cyclezen

LOL!!! most anything is better, except maybe a poke in the eye... LOL!

cyclezen

so, UPDATE on the UPDATE...
1st attempt at TPU repair was a 'fail'. blame on the tube? nah, it is what it is... blame the materials or procedure? maybe blame the workman, prolly...
not being a 'give up' kinda guy, I reviewed the options... different patch? some revision on 'technique', improved work method ? possible...
the 'air' was escaping at the very edge of the patch, so it could be leaking from under the patch or there was another v-small puncture...
State of the RideNow TPU tube as noted by others, it's VERY Light and Thin, and very glossy, and has a very slight appearance of a 'ribbed' structure - as if rings of TPU material were molded to each other to form the tube. it's a visual thing, not a textural thing, but it could have a micro 3D affect..

The Park Tools GP2 patch was quite 'firm' on the TPU tube, I've had this patch kit for about 4 yrs and used on patch before, out of the 5, on a butyl tube (which worked great).
I had just ordered another 2 pk of the GP2 patches/kit. I compared the Kit and patches from the Older kit to the Newer Kit - they seem identical.
BUT, I did NOTICE on the package containing the recent bought kits, the product label besides name and what seemed some sort of SKU # all has a note = 'NEW' in caps.
Maybe they looked the same, but maybe Park Tools altered the patch in some fashion - maybe a different adhesive on the NEW.
In any case I had a bear of a time pulling the 1st patch off the TPU tube - it was firmly in place. Being careful to not damage the tube, it took 15 minutes to remove the 1st, leaking patch.\
Then cleaned off the adhesive residue with isopropyl, and 'roughed' up the tube a bit more. It's a very thin TPU material, so I was aware to not 'over-rough' the material.
Cleaned again with isopropyl, and applied a patch from the 'New' Kit...
mounted to wheel/tire and pumped to close to running pressure, which is 72 psi.
This was done yesterday early evening, so now, 18 hours later, the Patch is working and holding air with no perceptible air loss.
So, maybe the Old GP2 patch from 4 yrs ago won;t work on TPU, whereas the NEW patch does/will work...
maybe the workman needs to improve procedure and work...
in any case, the RideNow TPU tubes can be successfully repaired/patched with all considerations for technique, material and workmanship...
so I'm still on-board with TPU and the cheaper Chinese RideNow versions.
Ride On
Yuri
One thing to add - The TPU material, besides being thin, also seems to develop a static charge much easier than butyl. In a very dry environment I could see the tube attracting and picking up dust and small grit, due to this static charge. I believe a critical element is very clean handling of the tube to assure it doesn't hold small grit. Given the thin nature, small grit remaining on the tube could cause a 'wear' puncture much easier than on butyl. So careful handling of the tube, whether at the homework area and at roadside repairs, will be a important part of my procedures.

icemilkcoffee 

Today I tried to unscrew the valve core from my RideNow TPU tube, and it absolutely, resolutely will not budge. I even had the valve stem in a bench vice and tried to unscrew it like that, and all I managed to do was to twist that plastic valve stem all over the place (I'm kind of amazed it didn't break!). But somehow it just refuses to budge.
Anyone else tried to remove the valve cores on these tubes?

digger

I’m older than many of you here, when I was growing up we didn’t have air. If we went anywhere we had to hold our breath.

Sy Reene

Are they reverse threaded? I haven't heard of this, but wouldn't it make sense for valve cores to reverse thread, given that some pumps have threaded chucks?

staehpj1

More likely they just aren't replaceable. I think some brands of TPU tube valves are glued in. That makes some sense with plastic stems.

icemilkcoffee 

on the Aliexpress listing it says ‘removable valve’ though. Typically the non-removable valves don’t even have the flats there. This one has the flats. It just won’t loosen.

icemilkcoffee 

Just for sheets and grins I tried to remove the valve core off of a Pirelli TPU tube, and same thing- despite there being flats on the core . It will not budge. I guess that’s just how these plastic stems are made. The cores appear to be non-removable even if they do have flats on them.

jonathanf2

I switched my TPU tubes to these new ones from AliExpress:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804682104591.html

They weigh-in at 38g and use a threaded alloy valve stem. The base also has a wider rubber seal to help prevent any tears at the valve stem compared to the RideNow tubes. Overall they seem pretty sturdy, but the only downside is that presta valve core isn't removable which will be an issue for deep dish wheels. 50mm depth is the max before needing to use valve extenders.

Between these new TPU tubes and some lightweight Panaracer Agilest slicks I recently picked up, I was able to cut about 7 seconds on a sprint segment I've been trying to best this year.