Wow what a great videp thank you so much for sharing I am at the juncture of deciding whether to go TPU or tubeless and I too do not want the added faff of tubeless.
@@lostboy8814 thanks for viewing. So a year plus in I am still using them. I am just using Cyclami 80mm stem tubes. Once I got used to checking tire pressure every ride I have had no problems. And I agree I do not want to deal with tubeless on the road bike where flats are more common and tube replacement usually takes 10 minutes or less.
Been using the RideNow tubes on my road bikes and basically no flat tires for months. Also using the RideNow tubes on my MTB and recently my experience has not been good. Road bike all has been perfect, MTB not so.
@@TheCyclesport thanks for sharing and viewing. So I am still using TPU tubes in the road bike. Strictly Cyclami these days. I have had no real issues since gaining my learning curve of check air pressure on every ride. I am tubeless on my MTB but carry a TPU for a spare.
@@MrTeff999 while it is hard to know what goes on over there from North America, and they could be sourced from the same factory, each company presents separately. Different addresses and different cities. Also the specs are different from each company. The valves used are different. The way the valve is molded into the tube itself is different and even the little things like valve caps are different. Even the stated weights of the same size product are different for a given size. Ridenow also offers more options. I think it is safe to say they are different companies. Maybe they source from the same factory but the tubes are built to each companies specifications. As you may know this is pretty standard practice in the bike industry. Happy riding.
@@sBentonfamily the tires were replaced before the tubes were replaced. As a back to back comparison with the TPU tubes installed the ride was rougher than with the butyl tubes
If I were you, I'd stick with Continental tires. You get what you pay for. I had one set of Hutchinson tires several years ago and had nothing but flats with them.
Apart from the obvious observation that the tyre is critical to all patches, not just self-adhesive versions, working. I recall learning to repair my bike back in the early 1970s that you always put a little air in the tube before you install them. I could even unstitch, patch and restitch the old singles, and even then I still put air it the tube before stitching them back up again. That's just basic tube installation 101. Evidently it's bow an optional step these days.
I just ordered 8 on AliExpress around 2 Euro each. I am still on the fence for tubless although I just taped the wheels today in case I go that way. As you find the time to change a tube not near as messy as sealant, and the weight and space savings make TPU a good choice for my dry road riding. Glad to see an honest user review!
The spare shouldn't be a repaired tube, unless it has been ridden. Repair the tube, when you get home and put it back into the tire as your main tube. If it fails discard it. When you have a flat on the side of the road, you don't want the spare tube to fail because the repair wasn't thoroughly tested.
After several months of riding TPU tubes of different types, including Tubolito, RideNow and some other no names brands (i.e. Wanban), I don't see myself going back to butyl tubes. TPU are definitely NOT more resistant to punctures but, on the other hand and IMO, they do pick up speed quicker than rubber tubes and maintain that motion longer. Perhaps this is subjective but I am getting PRs on certain climbs and I am not in the best shape (as I was 2-3 years ago.) I do love the compactness but I prefer a metal stem/valve TPU tube so I can use my portable Cycplus inflator. Otherwise, my Cycplus will destroy my RideNow valve. The ride is harsher and sometimes feel a weird tube shift or slip when taking curves at high speed. Just a weird sensation as its a very brief sensation. Thanks for the video!
Thanks for viewing and sharing your experience, great info! I too am sticking with them using Cyclami tubes primarily. I am fully on board with your analysis. I have mostly eliminated the punctures by simply airing up every ride. That was definitely part of my learning curve.
Thanks for this very useful video. Could anyone confim wether the standard ceramic bearings in the Poweray R13 are full ceramic or hybrid? I'm kinda lost here because I need to replace mine.
@@kt31166 I'm only asking that because I've seen a lot of hybrid ceramic bearings on Aliexpress but I get a bit afraid of ordering those and the standard bearings are fully ceramic. Also I'm not aware of the difference in terms of performance.
Hmm perhaps you should look up the term valve stem haha. There you will find a definition. They are referred to as valve stems and have been for many many years. Thanks for viewing and happy riding.
The problem with this review is that you said you put cheap TPUs on with cheap new tires, and blamed your rougher ride on the tubes. Probably the rougher ride is due to the cheap tires that have non-supple sidewalls. In fairness to those considering using TPU tubes, it should be mentioned that pricier TPU tubes are of better quality (I use the ones Rene Herse sells) and worth the extra money. And a better tire will work better with a better TPU. If you picked up on problems with TPUs from this review, bear in mind that it's a cheapskate's review. Poor quality = poor results/performance. I use good TPUs w/good quality tires and love the results (about 5,000 mi so far on the road bike). No flats or issues, and way, way better than tubeless. I notice that they don't hold air any better than butyl tubes, but I check the pressure before rolling out on every ride anyway, so topping off is something I'm doing frequently...just part of my cycling routine. Bottom line on this review: you get what you pay for.
Thanks for viewing. I think your comment would better serve the community if you shared what tires you like to use, size and pressure. All that would make a difference to a reader of the comments. I wont get into all the rest of your comment, but I will say that I still use those cheap tubes $5.50 vs $29.99 and they have been fine once I adjusted my learning curve which is exactly what you mentioned in your comment. They do not hold air as well as Butyl and you need to air up every ride. We agree there haha. PS many commenters here would not agree that it is better than tubeless. Lot of tubeless fans here. Maybe elaborate on why you chose not to go tubeless? Happy riding. Glad you set up works for you.
Thanks for sharing! Very helpful. I bought a cheap two pack off of Amazon. I also bought the Pirelli patch kit on your recommendation. I’ll be carrying them as insurance during the Kenai 250 bikepacking race in Alaska! Cheers, Christian
TPUs don't lose air. However with TPUs you can get pin sized holes if you don't use rimless tape or Gorilla Tape. These small holes on the inside of the tube will very slowly let air out without you noticing because it's so slow you can't hear anything.
Thanks for viewing and sharing. The likely loss of air in TPU tubes is in and around the valve. This has been pretty well documented and Ride Now had revised the valve construction to improve on this problem. Can’t speak for the others. Agreed that a solid piece of plastic would not lose air anywhere there is a seem or pin hole as you mentioned you have problems. Bottom line these tubes do not retain air as well as their butyl counter parts. If you run TPU you better check the pressure on every ride. Happy Riding
@@kt31166 Sorry I though you might be interested in other peoples experiences with TPUs because we can all learn from them. I didn't realise you didn't want interaction from your viewers. Have a nice day.
while my wheelset from yoeleo have been good; i will not be doing further business with them based on how dodgy the conversation went; it was only when i was upset through emails that they finally shipped my wheels which arrived in 3 days from asia
@Kenneth Toscano The problem with keeping air could be connected with the valve, not the tube itself. I think I spotted a similar comment from a user of a TPU tubes somewhere.
Yes agreed there is some talk here and online else where that the early versions of these ride now tubes hade valve issues. Supposedly that has been resolved. Having run these for a year now and mixed and matched between TPU and butyl. The TPUs definitely do not hold air as long. For a bit I had a butyl in one tire and a TPU in the other and could clearly see the change in pressure daily. You have to check or air up every ride, if not your risk of puncture goes way up compared to butyl. Thanks for viewing and sharing.
I purchased the Ride now TPU, for over a year now no issues. They ride smoothly with my Continental 5000. He stated they ride rough but it’s the $25 dollar tires he purchased will make it ride rough .
Thanks for viewing. I had already switched to the fusion 5 before switching to the TPU tubes. So went directly from Butyl to TPU in that same tire. That's where I could feel the difference in roughness. I am still using the TPU tubes, As long as I air up every ride no issues really.
Www.Cyckit.com I love the look of them and the fact they don’t wear out or into the seat post. Downside of it is not packet tight the contents rattle a bit. I have them on all my bikes now. Thanks for viewing
You made two mistakes here Kenneth: (1) TPU tubes can't take heat from rim brakes - disc brakes only. (2) And you cannot inflate them more than 5 PSI outside the tire.
Hey thanks for viewing. You are correct on one of you two statements. TPU tubes are compatible with rim brakes. The manufactures I am using which are Ride Now and Cyclami offer 3 levels of road tubes Light, Super Light and Ultra light. Ranging from around 36g to as light as 19grams. Only the Ultra light 19 gram tubes are not compatible with rim brakes. The others are. I only run the heavier 36 gram tubes. Just another foot note on that a 36gram TPU tube does not handle the heat as well as a butyl tube but is better than a latex tube. You are correct on the out of tire PSI. 5 psi is correct. In my example I was testing patch adhesion out side the tire at maybe 10psi at the highest. Remember at this point the tube as already been stretched to 90psi so deformation is not an issue. The point of 5 psi is not not deform the plastic too much and create weak spots. Anyhow I am still using them with much better success. The key has been to make sure they are fully inflated and checked at EACH ride. I carry 2 spares and I do not do roadside repairs. While they do make glue to patch these tubes and that does work I am not likely to bother patching these tubes ever. They are getting cheap enough to just replace them with new. Happy Riding
Horrible company, horrible communications, horrible customer service. There are other Chinese cycling brands that sell better, cheaper and more reliable products. I ordered a road wheelset in March, I asked them after a couple weeks when it would ship and I kept getting promised multiple dates that passed. Almost 2 months later I file a dispute same as you, as well as emailing their customer service line threating to take legal action with their local rep. No response to that final email, except finally a tracking number. Shows up at the beginning of May - they sent me GRAVEL wheels! I told them that it's not what I ordered and they sassily tried to gaslight me saying that they were what I ordered, despite sending them pictures of the box and the measurements that didn't line up with their road wheel specs. I flamed them on their local Facebook page and they blocked me lol. Never again. Not surprised by their behavior, just very disappointed. Needless to say I won't bother using these wheels because what's the point - if they can't honor their own order system I can't trust them to honor warranty. Money down the drain, lessons learned, etc etc.
Nice review, but the rider needs to use proper tire pressure,, may I recommend Silca pro tire pressure calculator to give you an exact tire pressure to avoid snake bites
Agreed. I use silica and SRAM has one as well. I am still using these tubes. The key for me was to fill them to pressure every ride. No real issues since
Tip.. the patch holds far better once reinstalled in the tire and inflated .. the high pressure inside and the tire kinda sandwiches it all together. Someone told me the patch kits for swimming pool liners work really well for tpu. Haven’t tested this
Exactly the same experience as myself, I immediately noticed they ride much harsher, and they ALL suffer pinch flats, the only ones that don’t ride harsh are Tubolito S TPU Tubes, I’m back on Continental Grand Prix Supersonic tubes, they are heavier at 50 grams per tube but I have never had a pinch flat with them and I’ve been using them fir 10 years, they are also way cheaper and tested to roll just as fast as the very best TPU Tube, and better than most TPU Tubes.
Possibly going back to latex. I bought a ten pack of the ride now tpu tubes on Ali last summer, only have 2 left. I ride 150-200 miles weekly on fairly clean roads. The last 4 rides, 3 rear flats with new tubes. (no patching) Latex or butyl give you a softer ride and have better puncture resistance IMO.
I have to tend to agree with you which is what prompted me to make the video as everyone was praising these TPU tubes in online reviews. I am still using them and found as long as I keep the pressure topped off they are pretty good. Not too many issues. Thanks for viewing!
Great review. I just purchased a second set of disc wheels from CSC myself. Went with their new oem dt swiss like hubs and pillar wing spokes. 1460g for the set. Would have loved getting them with those cool red hubs. Conti GP 5000 STR’s went on without tire levers! Pro tip - spray some wd40 on that peeling sticker, let it sit a bit and it will rub right off with a kitchen scrubby. Happy riding.
@@fabrizioap83 yes I can recommend the csc disc wheels. I have about 600 miles on them so far. They have been flawless. Get the pillar or cx ray spokes. The oem hubs spin smooth and are dt swiss style ratchets. Sound is same as my other dt 350 hub. ( im not a fan of the loud hub thing) Bearings are an unknown Chinese brand. (Black seal) I cant vouch for their longevity yet but original quality is very good. Replacing bearings if necessary looks like it would be an easy affair. Just follow the dt swiss 350 instructions. Wheels came with tubeless tape and no problems setting up or fitting tires.
I had tubolitos and maan were they faster, riding the same flat loops, I made about 1,2 km/h average faster on about 30km long ride. For some it may not be a lot, but rotational weight is significantly lower, and you can feel it when you spin the wheel. Each tube weights about 40g in comparison to normal butile tube which comes in about 120. I have not noticed ride to be any rougher, maybe because I perceived it as faster and was stoked. Have to mention the massive down side is tubolitos has pretty bad valves, I patrched the tube, but then the valve came off and glueing it didn't help. I purchased set of Pirelli TPU tubes and these have much much better valves.
Started running pirelli p zero smart tubes over a year ago, immediately noticed a smoother ride. Had one tube fail post ride at the spoke hole after a few months. Replaced with a butyl tube, felt like I was riding on a cheap tire. After gettig another smart tube ride was once again butter smooth. Tpu tubes have me spoiled
Great video, Ken - thanks for sharing your experience! I’ve been using RideNow TPU for a while with great success, but still trying to figure out about patching them. you mentioned the Pirelli patch that comes with the camplast glue, but you didn’t say whether you put them back in to see if they held up. have you put any of the ones you repaired back in and how do they hold up? my concern with any of the ones that use a glue is that you have to wait a while for the glue to set, so not practical for doing roadside repair. however, they’re small enough and cheap enough to keep a couple spares with you, which seems like the best solution overall.
Thanks for viewing. So I have used 1 patched tube with the Pirelli patch and glue system and it has held up fine. Yes doing it on the roadside would be time consuming for sure. I have not done a road side repair in a very long time. I usually carry 2 tubes, butyl in the past TPU now. Since I have been checking my tire pressure before every ride, I too have not had any issues with the TPU tubes. They simply lose air faster allowing them to pinch flat easier than Butyl in my experience. Thanks for sharing and happy riding!
