Looking for a couple of back up lightweight tubes as pack space is tight. (I run tubeles) Tubolito seems the obvious choice but the price and some bad reviews are making me re assess. So any other recomendations for a small lightweight 29er tube for 2.2 tyres?
cheers

Never had to use them yet…..backup for my tubeless setup, just go in my pack in case of emergency. 130grams.

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/michelin-c4-aircomp-latex-mtb-bike-tube

Quick edit….mine are 27.5, will look to see if they do a 29er (the link is 26 I know)

ive got one of the aerothan tubes. It looks fancy. blows up funny outside of the tire.

i wouldnt trust a tubulito as evryone ive spokent o who has actually used one has had issues. Normally when they are in the midddle of nowhere.

Not sure I’d want latex tubes for a tubeless backup

don’t continental do i lightweight tube. you could also use 27.5 to save more weight 🙂

I don’t think you’ll find anything much cheaper for the same weight, the only real competition is Revoloop and I thing schwalbe were developing some thing similar.
To be fair to tubolito if you don’t pack the tube away incorrectly – putting to much pressure on the valve they are fine. It’s the valve/tube junctions that seem to fail.

I just use whatever tubes I have handy. Firstly I doubt I’d notice the spare room or reduced weight and secondly if my tubeless tyre is borked there’s a good chance it’s something that wouldn’t tolerate a flimsy tube. Finally if I’ve ripped my tyre it’s certain to be in the worst place and conditions imaginable so I just want to fix it and get gone.

Certainly wouldn’t use a Tubolito, last one I saw led the user to raid an Elan valley toilet for tourist leaflets and hand towels to stuff in his tyres as a bodge to get home. No ta!

I can imagine the Tubolito splitting – it’s not very malleable. Presumably that has implications for it as a backup.

Having said that, I’ve had it in my frame strap for a year now and haven’t used it. So it’s saved me carting around a heavy tube all that time. Even if it turns out to be completely useless, it’s been a decent upgrade.

I’m aware of how stupid that sounds.

I’m aware of how stupid that sounds.

+1 – I run a 29er+ for bikepacking/wilderness type rides and carrying a full weight inner doesn’t bear thinking about. So here’s to group stupidity!

bikepacking is exactly where I wouldn’t want to compromise on tubes!

There’s some argument for local rides, where if the worst came to worst, you could always hike back, but I’d hate to be stuck in the middle of nowhere for not carrying a sensible tube.

I’m aware of how stupid that sounds.

+2
I’ve one one my road bike for back ups, set up tubeless and again I’ve never needed it. I’ve a Revoloop on my fat bike which saves around a pound in weight.

Last thread I recall about what you carry had a lot of recommendations for tubolito. My recent rides have all been so local, combined with it being so long ago that I used a tube, and I just haven’t carried one for a while. So long in fact that I haven’t a tube in the right diameter. But got some bigger rides planned so was going to get a tubolito for the pack. I’ve never actually clapped eyes on one though.

Are we saying they’re not a good choice for backup on a long ride? Or just that you have to be careful how you pack them?

IMHO I don’t think they are a good back up. Like the chap up there said, if you aren’t far from home and can walk, or cadge a lift back, then fine. I’d rather not be miles from anywhere in the Highlands and rely on one.

I’m probably more paranoid than most, even for local loops on a mountain bike, I’ll carry two butyl tubes.

On local short road rides I’ll carry one. For longer, I’ll carry two.

Spare road tube used to be a latex one, after seeing how much of it bulged out of a tiny hole in the tyre, I switched back to butyl. If I’m using a spare tube, odds are I’ve damaged the sidewall – I don’t reckon you want to be using an exotic tube at that point.

butyl also has the advantage that in a pinch (pun intended), you’ll get them to work in wheel sizes a bit above/below the intended size, so if you’re generously minded, you can help other people out.

Has anyone ever tried blowing up a 700c x something biggish into a 29er tyre? Something like this perhaps?

In the same boat as a lot here – carry a Tubolito but I’m a bit wary of using as anything more than a convenience rather than a life saver. Wondering if a normal but narrow tube might be the sweet sport.

Has anyone ever tried blowing up a 700c x something biggish into a 29er tyre?

Tempting but I wouldn’t recommend it. Even using Conti road (25mm) tubes in my gravel bike (36mm at the time) caused tube failures.

I have used a 27.5 x 1.5-1.8” tube in a 2.35 as an emergency backup though.

My backup tube is so that I can get back home without walking. If I was looking to continue an epic ride then I’d use a normal (properly-sized) tube. But even then I’d be scared of pinches for the rest of the ride.

Or just that you have to be careful how you pack them?

This – the valve / tube junction doesn’t like being pushed 90⁰ like you can with a regular tube. This makes them tricker to get into a really small package , but if your careful, and don’t bend the valve they are fine. They also have that low pressure creeping issue where the tube moves around in the tyre putting pressure on the valve – that’s why I only use them as a get me home item on my MTB. The vast majority of my rides I could prob get back home or to the car with a long walk, but I always like to carry a (very expensive) tube, the lighter the better. On the fat bike ive not had a puncture stop a ride in 2 years, that’s alot of miles carrying a 400g rubber tube, the Revoloop one is unnoticeable and packs small enough to carry on the bike.

Supprised no-one has mentioned the newest version that comes with a chip that reads your tyre pressure.

https://bikerumor.com/2021/04/25/tubolito-psens-smart-inner-tube-measures-pressure-w-nfc-chip-plus-worlds-lightest-gravel-tube/

I’ve got the road version for my new road wheels which I’ll try running full time rather than tubeless – I’ve also two spares, just in case.

Does anyone have sealant in their spare tube? I do, and although it makes it a bit more bulky, I just can’t face the idea that when I do have to use it, I’ll need to meticulously go round the tyre and pull out 9 months of thorns hidden under the sealant.

You get completely covered in sealant, then put the new tube in and instantly puncture it on a missed thorn and then struggle to clean the sealant to get a patch to stick!

I invested in the Tubolito option for emergency spare tubes… lovely bit of kit, right up until the point when I needed to use it. It then pissed air through a leaky valve stem (read up on the forums… very common issue). Utter waste of time and money.

I now keep a stash of Park Tools patches along with a regular Continental inner tube and a couple of Park Tools levers strapped to the front of the main triangle using the velcro straps from a Decathlon pump mount kit (https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/universal-hand-pump-bracket/_/R-p-168757). £2.99 rather than the obscene amounts charged for so-called ‘Enduro straps’.

To add some balance – I’ve got tubolito, had to use it – had no issues at all – got me home when I killed a Dissector rear tyre without any issues at all.

Only problem I have is that there is no way in hell you can fold it back up to the nice small shape it comes in.