Originally Posted by
gauvins
Two years ago I've tried rolling on TPU (tubolito, aerothan) instead of butyl, and the result was disappointing. I almost never get flats on butyl, and got three (slow leaks) with the TPUs over 2 000kms...
That was then, things may have improved. Reading reviews there are many negative feedbacks, but they seem to be older. On the plus side, TPU tubes take less than half of the space of butyl, so it's tempting to believe that their construction has improved.
Any experience?
I dabbled with them last year and was severely disappointed. I used RideNow but upon installation, the tubes flatted from very small foreign objects in the tire that had
not flatted the butyl tubes that the TPU replaced. I actually flatted 3 tubes as I only found out about about the small foreign objects after installing 2 more tubes in the middle of a ride. I replaced the tire but the stick on patches for the tubes were completely useless causing me to flat at least 4 more times after repairing and rerepairing the tubes. I got a better patch kit which seems to be working but I’m not impressed overall with the RideNow which makes me hesitant to spend money on something more expensive.
Just to be clear, I’m not all that thrilled with the performance of modern butyl tubes as I’ve experienced many, many flats that are the result of the tube being over-stretched towards the rim which causes them to tear and leak. However, I can fix those easily and butyl tubes are cheap.
And, no, I’m not going tubeless because those violate the conservation of mass.