TPU tubes better/equal to tubeless? on the road

So I’ve ordered some ‘Ride Now’ TPU tubes from that there AliExpress to try on my (summer) Road bike.
After looking at the cost for equivalent ones from UK retailers/amazon and watching a few YT videos of people extoling the benefits and doing comparative (not very scientific) destruction tests on various Tubes from different sources, I felt like £6 a tube was a reasonable price for a mini experiment Vs the 15-20 Quid being asked on these shores.

Anyway Question for those who’ve tried both TPU tubes and tubeless on road bikes how would you say they compare both in terms of ride/comfort, cost and of course faff?

Not road but…

I’ve got the same ones but bigger in my MTB (the tyres I like aren’t tubeless ready so I’m back to tubes) and really like them. 2.5″ 27.5 regular inner tubes are really huge and heavy so the bike feels great with 60ish gram TPUs.

I’ve tried the expensive ones and they seem to get flats easier than butyl.

I’ve got a ridenow one waiting to be tried out.

I have not yet managed to successfully patch one (I’ve got the glue+patch kit) but that might be stupidity on my part.

I haven’t compared but I run tubeless to stop punctures and carry a tpu tube as a spare as they’re much lighter and smaller than butyl.

Not wholly scientific I know, but…

I did a few hundred miles on Aerothan tubes inside normal Pro Ones as a back to back with the same setup but tubeless Pro Ones with 45ml of sealant inside, back before Aerothan tubes were widely released to the market (helps working for a manufacturer in that respect). This was on 25’s on ENVE SES 3.4 rims at the time.

I’ll make no bones about the fact I’m a massive tubeless fan. Have been since the days of UST and Mavic X3.1 rims, been running tubeless off road for 22yrs now and on road for 9…

I expected the TPU tubes to be all hype and no substance.

I was wrong.

Subjectively, I’d say I slightly prefer the ride feel of an Aerothan tube inside a conventional Pro One. There is a definite suppleness to the setup, even with 10psi more in the tyre, that the tubeless version cannot replicate in quite the same way. But then there’s 45g more material in the tubeless tyre making it tubeless and more resistant to cuts/punctures so…

Speed and grip wise… Nothing in it. Not that I could feel anyway.

Weight wise, the conventional tyre with a TPU tube in is a lighter setup, but not by a huge amount. You’re saving about the weight of the sealant to be honest, that is all.

I’d say that the narrower the tyre, the bigger the benefit will be running TPU tubes in terms of ride feel personally. And it’s subjective too, I am a bit princess and pea about this stuff (and even then, the differences were slight), most people aren’t.

The best thing about TPU tubes is that they offer a genuine high performance alternative to people who can’t or won’t go tubeless now… That, and they are small and light so ideal as spares.

Worth noting that not all TPU tubes are created equally. It is not my place to cast aspersions, but I know people who have had problems with particular brands, but not others. Do your own research in this regard.

I orded some of the 24g and 36g ride now tubes to try

Observations after a couple of weeks of using the 24g’s, they do seem to roll faster/better/smoother,

But, they seem to leak air quite quickly. I do need to check I haven’t got a slow puncture,

The 36g’s might be more sensible

…they seem to leak air quite quickly. I do need to check I haven’t got a slow puncture,

Really?

I’ve gone and ordered 4x 24g I was going to order 2x36g and 2x24g but thought I might as well opt for a lighter option, those precious 12g per wheel might make all the difference.

I did see there’s a 19g version now!

I do tend to set pressure before every ride and so perhaps a modest leak rate won’t effect me, what are we talking? 10 psi in 24h or more?

A couple of the reviews do seemed to indicate that the valves are the most likely source for leakage, dunno if that’s true.
Some YT testers reckoned the TPU itself is more resistant to tearing/penetration, others reckoned the opposite…
there also seem to be versions now with Aluminium valve stems, so clearly there’s been a bit of development since they first appeared what a couple of years ago(?)

It might be the valves, I really need to check where the air is coming from. But I can’t be bothered, just pump up before a ride.

The thing that points to valves is lack of consistency, over the weekend the back was losing pressure the from wasn’t, today the from went flat.

I haven’t compared but I run tubeless to stop punctures and carry a tpu tube as a spare as they’re much lighter and smaller than butyl.

Currently riding tubeless on both mtb and road and always carry a normal spare tube and patches and worms.

When I do longer rides I carry two tubes just in case. Now I carry 1 of each.

Bought some of these as they are a massive weight and space saver. Haven’t needed to use them yet. I still take the normal tube, haven’t got round to removing the zip tie and swopping them. I’m probably a little hesitatant to be honest.

Looking forward to hearing about your real world experiences. Maybe give me the confidence to switch.

Don’t forget Supersonic’s. Butyl but light, IIRC ~50g for the 700x25c ones. I use these in my summer bikes and offroad touring MTB (for weight and bulk) and they’re ace. More fragile than full fat butyl but repairable which for multi day stuff, is often essential. 

Don’t forget Supersonic’s. Butyl but light, IIRC ~50g for the 700x25c ones.

Might as well just go latex and enjoy a very marginal improvement in rolling resistance?

I’m TPU-curious but only if/when my existing latex tubes fail. I gave up on them for the gravel bike, too many weird failures around the stem or odd little pinhole punctures (which I put down to the existing tyre still having latex sealant residue on it) but they’ve been faultless on the road bike, especially since I check the tyre pressures every ride anyway.

Don’t forget Supersonic’s. Butyl but light, IIRC ~50g for the 700x25c ones.

I bought a job lot of maxxis flyweight and ultralight tubes a few years ago. They’re holding up well, only had (i think) 1 puncture in a flyweight.
Basically the same weight/quality as the supersonics but (when i got them) 2/3rds the price.

(the tyres I like aren’t tubeless ready so I’m back to tubes)

Only tyres i struggle to get to go tubeless are my winter studded monsters, over a kilo (each) of skinny, tungsten carbide infused, steel beaded rubbish…

Might get some better ones this year!

Whether you can feel the difference between different tubes at 80psi is princess and the pea stuff to me.

I cannot feel any difference and use them solely because they are 1/4 the weight of butyl for a similar price so seems silly not to save an easy 150g (and a given for someone who cares about the weight of their bike a bit too much!).

That is more than 10g per £1. Imagine if you could save weight any where else on a bike for that price, 1kg of weight dropped for each £100.

I’ve been on tubeless and TPU this year. The TPU tubes are light and hold air very well, but I’ve got very good at patching them….

I’m only still using them as there’s plenty of wear left in the tyres.

Bought some of these as they are a massive weight and space saver. Haven’t needed to use them yet. I still take the normal tube, haven’t got round to removing the zip tie and swopping them. I’m probably a little hesitatant to be honest.

This was my primary thinking but then the various YT Frothers seem to have various ideas on the performance and puncture resistance of TPU tubes some reckon they’re awesome, others noted the leakyness (some said that was just earlier versions) ultimately who really knows? I figured why not just go the whole hog and carry them as spares as well as fit them to the tyres (or maybe just one to start with?) and see if they actually work at all, I think I’ll limit it to my nice weather only ‘best’ bike to begin with though.

I can see the arguments about them being close to latex/tubeless on feel and rolling, basically thinner material, marginally more volume, TPU with higher tensile strength but less elongation than Butyl or latex should equate to better thorn resistance but maybe a slightly less supple ride (all wild speculation)… The only real way to find out is to try them.

Whether you can feel the difference between different tubes at 80psi is princess and the pea stuff to me.

Yeah, I won’t really be able to tell anyway, but I’ll know if they work at least.

I did do the old school thing of sprinkling talc in my tyres last time I changed the current butyl tubes :) hypothetically that should have some effect on hysteresis(?) but I couldn’t tell. Had a thorn poke a hole in the rear a couple of weeks ago which led to me looking at options for smaller lighter tubes again, hence the decision to have a little TPU experiment.

My only other worry is long term degradation, you can slap a butyl tube in and if your lucky it’ll last years certainly longer than most tyres. I really have no clue how long a TPU tube lasts, I would hope at least 24 months.

Well they work for me (RideNow). Don’t lose pressure any more or less noticeably that butyl but can’t say if they will last 24 months or not as only used them for around 8 months

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/specials/tpu-inner-tubes#:~:text=The%20averaged%20results%20show%20the,isn’t%20all%20that%20strong.

Suggests latex fastest rolling but actual difference to the fastest TPU is (in my opinion) completely negligible, and only 0.8W to the fastest butyl tube on test (Conti Race Light, fair to assume the supersonic would be faster still just due to less material?).

I think it boils down to puncture proofing, I’ve seen latex tubes deform around hawthorns, got the impression TPU might not deform as well? Ditto Butyl. If I thought TPU was as puncture resistant as latex then looks like an easy 50g weight saving per wheel for me, which will offset the wider tyres I’ve just fitted 😎

Wonder which is more heat resistant, I used latex tubes on aluminium rims descending the Rococorba which requires you to be heavy on the brakes at times, but hope eventually to upgrade to carbon rims so not sure if they’ll get significantly hotter.

The other thing to factor in maybe is the relative cost of non-TR tyres, I recently ordered a ‘Bargain’ TR tyre only for it to turn up and be the vanilla version at an OK price, I couldn’t be arsed at that point, so just carried on with tubes, but once you decide to stick with tubes on the road the tyre options broaden a bit and pricing is still a bit more competitive.

You can still get good tubed clinchers, the market hasn’t gone full tubeless yet for road bikes. If your saving ~20-30 quid on a pair of tyres, that buys a few ‘RideNow’ TPU tubes and probably even more Butyl. Even the cost/benefits seem to stack up, for me at least.

Maybe things have improved now, but there were rumblings of some riders using TPU tubes as their emergency spares, only to discover upon getting a puncture, that their spare instantly failed.

Maybe things have improved now, but there were rumblings of some riders using TPU tubes as their emergency spares, only to discover upon getting a puncture, that their spare instantly failed.

I’m not sure give too much credence to those stories, same things were said about latex tubes (and I’ve suffered similar in moments of ham-fistedness) and lightweight butyl. I think any lightweight tube needs to be installed with a degree of care, in fact I’ll always carry regular butyl tubes as spares just to allow for cold/wet hands etc. at the roadside.

Save installing fancy lightweight tubes for the nice warm garage 😎

Maybe things have improved now, but there were rumblings of some riders using TPU tubes as their emergency spares, only to discover upon getting a puncture, that their spare instantly failed.

You can’t blame the inner tube for user error.
The problem with running tubeless tyres is you pick up loads of thorns, glass etc and it seals.
The you rip the tyre and put a tube in and spend 30 minutes pushing thornes and glass out and pray you haven’t missed any.
If I have to run a tube, usually because it’s on a cheap non tubeless tyre I put sealant in the inner tube. I hate changing inner tubes.

This is why I double down on being able to repair tubeless on the trail. Irrespective of what the type is, it takes so long to deal with the accumulates thorns you way as well fix the tyre.

Its easy to forget, but every single one of the thorns you chase was a puncture you didn’t have with tubeless…

only to discover upon getting a puncture, that their spare instantly failed.

That’s been a thing as long as i’ve been riding bikes.
It’s either stuff in the tyre, the rim/rim tape has failed or the tubes been sat in a bag with loads of sharp spiky metal things for 6 months.

Latex tubes. I carry an expensive TPU in a small pack in my back pocket along with a traditional butyl tube. Having seen the pfaff of a double puncture with TPU tubes on a rock in the road last week, I’ll pass. Latex just provides a fabulous ride, decent weight, and little or no energy loss compared to tubeless. I don’t mind daily or more likely, every other day pumping either.

I am done with road tubeless. Just managed to remove my Schwalbe G-One Speeds, and they are off to the bin or anyone who wants them. They failed as tubular and failed for mounting tubed! DM me for postage and a very small charity donation if wanted.

I took a punt on some aliexpress specials (8quid for 4 of the buggers).
Valves are a bit iffy, doesnt seem to leak, its the opposite infact, it really doesnt like letting the air out…it does, it just takes a bit longer than normal.

As for ride, running 30mm Schwalbe Pro One TLE. they certainly feel different, but in a good way.
The thing I really noticed was the sound, the wheels are Reynolds AR41 and you really get that hollow sound you get from deep section rims despite the reynolds only being 41mm.

I like them.

No, but the comparative context (IME) is pretty irrelevant.

Some (alibaba) TPU tubes that come with plastic valve cores are prone to snapping from what I’ve seen – happened twice to a ride mate recently when pumping up (two different pumps/tubes) .

As for tubless on the road: I’ve genuinely never understood the pain and mess (e.g exploding tyre on a grimy Grindleford lane in the dark in winter) of running tubeless for the penalty of when it goes wrong.

~28mm tyres, regularly inspected are simply more reliable – whilst this isn’t in keeping with most modern approaches my anecdotal experience* is that the old school method is still more reliable (not withstanding performance benefits of tubless)

*>10,000km/year/Peak District – avg about 5 flats a year for context.

Get regular tubes in 😇

How easy are these tpu tubes to fit? I use latex tubes on my good road bikes, but they take careful fitting not to pinch them, meaning the are unsuitable for road side repairs. because of that my spare tubes are always standard butyl affairs

if tpu is much more compact, faster and lighter, AND just as easy to fit at the roadside as a normal tube they will be a no brainer to put in the saddle bag.

How easy are these tpu tubes to fit? 

I found mine as easy as regular tubes, perhaps a tad easier as they seem more slippery to the touch so they slip into place and don’t grab like butyl.

Got a couple of the 24g Ridenow tubes after reading this thread.

Sunday morning went to get the bike out and found a front flat (on the old butyl) so thought I’d give the RideNow’s a crack, unfortuantely the wider valve stem is too thick to go through my rims. At least I didn’t shove them straight into my saddle bag and discover this at the roadside.

As for tubless on the road: I’ve genuinely never understood the pain and mess (e.g exploding tyre on a grimy Grindleford lane in the dark in winter) of running tubeless for the penalty of when it goes wrong.

I find it strange that road tubeless is so divisive. Road tubeless works better for me than mountain bike tubeless.

I find it strange that road tubeless is so divisive. Road tubeless works better for me than mountain bike tubeless.

It works fine for me on my winter bike, although I deliberately bought tyres (Pirelli Cinturate Velo TLR) with an extra thick tread to avoid cuts which might not seal at pressure as I can only fit 26mm in the frame so need to run 75psi. I do fear a roadside tubeless failure though as the tyres are a much tighter fit, but I’ve seen my buddy limp home with an intermittently ‘spurting’ tubeless setup so fingers crossed.

On the summer bike there are zero benefits though, in fact it would be heavier than my current setup and (based on RollingResistance.com tests) slower rolling.

On the summer bike there are zero benefits though

Lower pressure, fewer punctures. Rolling resistance/weight might depend on tyre choice. Pro Ones look to be lower rolling resistance in tubeless.

I find it strange that road tubeless is so divisive. Road tubeless works better for me than mountain bike tubeless.

Not sure about divisive but a TPU tube works fine for me on the road as I get around 1 puncture a year so not worth the extra weight and very variable hassle of tubeless. I can put a new tyre on with a tube in around 2 minutes with no faff whatsoever. I have had some good luck with tubeless at times but it would never been that quick plus I don’t need to top up sealant in my inner tubes and then still have to deal with a puncture that may not seal so even more mess.

Put simply the pros (less punctures) don’t outweigh the cons (more hassle, increased weight)

Got a couple of the 24g Ridenow tubes after reading this thread.

Sunday morning went to get the bike out and found a front flat (on the old butyl) so thought I’d give the RideNow’s a crack, unfortunately the wider valve stem is too thick to go through my rims. At least I didn’t shove them straight into my saddle bag and discover this at the roadside.

I’ll admit I’ve had them a couple of weeks, and not bothered trying to fit one yet, I think I’d better have a got tonight just in case there’s a similar issue for me.

I find it strange that road tubeless is so divisive. Road tubeless works better for me than mountain bike tubeless.

I don’t think the worries are so much about how well road tubeless does or doesn’t work, more about what happens if/when it fails, lots of brains go straight to the worst case scenario (mine included) and how prepared people are to sit, poking anchovies into a skinny, latex pissing tyre in the cold by the roadside Vs the familiar ball-ache of just changing a tube.

Plus given the minimal wattage penalty and what’s been written in various places about comparable ride feel between latex/TPU tubes in a good tyre Vs the suppleness of road tubeless tyres, I think it’s more that Tubes are seen as a less faffy, simpler option for many.

To put it in context I’ve got more bikes with tubeless tyres of various sorts, including Gravel and CX bikes, I don’t doubt tubeless works but I’m just not totally sold on Tubeless for all road bikes given I get maybe one puncture a year on my road bike and the fix is relatively simple when that happens…

All TPU tubes should really mean is the weight/spares volume for the existing solution is significantly reduced (*Note the ‘should’ I’ll be testing the hypothesis soon), I’ve got TR rims on the bike so I could go for tubeless tyres, but the trade-off isn’t quite there for me (yet)…

I don’t think the worries are so much about how well road tubeless does or doesn’t work, more about what happens if/when it fails, lots of brains go straight to the worst case scenario (mine included) and how prepared people are to sit, poking anchovies into a skinny, latex pissing tyre in the cold by the roadside Vs the familiar ball-ache of just changing a tube.

That’s sort of the thing for tubeless on any bike, isn’t it? Road isn’t special in that respect. I guess tyre fit can be a bit tighter, but I’ve never worried especially about being able to throw a tube in if it comes to it.

Anybody got a link to the Aliexpress TPU tubes?

I run tubeless on my two summer road bikes and im getting fed up of punctures that dont seal (had 3 slashed tyres in 2 months) i know if that happened with tubes im still going to have to repair/bodge the tyre by the side of the road to get me home (piece of cardboard/plastic inside the tyre and the tube holding it in place)

But i wont have to deal with the mess of sealant that gets sprayed all up my frame, on my jersey & shorts, all over my hands, wheel and tyre as i try and scoop out as much as possible before repairing the tyre and fitting a tube, then trying to clean as much off my hands as possible before i get it on my bar tape and shifters

Then there is the clean up when i get home! its just not worth the hassle anymore for me

Love tubeless on the MTB as the tyres are very robust (Maxxis DD casing) but i find road bike tyres too fragile for riding tubeless in my area (Hutctinson Fusion 5 Performance)

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005136075210.html?spm=a2g0o.order_detail.order_detail_item.2.4d6ef19cY4ceWw

There Seems to be a big range of prices for TPU tubes, are there any that are poor quantity and should be avoided or are they all very similar.

@escrs, of all the road tubeless tyres that I have tried, Hutctinson Fusion 5 Performance were by far the most most fragile. Even GP5000s are far more robust. So it might be worth trying a tougher tubeless tyre, Ive really got on well with Pirelli p zero race tlr all year round as a fast but tough tyre

Well I fitted a pair, went pretty smoothly, the valve stems fit through the rim hole at least.

Anybody got a link to the Aliexpress TPU tubes?

These are the ones I got (4x 24g, for 18-28mm tyres, with 65mm valve stem option):
RideNow Ultralight 19g 24g 36g Bike Inner Tube

Unexpectedly they came with a little pack of self adhesive patches too.

There Seems to be a big range of prices for TPU tubes, are there any that are poor quantity and should be avoided or are they all very similar.

That question was kind of the point of this thread originally, I am just taking a bit of a ~£20 gamble on some AliExpress tat cos the internet is full of waffle both good and bad about them.

The ‘Ride Now’ brand seems to be ubiquitous for TPU tubes, being re-sold through a variety of sellers all over the place (AliExpress, eBay, Amazon, etc), I’d look at the ratings and reviews of the seller as the product is pretty cut ‘n’ paste really…

Honestly it all seems a bit wild west still, there are some familiar western brands selling TPU tubes for relatively high prices if that gives more assurance, go and browse your favourite online bicycle retailer you’ll find them.

I shall update this thread as and when I get some miles on these tubes and/or they send me to the dentist…