put on some new to market tpu tubes
not interested in fractions of watts, or fractions of lower rolling resistance they say are afforded by the material. that data didn't really attract me to the tubes in the first place.
i do endurance loops for 20-40 miles and the landscapes i ride around have a lot of grades. no where near flat. long-ish rides, unavoidable debris on some roads … need something that is more puncture resistant than butyl
with my outgoing tubes standard butyl up front thorn resistant butyl out back - did fine on most of my rides. maybe with tpu might notice an improvement, will see.
the main selling point for me - tpu is really tough compared to butyl. i took a .7 mechanical pencil tip to some sample material used as a rubber band for the tubes … would not pierce it and the material didnt even show a mark where i applied pressure. the same test on a butyl sample and the wall was pierced.
side benefit of the swap is that the ride weight is lower by 1 to 1-1/4 pounds which doesn't hurt anything.
in context here, my choice is to pay a little more per tube and wind up on the side of the road with a flat less often or not at all. so it’s worth the extra cost in that regard and if they ever do puncture, they can be patched.
not interested in fractions of watts, or fractions of lower rolling resistance they say are afforded by the material. that data didn't really attract me to the tubes in the first place.
i do endurance loops for 20-40 miles and the landscapes i ride around have a lot of grades. no where near flat. long-ish rides, unavoidable debris on some roads … need something that is more puncture resistant than butyl
with my outgoing tubes standard butyl up front thorn resistant butyl out back - did fine on most of my rides. maybe with tpu might notice an improvement, will see.
the main selling point for me - tpu is really tough compared to butyl. i took a .7 mechanical pencil tip to some sample material used as a rubber band for the tubes … would not pierce it and the material didnt even show a mark where i applied pressure. the same test on a butyl sample and the wall was pierced.
side benefit of the swap is that the ride weight is lower by 1 to 1-1/4 pounds which doesn't hurt anything.
in context here, my choice is to pay a little more per tube and wind up on the side of the road with a flat less often or not at all. so it’s worth the extra cost in that regard and if they ever do puncture, they can be patched.
