual alcohol, not the tiny wipes you get with the kit.

Have the Park stick on patches improved over the years? I tried them maybe 10 years ago and they would all eventually fail while riding - I went back to Rema vulcanizing patches.

The weird thing about park patches is they're total shit on butyl tubes and fail after a while. On TPU, nothing comes close.
No self adhesive patches work long term on butyl in my experience.

Thanks Steve Curtis. I remembered this post, and used on a friends tpu tube. works great! and saved him a few bucks.

[havana]

Never thought people actually use TPU as a daily driver.

I thought TPU was more of a donut / spacer saver thing for tubeless / clincher riders. At least, that how I'm using them