Tubolito Tubes

[ianfitz]

agree with that - a lesson i learned locally* but still a pain in the arse] when a tyre punctured but then sealed without enough air in it and i could neither undo the vale core toinflate nor the nut to take out the valve

Ebay do a CNC cheap one [ china import] weight about 10 g and does both or the woolftooth chain tool also does both [ and is a tyre lever]


* bottom of wilderwoods as the path, behind the houses, reaches rivvy school - seeing as you are a local you will know it ]

Many multitools with chain splitters have a valve removal tool. nearly all the Lezyne ones for example.

[benp1]

Had a look at these in ghyllside cycles, the guy there was very complimentary about them and was completely sold

Fed back the feedback on here, he said the lightweight tubolitos weren't very good (s tubo ones with a removable valve core) but the proper ones were great

For those that had failures, which ones were you using?

[whitestone]

Had a look at these in ghyllside cycles, the guy there was very complimentary about them and was completely sold

Fed back the feedback on here, he said the lightweight tubolitos weren't very good (s tubo ones with a removable valve core) but the proper ones were great

For those that had failures, which ones were you using?

Just checked - mine is the standard.

[Javi]

Oh no, tubolitos. Stay away!
I had them for the mtb and for the road gravel bikes and for me they are utter garbage. They aren't as tough as they claim, leak air around the valve area.
Couldn't pump air at the BB300 and for the North Cape to Tarifa event last summer they quickly developed slow punctures and I could only pump them using air from petrol stations. My pump couldn't do it as it had to be threaded to the valve and the design didn't really allow that connection properly. Tubes for the mtb were bought 15 months ago and road ones less than a year ago. Don't know the versions, probably the standard ones.
Hope they have learnt from their mistakes and have updated the flaws because they take no space and are pretty light.

[lune ranger]

The one I used successfully was a standard 29+ version.
Held air for 2 days of riding and was still inflated a few days later when it was removed.

[Richard G]

Mine had removable valve cores I believe. Wasn't even aware they did different versions.

[FLV]

Halo valves come with a little tool on the stem, that red thing in the pic, turn it sideways and use as a mini tool. served me well

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Halo-Tubeless- ... 204108.htm

[whitestone]

Holy thread resurrection Batman

In one of those "I must get round to checking that" moments I decided to see just what damage my Tubolito had suffered and what potential repairs might resurrect it. After all it weren't cheap and for one use it would have turned out bloomin' expensive

A test inflate and it's not even holding air for a second. The reason why is obvious - there's a ruddy hole in it! I didn't have any McNett repair/tenacious tape but I did have some Topeak self-adhesive patches. Would they work? Yes they do!

Antiseptic wipe the tube to clean it, roughen up with sandpaper, on with patch and press for a minute. And inflate. Except there's a hissing sound

Seven pin-prick holes and patches later the tube stays inflated I used both Topeak and Park GP-2 patches, both seem to work OK. Only problem is that the tube is now 3g heavier due to all the patches! Actually not quite true, the larger hole might need a larger patch of McNett tape as the edges of the hole haven't bonded to the patch - the patches are clear so you can see the tube through them.

So obviously my tyre had more thorns in that I'd been able to locate by running my fingers around the inside (several times). Because I'd been tubeless the sealant had done its job without me noticing. The thorns will have been "inside" the carcase and only pressed out so that they damaged the tube when that part of the tyre was pushed against a stone or edge retracting back so they couldn't be found. I don't think that's a problem with the Tubolito per se but with all tubes being added to a tubeless tyre.

The lesson seems to be that if you run tubeless you really need to commit to it as hidden or embedded thorns and sharps will damage any tube so they really are "emergency only" use.

[benp1]

Do you think that the tubolite tube is maybe thinner than a normal inner tube so is more susceptible to puncture in that way?

[whitestone]

Well they are thinner (or seem to be) so if a thorn protrudes by say 0.5mm then it is likely to properly puncture the Tubolito whereas it won't go all the way through a normal tube.

Having said that Cath and I were out for a road ride a couple of years ago and she got puncture after puncture - nothing on the inside of the tube. By the third one she was ready to go home but I was looking at the outer of the tyre and noticed a cut on the running surface, inside this was a sliver of metal. Unless you bent the tyre carcase you didn't even notice the cut it was that small. I removed the shard and no more punctures so it was obviously just poking through when that exact point of the tyre hit a stone, puncturing the tube then retracting. The tyre was very thin so was due for replacement anyway.

[ScotRoutes]

I'm sure most/all of you will know this but running a tissue paper around the inside of a tyre will often highlight any thorns etc. - you'll pull a little thread of tissue paper on each one.

[Roo]

I'm sure most/all of you will know this but running a tissue paper around the inside of a tyre will often highlight any thorns etc. - you'll pull a little thread of tissue paper on each one.

I've not heard of that before but will now try to remember and do it thanks.

[Richard G]

I can't remember the last time I was able to ride in dry enough weather to have a tissue stay in one piece.