Back in August I explained how I’d replaced the inner tubes on my road bike with Pink (other colours are available) TPU tubes so I thought I’d drop a quick update
In terms of speed and how they roll, anecdotally I’m reasonably confident now they are slightly faster. They definitely feel like they roll better. I have no evidence to back that claim up but I’m happy with them and sticking with them so much so I’ve purchased more for my gravel bike now too.
In terms of air retention they do go down a little faster than standard tubes but a top up once a week has been enough so far. Not a deal breaker.
What I’m really impressed with however is the puncture protection. Up until today I hadn’t had a puncture. On Saturday, myself and my mate Mark rode through a long section of fresh hedge trimmings in the lanes on our way back from the bash. It was a miracle we didn’t puncture there and then to be honest having passed a victim already. Fast forward to today and my rear tyre was soft, not flat, just softer than normal. I actually thought the tube might be failing. By cheap, get cheap etc as they were an unknown brand off Amazon (Cyclami). I pumped it up and rode 20km to our store in Birmingham with no issue but when I got outside to ride back it was soft again which confirmed a very slow puncture. Back into the workshop I took the tube out and pumped it up to find a hole on the outside which when I compared it to my tyre I found a big fat thorn straight through the tyre that would have punctured anything to be honest. A standard tube would have definitely been flat but the TPU tube, somehow, had stayed up since Saturday. Impressive.
I can hear the die hard tubeless fans screaming at me right now because with a bit of sealant my tyre would never have gone down. I get it but having gone through that faff it’s just a mess I don’t want to have to deal with. I’m happy with a very slow puncture occasionally however I might look into sealant for TPU tubes on my gravel bike.
Adios
