TPU tubes, rim-brakes, a 4500ft descent -- and a near epic self-own.. #facepalm

[Clean39T]

The last month has been pretty chaotic for me - most of my cycling stuff is packed away and in getting a bike ready for my work trip to Utah I inadvertently put the set of Vittoria Corsa G 30mms off my departed BMC SLR01 over onto my Kirk JKS and left the tubolito TPU tubes in them.. didn't even think about the fact that the BMC was disc and the Kirk is running Fulcrum Zero Nite C17 rim-brake wheels.

Well - arrived in UT yesterday to extreme thunderstorms and rain, so I didn't get out after the flight in.. and had to get up early (for me) and target an area that was supposed to not get more thunderstorms until late afternoon - which had me headed to Payson from Midway to do the Nebo Road climb as an out n' back. It's roughly 21-23mi up, climbing almost 5,000ft to top out around 9,500ft after some final miles rolling up and down along the ridge following the summit proper and headed to the final slopes of Mt. Nebo.

The climb up was great. I didn't have time to swap chainrings, so I had a 39.53 up front and 11-34 in the rear, with a new CeramicSpeed coated chain. It all felt incredible. The 30mm tires were great, though I could have ridden 25s no problem - the road surface is excellent and recently repaved in some areas. It's a mix of consistent 8-10% grades and some rolling easier bits in between. I was able to keep at/under threshold the whole way up and didn't blow up, which was definitely on the table with my current fitness.

So, made it up in 2.5-hrs w a couple quick photo stops, saw the wind picking up and clouds getting taller and darker, and turned back for the downhill. I knew I needed to not ride the brakes too hard but between the wind and not knowing the road and the 8-10% downgrades and curves, I was on and off them pretty stiffly - moreso as I got further down and the rolling part was behind me.

At some point things started feeling loose in the back and then bam, 100% flat -- some weight shifting and hard front braking took me from 30+ mph to zero without incident. Pulled the tubolito out and didn't see anything catastrophic. Didn't see anything in the tire either. So I popped in the Cyclami TPU tube I keep as a spare, nursed C02 into it bit by bit with short bursts, even though these tubes have full metal stems.

Thought all was fine and took off again, only to have the same thing happen a few miles later after some steeper grades leading into hairpins had me braking pretty hard. At that point I was done - stuck out my thumb and had a hunter in Tundra pull over to give me a ride down to the bottom and my car. We were definitely the odd-couple -- me in a multi-colored Rapha kit, him in full brush-camo fresh off a walk-in deer hunt. Nice gent though, and very much appreciated.

All told - I'm very fortunate the two tubes that failed were on the rear not the front, and didn't fail catastrophically when someone was passing me or I was banked over in a turn.

Getting back and recovered, I realize what a ridiculous self-own it was to run those tubes in that scenario. I got lucky - and I'm definitely headed to the Trek store in Midway to buy some thick butyl bois for the rest of the trip! Because of course I forgot to pack extra tubes.. lolz.

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[AngryScientist]

Interesting. Dont know much about these fancy new $35 tubes - they don't take heat well, is that the idea?

Only time I have ever overheated a (latex) tube was Devil's Kitchen in the Catskills, because I stupidly rode it the wrong way and was doing some nasty descending.

Glad to hear you were able to keep the rubber as the only thing meeting the road, and great that you enjoyed the climb.

[EB]

Weird - I know some TPU tubes are sensitive to heat, but the Tubolito road tubes are advertised as being both rim and disc brake compatible - dunno about your spare though. I guess this means they aren’t as compatible as tubolito claims.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by EB

Weird - I know some TPU tubes are sensitive to heat, but the Tubolito road tubes are advertised as being both rim and disc brake compatible - dunno about your spare though. I guess this means they aren’t as compatible as tubolito claims.

It's possible I've got correlation not causation here -- always tough to say -- but without finding a gash in the tire, it's the logical conclusion given the terrain.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

Interesting. Dont know much about these fancy new $35 tubes - they don't take heat well, is that the idea?

Only time I have ever overheated a (latex) tube was Devil's Kitchen in the Catskills, because I stupidly rode it the wrong way and was doing some nasty descending.

Glad to hear you were able to keep the rubber as the only thing meeting the road, and great that you enjoyed the climb.

Funny synchronicity -- there's a "Devil's Kitchen" a couple of miles after where I turned around today.. I stopped at an overlook and someone in a car said there was a motorcycle wreck around the corner where there was a mudslide from the thunderstorms/rain the night before and I didn't want to see that.

Yeah, I think TPU and rim-brakes are fine for most of the riding I do -- but 100% not fine for riding in the true mountains.. so, it's back to latex or butyl - or more likely bringing a disc brake bike to these knife fights. Which I would have, but I don't have my Pursuit built back up yet - and I'm running a two-bike garage at the moment.

[Matt92037]

As you said, lucky it was not the front! Enjoy your time in Midway, I love that area.

Once you change out the tubes head up the road to Park City and add the Guardsman Pass climb to your portfolio. Last time I did it, it rained a bit but was still fun.

[robt57]

Whew!

Are you saying you had the disc only Tubolito S-Road 23gram tubes on board?

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by Matt92037

As you said, lucky it was not the front! Enjoy your time in Midway, I love that area.

Once you change out the tubes head up the road to Park City and add the Guardsman Pass climb to your portfolio. Last time I did it, it rained a bit but was still fun.

Review the route so you know where the one horseshoe curve is. It comes on you fast. Only place I've ever had smoke coming off my front caliper after overcooking the turn 2 years in a row during an event.

If you want a real climb come on up north and ride Powder Mt. One of the top climbs in the country.

Oh and welcome back to Utah. Based on your Emigration Canyon report last time I've starting using that route to get back and forth to the VA Hospital. Can't believe I've lived here all these years and hadn't driven that.

[p nut]

If you’re in Midway, head up Pine Canyon road up to Guardsman Pass. It’s a thigh burner and heart thumper.
Or drive up to Kamas and do Mirror Lake Hwy.

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by p nut

If you’re in Midway, head up Pine Canyon road up to Guardsman Pass. It’s a thigh burner and heart thumper.
Or drive up to Kamas and do Mirror Lake Hwy.

Mirror Lake Hwy is a gem. It's one of the reasons I returned to Utah to retire and die 20 years ago.

All of these taken with yards of the Highway:















Dang, I need to find this slide again and print it. Always been a favorite even though I shot it over 30 years ago.



These aren't even the good stuff, just a sample from stuff on my website.

[mhespenheide]

I was seriously just thinking that I hadn't seen much activity from you online recently and that I needed to reach out. Glad to hear you're getting out.

Nebo is a great climb, either from the south side or north side. Where else are you headed in UT?

[robt57]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

left the tubolito TPU tubes in them.. didn't even think about the fact that the BMC was disc and the Kirk is running Fulcrum Zero Nite C17 rim-brake wheels.
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Whew! Glad this is not super bad news to be sure and you got lucky in a few ways considering.

>>Are you saying you had the disc only Tubolito S-Road 23gram tubes on board?

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

The last month has been pretty chaotic for me - most of my cycling stuff is packed away and in getting a bike ready for my work trip to Utah I inadvertently put the set of Vittoria Corsa G 30mms off my departed BMC SLR01 over onto my Kirk JKS and left the tubolito TPU tubes in them.. didn't even think about the fact that the BMC was disc and the Kirk is running Fulcrum Zero Nite C17 rim-brake wheels.

Well - arrived in UT yesterday to extreme thunderstorms and rain, so I didn't get out after the flight in.. and had to get up early (for me) and target an area that was supposed to not get more thunderstorms until late afternoon - which had me headed to Payson from Midway to do the Nebo Road climb as an out n' back. It's roughly 21-23mi up, climbing almost 5,000ft to top out around 9,500ft after some final miles rolling up and down along the ridge following the summit proper and headed to the final slopes of Mt. Nebo.

The climb up was great. I didn't have time to swap chainrings, so I had a 39.53 up front and 11-34 in the rear, with a new CeramicSpeed coated chain. It all felt incredible. The 30mm tires were great, though I could have ridden 25s no problem - the road surface is excellent and recently repaved in some areas. It's a mix of consistent 8-10% grades and some rolling easier bits in between. I was able to keep at/under threshold the whole way up and didn't blow up, which was definitely on the table with my current fitness.

So, made it up in 2.5-hrs w a couple quick photo stops, saw the wind picking up and clouds getting taller and darker, and turned back for the downhill. I knew I needed to not ride the brakes too hard but between the wind and not knowing the road and the 8-10% downgrades and curves, I was on and off them pretty stiffly - moreso as I got further down and the rolling part was behind me.

At some point things started feeling loose in the back and then bam, 100% flat -- some weight shifting and hard front braking took me from 30+ mph to zero without incident. Pulled the tubolito out and didn't see anything catastrophic. Didn't see anything in the tire either. So I popped in the Cyclami TPU tube I keep as a spare, nursed C02 into it bit by bit with short bursts, even though these tubes have full metal stems.

Thought all was fine and took off again, only to have the same thing happen a few miles later after some steeper grades leading into hairpins had me braking pretty hard. At that point I was done - stuck out my thumb and had a hunter in Tundra pull over to give me a ride down to the bottom and my car. We were definitely the odd-couple -- me in a multi-colored Rapha kit, him in full brush-camo fresh off a walk-in deer hunt. Nice gent though, and very much appreciated.

All told - I'm very fortunate the two tubes that failed were on the rear not the front, and didn't fail catastrophically when someone was passing me or I was banked over in a turn.

Getting back and recovered, I realize what a ridiculous self-own it was to run those tubes in that scenario. I got lucky - and I'm definitely headed to the Trek store in Midway to buy some thick butyl bois for the rest of the trip! Because of course I forgot to pack extra tubes.. lolz.

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Beautiful scenery!

[ojingoh]

Glad you made it back alive. Been thinking about TPU a lot in my discless off-road bike, nice reminder.

I miss the high Uintahs.

[54ny77]

first time i've ever read this about tpu tubes. bummer to hear.

i use both brands mentioned.