Exactly those pink ones I have on my 24” racing BMX. They deflate slowly similar to tubeless mtb tires. Had a flat once because of a tiny shard of rock in my tire, which would have happened with any tube (latex tubes would have dramatically exploded). I’d run tubeless if it existed for this wheel size but TPU tubes is the next best thing.
Those AliExpress TPU tubes have gotten much more expensive due to people promoting them. That’s a thing apparently. Happened with those ultralight Kaktus brake rotors too. RideNow TPU tubes are almost in discounted Tubolito territory now. Making those a logical step up. Although I prefer consumables to be not that expensive, reliability has a value too.
BZab_ on
I’m using RideNow ones in gravel bike with absolutely no issues. Didn’t try them on MTB (though I carry 2 on bikepacking trips as spares after some disaster messing up the tubeless setup). Few roadie friends are running them for the 2nd season with no problems. Heard some complaints about poor quality of the valves in Cyclami ones, but haven’t tried them (I carry one as a spare). Installing them needs a little bit of care (pre-pump them a little bit then make sure that they aren’t twisted or pinched anywhere) and that’s it. That said, I can imagine that way greater loads they need to handle during DJing may be too much for them.
Regarding parts from AE, remember that AE work like ebay, it’s an agregator that lets you buy from multiple sellers, most of which are the middle men reselling in lower numbers stuff they grabbed from the Alibaba. Between them there are mixed some shops of the genuine manufacturers, but also there are some shop’s selling rejected items that didn’t pass the quality control or are fakes. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to the reviews of the sellers along with the product’s reviews.
Roadie crowd uses tons of chinese carbon stuff (buying from the companies that are OEM manufacturers also for the western brands). I don’t source many actual parts there – most of the stuff I grab are the accessories: tools, bottle holders, bags, bar ends, lights, grips, tubeless valves, cores and tape, sensors, gloves and so on. The only safety-critical parts I’m using are the pedals. I’m blown away by the amazing cost to quality ratio of their pedals using sealed, triple machine bearings – on sales you can grab them for 12-20 USD. Mzyrh MZ-926 (and clones) for MTBs and some unmarked Meroca ones for other bikes.
Remarkable-Host405 on
Interesting article. Says they work perfectly fine but is too lazy to even try the second one because the first one leaked around the stem. at 1/4 the price of real fancy tubes, seems like a no brainer.
sanjuro_kurosawa on
Considering I have the same tube sitting in my pack for the last 5 years, yeah, I wouldn’t mind carrying a lighter tube if I have a problem with my tubeless. Or even 2 tubes.
If I was made of money, it would be a WTB TPU, a nice setup for $70.
I was hoping to hear good things about these Ali Express tubes, but I rather carry a heavy butyl tube that I know I can rely on than 2 pieces of crap.
ADrenalinnjunky on
Who’s using tubes in a mtb?
crazypirate22 on
Had the RideNow tubes on a commuter bike for a bit. After a couple of months the presta valves start leaking and depletes after a work day. Could be fine for a different use case but was a big problem when I had to get somewhere and the tire let all it air out
6 Comments
Exactly those pink ones I have on my 24” racing BMX. They deflate slowly similar to tubeless mtb tires. Had a flat once because of a tiny shard of rock in my tire, which would have happened with any tube (latex tubes would have dramatically exploded). I’d run tubeless if it existed for this wheel size but TPU tubes is the next best thing.
Those AliExpress TPU tubes have gotten much more expensive due to people promoting them. That’s a thing apparently. Happened with those ultralight Kaktus brake rotors too. RideNow TPU tubes are almost in discounted Tubolito territory now. Making those a logical step up. Although I prefer consumables to be not that expensive, reliability has a value too.
I’m using RideNow ones in gravel bike with absolutely no issues. Didn’t try them on MTB (though I carry 2 on bikepacking trips as spares after some disaster messing up the tubeless setup). Few roadie friends are running them for the 2nd season with no problems. Heard some complaints about poor quality of the valves in Cyclami ones, but haven’t tried them (I carry one as a spare). Installing them needs a little bit of care (pre-pump them a little bit then make sure that they aren’t twisted or pinched anywhere) and that’s it. That said, I can imagine that way greater loads they need to handle during DJing may be too much for them.
Regarding parts from AE, remember that AE work like ebay, it’s an agregator that lets you buy from multiple sellers, most of which are the middle men reselling in lower numbers stuff they grabbed from the Alibaba. Between them there are mixed some shops of the genuine manufacturers, but also there are some shop’s selling rejected items that didn’t pass the quality control or are fakes. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to the reviews of the sellers along with the product’s reviews.
Roadie crowd uses tons of chinese carbon stuff (buying from the companies that are OEM manufacturers also for the western brands). I don’t source many actual parts there – most of the stuff I grab are the accessories: tools, bottle holders, bags, bar ends, lights, grips, tubeless valves, cores and tape, sensors, gloves and so on. The only safety-critical parts I’m using are the pedals. I’m blown away by the amazing cost to quality ratio of their pedals using sealed, triple machine bearings – on sales you can grab them for 12-20 USD. Mzyrh MZ-926 (and clones) for MTBs and some unmarked Meroca ones for other bikes.
Interesting article. Says they work perfectly fine but is too lazy to even try the second one because the first one leaked around the stem. at 1/4 the price of real fancy tubes, seems like a no brainer.
Considering I have the same tube sitting in my pack for the last 5 years, yeah, I wouldn’t mind carrying a lighter tube if I have a problem with my tubeless. Or even 2 tubes.
If I was made of money, it would be a WTB TPU, a nice setup for $70.
I was hoping to hear good things about these Ali Express tubes, but I rather carry a heavy butyl tube that I know I can rely on than 2 pieces of crap.
Who’s using tubes in a mtb?
Had the RideNow tubes on a commuter bike for a bit. After a couple of months the presta valves start leaking and depletes after a work day. Could be fine for a different use case but was a big problem when I had to get somewhere and the tire let all it air out