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After several months of riding TPU tubes of different types, including Tubolito, RideNow and some other no names brands (i.e. Wanban), I don't see myself going back to butyl tubes. TPU are definitely NOT more resistant to punctures but, on the other hand and IMO, they do pick up speed quicker than rubber tubes and maintain that motion longer. Perhaps this is subjective but I am getting PRs on certain climbs and I am not in the best shape (as I was 2-3 years ago.) I do love the compactness but I prefer a metal stem/valve TPU tube so I can use my portable Cycplus inflator. Otherwise, my Cycplus will destroy my RideNow valve. The ride is harsher and sometimes feel a weird tube shift or slip when taking curves at high speed. Just a weird sensation as its a very brief sensation. Thanks for the video!

Thanks for this very useful video. Could anyone confim wether the standard ceramic bearings in the Poweray R13 are full ceramic or hybrid? I'm kinda lost here because I need to replace mine.

I ride with TPU Pirelli and Schwalbe aerothan since 2021, 30 000 km in mountains. Only 1 puncture !

The 'stem' you refer to is called a valve. The stem attaches the bars to the head tube.

The problem with this review is that you said you put cheap TPUs on with cheap new tires, and blamed your rougher ride on the tubes. Probably the rougher ride is due to the cheap tires that have non-supple sidewalls. In fairness to those considering using TPU tubes, it should be mentioned that pricier TPU tubes are of better quality (I use the ones Rene Herse sells) and worth the extra money. And a better tire will work better with a better TPU. If you picked up on problems with TPUs from this review, bear in mind that it's a cheapskate's review. Poor quality = poor results/performance. I use good TPUs w/good quality tires and love the results (about 5,000 mi so far on the road bike). No flats or issues, and way, way better than tubeless. I notice that they don't hold air any better than butyl tubes, but I check the pressure before rolling out on every ride anyway, so topping off is something I'm doing frequently...just part of my cycling routine. Bottom line on this review: you get what you pay for.

Thanks for a really informative video with real experience using those! Just ordered couple of the pink and green ones from AliX :)

Thanks for sharing! Very helpful. I bought a cheap two pack off of Amazon. I also bought the Pirelli patch kit on your recommendation. I’ll be carrying them as insurance during the Kenai 250 bikepacking race in Alaska! Cheers, Christian

TPUs don't lose air. However with TPUs you can get pin sized holes if you don't use rimless tape or Gorilla Tape. These small holes on the inside of the tube will very slowly let air out without you noticing because it's so slow you can't hear anything.

Thanks for the feedback, been considering

Tubular is da shit.

while my wheelset from yoeleo have been good; i will not be doing further business with them based on how dodgy the conversation went; it was only when i was upset through emails that they finally shipped my wheels which arrived in 3 days from asia

@Kenneth Toscano The problem with keeping air could be connected with the valve, not the tube itself. I think I spotted a similar comment from a user of a TPU tubes somewhere.

Am I the only one that puts air in their tire before every ride knowing tubes lose air no matter what type you are riding?

I purchased the Ride now TPU, for over a year now no issues. They ride smoothly with my Continental 5000. He stated they ride rough but it’s the $25 dollar tires he purchased will make it ride rough .

Small. Impact and light but completely useless

Where did you get your bike repair kit attached to your saddle? Thank. you!

You made two mistakes here Kenneth: (1) TPU tubes can't take heat from rim brakes - disc brakes only. (2) And you cannot inflate them more than 5 PSI outside the tire.

hmm amazed that so many put absolutley no air in tubes prior to mounting. No wonder so many get pinch flats

Horrible company, horrible communications, horrible customer service. There are other Chinese cycling brands that sell better, cheaper and more reliable products. I ordered a road wheelset in March, I asked them after a couple weeks when it would ship and I kept getting promised multiple dates that passed. Almost 2 months later I file a dispute same as you, as well as emailing their customer service line threating to take legal action with their local rep. No response to that final email, except finally a tracking number. Shows up at the beginning of May - they sent me GRAVEL wheels! I told them that it's not what I ordered and they sassily tried to gaslight me saying that they were what I ordered, despite sending them pictures of the box and the measurements that didn't line up with their road wheel specs. I flamed them on their local Facebook page and they blocked me lol. Never again. Not surprised by their behavior, just very disappointed. Needless to say I won't bother using these wheels because what's the point - if they can't honor their own order system I can't trust them to honor warranty. Money down the drain, lessons learned, etc etc.

Nice review, but the rider needs to use proper tire pressure,, may I recommend Silca pro tire pressure calculator to give you an exact tire pressure to avoid snake bites

Tip.. the patch holds far better once reinstalled in the tire and inflated .. the high pressure inside and the tire kinda sandwiches it all together. Someone told me the patch kits for swimming pool liners work really well for tpu. Haven’t tested this

It felt rougher because you have FAR too much air in them 45psi for tpu inner tubes

Exactly the same experience as myself, I immediately noticed they ride much harsher, and they ALL suffer pinch flats, the only ones that don’t ride harsh are Tubolito S TPU Tubes, I’m back on Continental Grand Prix Supersonic tubes, they are heavier at 50 grams per tube but I have never had a pinch flat with them and I’ve been using them fir 10 years, they are also way cheaper and tested to roll just as fast as the very best TPU Tube, and better than most TPU Tubes.

Possibly going back to latex. I bought a ten pack of the ride now tpu tubes on Ali last summer, only have 2 left. I ride 150-200 miles weekly on fairly clean roads. The last 4 rides, 3 rear flats with new tubes. (no patching) Latex or butyl give you a softer ride and have better puncture resistance IMO.

Great review. I just purchased a second set of disc wheels from CSC myself. Went with their new oem dt swiss like hubs and pillar wing spokes. 1460g for the set. Would have loved getting them with those cool red hubs. Conti GP 5000 STR’s went on without tire levers! Pro tip - spray some wd40 on that peeling sticker, let it sit a bit and it will rub right off with a kitchen scrubby. Happy riding.

Great review on the wheels. I like that you shared your experience with an older set you owned for thousands of miles.

I bought the green tpu green from Ali express and their rubbish wouldnt recomend.

Ive had good luck with the Victoria TPUs. It feels like the wheels spin up faster for sure.

I bought 4 tpu tubes for £10 from Ali Express....very impressed....100 miles so far with no flats. They feel great as well

Great honest review - thanks! "Marginal gains" 😀👍

I had tubolitos and maan were they faster, riding the same flat loops, I made about 1,2 km/h average faster on about 30km long ride. For some it may not be a lot, but rotational weight is significantly lower, and you can feel it when you spin the wheel. Each tube weights about 40g in comparison to normal butile tube which comes in about 120. I have not noticed ride to be any rougher, maybe because I perceived it as faster and was stoked. Have to mention the massive down side is tubolitos has pretty bad valves, I patrched the tube, but then the valve came off and glueing it didn't help. I purchased set of Pirelli TPU tubes and these have much much better valves.

Started running pirelli p zero smart tubes over a year ago, immediately noticed a smoother ride. Had one tube fail post ride at the spoke hole after a few months. Replaced with a butyl tube, felt like I was riding on a cheap tire. After gettig another smart tube ride was once again butter smooth. Tpu tubes have me spoiled

Never inflate a TPU tube over 3psi when out of a mounted tire.

Great video, Ken - thanks for sharing your experience! I’ve been using RideNow TPU for a while with great success, but still trying to figure out about patching them. you mentioned the Pirelli patch that comes with the camplast glue, but you didn’t say whether you put them back in to see if they held up. have you put any of the ones you repaired back in and how do they hold up? my concern with any of the ones that use a glue is that you have to wait a while for the glue to set, so not practical for doing roadside repair. however, they’re small enough and cheap enough to keep a couple spares with you, which seems like the best solution overall.

you are a good person and father!

Are these wheels and hub still live?

I prefer latex tubes for road and tpu for gravel

Hi, great video. It is helping me to begin fixing my trainer. I am wondering how you removed the black round flywheel cover mentioned at 15:00 ? thanks

Hi, I have a T-6400 and after the first year of ownership, the power readings started to creep up and up. I thought this was due to a conscientious pursuit of a polarized training program on my part. I have now had the T-6400 for about two years. Recently, I put my outdoor bike on the trainer as my dedicated indoor bike that I had been using on the trainer needed service. My outdoor bike has Assioma Duo power meter pedals. When I went on to Zwift, I had the Kinetic power displayed on Zwift and the Assioma power reading displayed on my Garmin head unit. Much to my utter dismay, the Assiomas were reading much lower power (sometimes half as much) than the Kinetic T-6400. After much more investigation, I am confident the Assiomas are correct and the T-6400 is displaying very incorrect power readings. This is despite calibrating the T-6400 on the Kinetic app according to directions, making sure my tire pressures are always at 90 psi when starting a ride, etc. As some of you may know, Kinetic was sold to Magene and has essentially dropped off the face of the planet as a company. There is a Kinetic website, but all they sell is one rebranded cheap Magene trainer. The accessories page is still full of the products mentioned in this video. However, almost every one of those items is listed as "Out of Stock." This includes the $40 circuit board mentioned in the video. So purchasing a replacement circuit board as a possible solution to my problem is not an option. I don't know if the T-6400 has the same internals as the R1. I am going to open up my T-6400 and see if the rail and brass screw system is used in my unit too. If so, I will grease those and see if it helps the power accuracy of my unit. I don't have any problems with the unit dropping out like the creator of this video. My only problem is the completely bogus power readings. But that power inaccuracy really removes a lot of functionality and I may just need to move on and get a KICKR ;) and be done with the Kinetic company. BTW, you can not contact Kinetic via their support site. They will not respond. I also called them several times. They never picked up the phone. I contacted Magene regarding what their plans are concerning supporting Kinetic products. They never responded. I promise to report back IF the grease strategy fixes the power reading problem. If I don't report back, you can assume it did not work and it probably means the circuit board is defective. If only I knew Kinetic was going to abandon ship, I would have bought a circuit board for future repairs. Oh well. P.S. I have looked for a replacement circuit board everywhere...Facebook marketplace, eBay, etc. etc. etc. No luck.

bought 6 cyclami road tubes with patches delivered for £30, these things are amazing but yeah the road sound is very noticeable

I weigh 240 lbs and only run 80 psi, no wonder you feel a rough ride when you could run 70 psi. Also what is the psi max on those carbon rims as mine is 80 psi

You think someone who just knows how to do basic things such as slight gear adjustments, adjusting brakes, put handle bars together, could build this bike? Im worried i wont be able to put it together 😂 but have to learn somehow. Also the no torque specs for anything is concerning lol

Thank you for this. Hadn’t considered these lately. Been keeping “Slime” tubes as spares. I haven’t had near the flats that I used to get. I attribute that to riding bike specific trails instead of the urban, ghetto, and industrial areas that I used to. I do ride several miles, 15-25, so extra doo dads for repairs is a must. I don’t nit pick weight either, but lighter options can keep the overall sum from becoming a burden. I’m unlikely to switch to these, but will try them as spares. 👍😎

Here is my experience with TPU Ridenow tubes (pink ones) in my Bontrager 32mm clinchers. Since it isn't rideable here in winter, I have tested them without riding and get to the conclusion that I will never get far outside with those tubes. Super lightweight is appealing for sure at 36g, that's 1/3 of a butyl tube. Saving 150g for both tubes is awesome but what about reliability? I installed 4 TPU's, none of them was satisfactory. 4 failed out of 4 ! Without pinching it at the installation, 2 got pinholes (so tiny, almost invisible) after inflating, the other 2 were leaking at the valve. Problems were observed not instantly but overnight or several days after with dramatic lost of pressure. I wouldn't go out with such unreliable tubes and probable lack of pressure through a 2-3 hour ride. I didn't test other TPU brands but the ones with metal stem may be better, I don't know?

Hello, I have had a problem with the 9mm adapters, I have lost the one on the cassette part, and I was to see if you could send me the measurements, so I can make an identical one. Thank you so much!! Kinetic R1

Another point to note is that the TPU tepair patches need a completely clean surface so they can adhere to the tube properly, they sometimes come with alcohol wipes or you can always spray with isopropyl alcohol and wipe off

I'm riding continental grand sport race from Ali express. Much better than Hutchison crap....and cheap! 😂

Is it possible to put a ultegra groupset on a r13 hub?

Watch your rim tape as these will creep into the spoke holes and then puncture. Also thorns. They are so thin. I now have one on the front and two as spares but the rear tube is the more tried and tough and easier to patch butyl. They did make the wheels lighter and faster but I'm not a racer and I hate flats out on the road.

I bought same brand and for same reason, which was space saving. For me one noticable difference was handling. I didn't felt difference in ride quality, but what I felt immediately was that they are way lighter then normal tubes and as such wheel have less mass to rotate, therefore my bike feel more agile, more nimble. I don't have a clue whether they are faster though..