Anyone running TPU inner tubes yet?

[jimo746]

I've been using those Ridenow (AliExpress) Tpu tubes on my road bike since May last year, think I saw them mentioned on the Tracevelo YouTube channel., I haven't done a lot of miles on them tbh, but maybe I've been lucky as I've had no issues yet.
Yes they lose air over time, but then I check the pressure before a ride anyway.
Can't say I can feel any difference in the ride quality.
Can't say I can feel the weight saving either.

 

[novocaine]

Aksium wheelset so not high end but not crap, and vittoria zaffiros. wouldn't say they were on a klunker myself but fair enough. continental Granprix 5000 were the replacement, have since gone back to zaffiros as they are half the price and it wasn't worth it.

zafs are 280 gp are 230. 50g a wheel, that change was more obvious than with the 100g in the inner tube. the GP is a great race tyre, but I preferred the zafs for wet riding.

stand by my original statement, snake oil, the only saving TPU has is how easy it is to manufacture.

 

[Imlach]

I refuse to believe anyone can feel a 100g difference

 

[novocaine]

I refuse to believe anyone can feel a 100g difference

Depends where she sits......

 

[bikeworkshop]

Id expect the gp5000 to feel lighter than a zaffiro, its a lot nicer tyre, not just the weight.
Better rubber
Finer casing
Flexible sidewall.
Tyre quality is often overlooked, but makes a massive difference to ride quality.
Cheap tyres are horrible.
Midrange stuff is most effective.
Fancy stuff feels great - I once used a race quality pair of michelin tyres, wore them out in 300 miles, but boy did they feel nice!
On that bike, 100g on the wheel is as clear as day.

 

[hamster]

Agreed, GP4000sii 23C were worth 1-2 minutes on my lunchtime loop over GP4Seasons 23C - AND they were way more comfortable. I've not done the direct comparison with GP5000. That was the average of 5+ rides on each, not just a single run.

I've bought the Aussie TPU tubes from https://www.tpubiketubes.com/ as I was chary about the cheap Chinese stuff. Apparently they will patch with ParkGP2 glueless patches...we'll see. Maybe I've been diddled, but 28mm GP5000s compared to 23mm has been a revelation.

 

[novocaine]

Id expect the gp5000 to feel lighter than a zaffiro, its a lot nicer tyre, not just the weight.
Better rubber
Finer casing
Flexible sidewall.
Tyre quality is often overlooked, but makes a massive difference to ride quality.
Cheap tyres are horrible.
Midrange stuff is most effective.
Fancy stuff feels great - I once used a race quality pair of michelin tyres, wore them out in 300 miles, but boy did they feel nice!
On that bike, 100g on the wheel is as clear as day.

This is what I'm saying. Sod the tube, change the tyre.
Wouldn't say better rubber myself, but light and lower carcass thread count so they flex more vertically. Sidewall is more flexible on the zafs. The zafs are still my go to tire, before that is was Michelin lithiums for training.

I rode tubs when racing, silly money but a different feel all together. Then went to michilian Pro 4s. No good in the wet, but in thet dry they flew.

These days I want a tyre that will just work, no matter the weather, hence the zafs.

 

[Russell]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hour-record-broken-by-sosenka-in-moscow/
“In his attempt, Sosenka was using a 3.2 kg wheel and 190 mm cranks, with his bike weighing a total of 9.8 kg. The reason for the heavy wheel was that although it was harder to get up to speed, it was easy to maintain it.”

Different strokes for different folks. People talk a lot of crap about wheel weights and bicycle weight in general!

 

[7Speed]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hour-record-broken-by-sosenka-in-moscow/
“In his attempt, Sosenka was using a 3.2 kg wheel and 190 mm cranks, with his bike weighing a total of 9.8 kg. The reason for the heavy wheel was that although it was harder to get up to speed, it was easy to maintain it.”

Different strokes for different folks. People talk a lot of crap about wheel weights and bicycle weight in general!

It’s a track bike. Weight of bike matters if accelerating or climbing but not at constant speed. For you and me that’s normal use (assuming you are not a Tester from Norfolk or a Track Jock).

The first place to look for weight savings is the rider…but that’s isn’t so much fun/easy.

 

[Rapparee87]

On tubs since 1981. After reading all the foregoing I'll stick with them thanks...

Buy 'em, stick 'em, pump 'em, ride'em, if puncture no fix'em, chuck 'em ... Repeat...