TPU punctures

[mcteague]

I've had a few punctures with TPU tubes, about the same frequency as butyl, but find them much more difficult to patch. The other day I got a nail in the tire and the tube always seems to have the hole right at the folded edge of the tube and with a ragged hole. I know TPU has little stretch and holds it's shape but, at this point, they seem great except for patching.

Tim

[glepore]

My issue, although infrequent, hasn't been punctures but unexplained sudden slow leaks-tpu seems to hold air much better than latex and as good as butyl, but some develop overnight pressure loss (significant) out of nowhere after a few months of use. Not worth trying to track down to patch, I just replace.

[mcteague]

Originally Posted by glepore

My issue, although infrequent, hasn't been punctures but unexplained sudden slow leaks-tpu seems to hold air much better than latex and as good as butyl, but some develop overnight pressure loss (significant) out of nowhere after a few months of use. Not worth trying to track down to patch, I just replace.

Most of the mystery leaks seem to be on tubes with plastic valves. The Cyclami tubes I've been using have metal valves hold air just fine...except for nails!

Tim

[Black Dog]

Lordgun sells patch kits for TPU tubes made by rema tiptop. They are made in Germany and they work very well for permanent repairs. They come with the proper glue (Camplast).

[quattro]

I had been riding two Vittoria flu tubes on my road bike for over a year without issues, no flats, no leaks, had really been enjoying them. Last weekend after a ride a put by bike in my car, it was about 80 degrees outside, got hot in the car. When I got home both tires were flat. Pumped them up, will not hold air. Contacted Vittoria and they said yes, do not store in a hot car. They would not make a warranty replacement. So, just an fyi, don’t store wheels wilted tpu tubes in a hot place, they will fail.

[mcteague]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

Lordgun sells patch kits for TPU tubes made by rema tiptop. They are made in Germany and they work very well for permanent repairs. They come with the proper glue (Camplast).

It’s not a question of patch kits. My issue is how TPU tubes seem to crease and wrinkle around the puncture. That makes any patch difficult to properly adhere.

Tim

[Mark McM]

My experience with TPU tubes hasn't been very positive so far. Not long ago I installed a pair of Vittoria Ultra Light Speed 700x25-30c TPU tubes into Continental GP5000 700x25c tires mounted on 21mm interior width rims (inflated width 27mm). This was my first experience using TPU tubes.

On the the third ride, the front tube flatted. Removing the tube found a hole next to where the valve attaches to the tube. On the fourth ride, the the rear tube flatted, with another hole next to the valve attachment. Before installing the tube, I did notice a little bit of puckering in the tube where the valve portion was "welded" into the tube, and the holes developed at the puckering. After flatting, the material around the other pucker points appeared to be stretched out.

I guess these holes can be chalked up to poor quality control, but it isn't a good sign for the robustness of thin TPU tubes.

[Hank Scorpio]

To pile on I had a FOSS tpu tube fail on my trainer bike on the front wheel. I don’t how it happened. I used the supplied rim tape and everything. When I removed the tube it looked like it creeped into one of the spoke hole and then blammo. When I inspected the rim and tape everything seemed in place with no signs of the tape migrating. Puzzled

[jimoots]

TPU tubes are prone to pinch flats / snakebites if you don't run enough pressure.

I am a bit lazy with tyre pressure. Typically I'd pump up a butyl tube to 80psi and leave it for 3-4-5-6 days before pumping back up. Over that time it might drop to 50psi. At 62-63kg I'm pretty light so somewhere between 50 and 80 is likely to be the optimal tyre pressure haha!

The same behaviour with TPU tubes found me pinch flatting on relatively minor potholes.

One of the odd behaviours I found was that you could hit a pothole and then sometimes as much as 10 minutes could pass before the tube would fail.

Happened regularly enough for me to realise the issue and was fixed easily enough by just making sure I had 70+ psi in the tube.

All that said I've had a pretty good experience with Tubolito, Revoloop, Michelin and now most recently using the cheaper RideNow ones without any real issues.

[54ny77]

the easiest solution.....toss it and use a new one.

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by 54ny77

the easiest solution.....toss it and use a butyl or latex tube.

fixed it for you..

[johnniecakes]

Originally Posted by 54ny77

the easiest solution.....toss it and use a new one.

This is my solution. Life is to short to mess with fixing tubes

[JMT3]

I use them and another I don’t patch I just replace with new tube here. Very good life, hold air much better than latex and ride nice. I can afford to just pitch it and spend my time riding instead of maintenance. I do what is necessary and move on.

[Alistair]

Until the QC and price for TPU tubes settles down a bit, I'm sticking to cheap butyl in my road bike and tubeless on the gravel and off-road bikes. I have some TPU spares for the mountain bikes, because weight/size, but can't imagine relying on them long-term given the horror stories I've seen here and elsewhere.

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by Alistair

Until the QC and price for TPU tubes settles down a bit, I'm sticking to cheap butyl in my road bike and tubeless on the gravel and off-road bikes. I have some TPU spares for the mountain bikes, because weight/size, but can't imagine relying on them long-term given the horror stories I've seen here and elsewhere.

Are all TPU tubes the same quality? Certainly there are expensive ones and cheap ones. I would imagine that the expensive ones are better quality, but have no proof of this.