Originally Posted by
Bafanguy
We have to top off daily with these Chinese TPU tubes too, or at least check the pressure daily.
This whole "you don't need to air up daily with TPU compared to latex" thing isn't true, or at least, it does not result in less work. I have to stick a pump on my tires every day to make sure that one of my TPU's didn't suddenly drop 20psi in 24 hours due to a random failure where the TPU material becomes porous in one spot. It already happened to me once. Even my perfectly functioning TPU tubes lose a few PSI a day, so I will not go even 2 days without putting a pump on them.
Then of course there's the "TPU blew a hole randomly when bike wasn't being used, tube goes in the trash" moment that users have experienced. That also happened to me once. And I'm not even running high PSI's. That tube had 60psi in it when that happened, on a 32c tire.
This is why I'm going to switch to latex. Same amount of work but a lower failure rate. I would try a good TPU brand like Pirelli, but the Vittoria latex tubes are cheaper, so it's kind of a no-brainer for me at this point.
I have been using latex inner tubes for nearly ten years. They provide me with a smooth, cushiony ride, are lighter than butyl, are incrementally faster than butyl and, in my experience, get less flats than butyl. All of the advantages of tubeless and none of the mess. I have Fulcrum, or Ambrosio Excellence wheels, on my bikes so I do not have a problem installing latex inner tubes.
I recently bought a pair of TPU tubes from Amazon to carry in my saddlebag. They occupy less space than butyl or latex so I can use a smaller saddlebag. I do not intend, however, to use them regularly.