I only used TPU tubes once and i had the valves fail in both of them after a few rides. Then I switched to tubeless and never looked back.
this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2025
24 points (100.0% liked)
Bicycling
2841 readers
48 users here now
A community for those who enjoy bicycling for any reason— utility, recreation, sport, or whatever!
Post your questions, experiences, knowledge, pictures, news, links, and (civil) rants.
Rules (to be added on an as-needed basis)
- Comments and posts should be respectful and productive.
- No ads or commercial spam, including linking to your own monetized content.
- Linked content should be as unburdened by ads and trackers as possible.
Welcome!
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
What's the context? For example, did they fail by snapping? Or did they fail by not holding air? Or did they melt?
The valve heads would come loose from the stems, which were just flimsy plastic.
That sucks. The newer TPU tubes use metal stems and removable valves, which should improve reliability and durability.
Earlier TPU tubes had all kinds of problems, which is why I avoided them.
TPU tubes are objectively faster than butyl tubes, due to reduced rolling resistance and they are also about 100g lighter per tube. 300g weight saving (100g per wheel, plus one spare tube) is not too shabby and even with the more expensive brands (I use the Pirelli ones) TPU tubes are probably the cheapest way to save that kind of weight on your bike. The effect is definitely quite noticable imho, but if you're going 5-10km/h faster, then I doubt the gains are 100% from the inner tubes.
I use TPU tubes on both my road and my gravel bike and would not consider going back to butyl. Tubeless would probably be even better, especially for gravel, but I'm not ready to commit to that.
I put TPU tubes in my road bikes a while back, and I've tried a few different brands: Spingo, RideNow, and Wheelo, all from Amazon. I think I've had 16 or 20 total. My thoughts:
- I notice it most when I'm turning the handlebars at speed - there's less rotating mass, so it turns more easily.
- I don't notice much difference in regular riding, maybe a little faster acceleration and easier climbing. Note they might require a bit more energy to keep them rolling at "cruising speed" because there's less inertia. (I do not have a power meter to check this kind of thing.)
- I've had mixed success with them:
- I've broken valves on a few of them, mostly Spingo brand. The valve stems are plastic. For the most part, I think I was pushing too hard on them because of a pump valve that was going bad and leaking, but I had one fail from another brand, even when I was being very careful and the pump valve was replaced.
- I've had no luck with patches lasting, even the ones some brands include. Probably okay to get you home, but apparently not much more than that. I've only tried one or two though.
- I love the small size in my saddle bag.
- They do seem to let CO2 out more quickly than butyl tubes. Keep that in mind if you use CO2 to inflate them in an emergency.
- I've heard rumors that some of the plastic valves don't like the cold CO2 inflation - maybe that contributed to my broken valves. I couldn't find anything definitive in the documentation for the brands, though.
Overall I do like them, and I keep buying them, but it's not a clear-cut win, in my experience.
That's a great overview. I don't use CO2, and likely never will, so that's a few problems out of the way. LOL
Honestly, as long as these are as reliable as the butyl tubes have been, then I'll be happy. The performance gains are a bonus. The size/weight advantages are a huge plus, too.
I don't think so. I think they're better but it's a very small percentage in terms of times. Close to latex IIRC.
I do believe there is a solid benefit in comfort compared to typical butyl with supple tires but that's pretty subjective.
The only downside in my mind is they're slightly loud. I'm very happy with them, and recently had a puncture and was happy that the patch seems to hold.
I don’t think so. I think they’re better but it’s a very small percentage in terms of times. Close to latex IIRC.
They are supposed to bring watt savings, which could mean faster speeds at the same effort, or the same speed with less effort. I have noticed it, especially at higher speed.
And the rotational weight savings seems to also make a difference in climbs. Easier to push up climbs, and still faster than before.
I do believe there is a solid benefit in comfort compared to typical butyl with supple tires but that’s pretty subjective.
Yes! Even with more pressure (they felt way too squishy at the same pressure I was running before), they are still more comfortable.
The only downside in my mind is they’re slightly loud. I’m very happy with them, and recently had a puncture and was happy that the patch seems to hold.
I love the sound! LOL It's different, and slightly unnerving, but pretty cool.
I'm not sure if I'll be putting TPU tubes in my old MTB, which I ride all year. If the ones in my gravel bike hold out well until November, I may just go for it!
Well yes they are more efficient than butyl for drag and weight, it's just a very small amount that would be hard to detect. And it's only for acceleration that rotational weight counts extra - up to double at the tire edge. Climbing at constant speed it is just simple weight.
And if course on the flat at constant speed weight is irrelevant, which is why a few kg of weight has a small effect on times, and 100-300g less tube weight is barely measurable, being a fraction of one percent better some of the time.
No experience with TPU.
They should only have significant effect during acceleration and deceleration. Once the wheel is spinning, whatever mass it is has stored the energy needed to spin it up so the mass doesn't affect the energy needed to keep it spinnig. Air drag tries to slow it down but that only acts on the outside of the tire which hasn't changed.
Acceleration takes a lot of energy and weight reduction in the wheels is very noticeable. I've no idea what the savings are in watts, but perhaps the energy saved during acceleration leaves more available for cruising? I don't know if you're saving enough for an extra 5-10kph at cruising speed, given that air drag grows exponentially. 5-10kph on top of 30kph is a lot, and on top of 40 - exponentially more.
Which leads me to the psychological boost. You're high on an upgrade and you push like a mf. We've all experienced the power boost you get evrery time you click the lever of a new high end shifter!
Probably a combination of those.
Post in time with reliability observations. How much top up they need in comparison to butyl, etc.
Tires fitted with TPU tubes supposedly have measurably lower rolling resistance, something to do with how the tire and tube interact when the tire is deforming under compression
Huh, and that can reduce energy even while cruising then?
No experience with TPU.
"Yet" 😁
Which leads me to the psychological boost. You’re high on an upgrade and you push like a mf.
I was thinking that at first, but then I went out and did it again, then again. Most of these efforts are definitely not pushing it at all... I'm able to sing while breaking personal bests, and this is all in the hoods, not trying to be fast!
But I'm sure there is some psychological push, too. It's hard to control for everything when riding in the real world.
I'll see if this can be sustained over the next several months. I do have a 30km loop that I've specifically planned for benchmarking, so that would be nice to test on.
Don't forget that you're also getting better at cycling. So there would be improvement over time even if you hadn't changed to tpu tubes.
Are you talking about a 5-10 increase in your average speed or in specific segments?
Average overall speeds are up, but not by that amount since it's urban riding with lots of things bringing that number down (stop signs, red lights, pedestrians on shared paths, etc.)
But for segments where I can just go, speeds are considerably faster.