Tubeless tyres vs TPU inner tubes - which is best for you?

We dive into the pros and cons of TPU inner tubes, and tubeless tyres.

Liam Mercer

May 5 2025

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[Sponsored by Tubolito]

Converting your tyres to tubeless brings a whole host of benefits to your bike, so much so that we recommend anyone who hasn’t yet made the upgrade to do so as soon as possible. However, there’s an alternative that is often overlooked – the TPU tube. TPU tubes provide an excellent bridge between the standard inner tube and a tubeless setup in many more ways than one, so let’s compare the two.

What is a TPU inner tube?

Everyone knows what an inner tube is, so we’re not going to dive right into the details there, but things get a little more interesting when we start talking TPU tubes or thermoplastic polyurethane tubes to be precise. Compared to a regular butyl tube, the TPU alternative sheds a whole load of grams while providing a handful of significant benefits.

Because they’re made of plastic, they are much thinner yet don’t sacrifice puncture protection. TPU tubes fend off punctures much better than butyl tubes. Then, because they’re thinner, there’s less rolling resistance as the plastic tube does a better job of conforming around bumps. As they’re smaller, they’re also a great alternative if you’re looking to carry a spare tube (or multiple) on your bike or in your bag. Aside from the price, with TPUs costing around £20 a pop compared to a £5 butyl tube, there’s little reason why you shouldn’t be running TPUs over traditional butyl tubes.

TPU tubes were pioneered by Tubolito, a brand with founders who worked for a company working on loudspeakers before founding Tubolito. Tubolito, as brand, was founded in 2016 and has always only been working on bicycle tubes. Now, the brand has a full range of TPU inner tubes to suit everything from performance road bikes, city bikes, through to heavy e-mountain bikes. Tubolito has even created the world’s first ‘smart tube’, the Tubo-MTB-PSENS, which includes a small NFC chip that allows the user to quickly measure tyre pressure, so the brand knows a thing or two about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with an inner tube.

Comparisons get even more interesting when we compare TPU tubes with a tubeless tyre setup – so let’s dive into that.

TPU tubes are easier to fit

A tubeless tyre conversion requires four components: a rim bed designed to accommodate tubeless tyres, a tubeless-specific valve, rim tape and tubeless sealant. Then you need to clean the rim, apply tape, install sealant in whichever way you like and get the tyre seated, which is best done with a pump capable of doing so. With all of that, there are a lot of variables at play, such as tyre and wheel sizes, that can throw up issues, to name just one. A tubeless tyre setup lives or dies on a perfect seal.

Provided you’ve got a good one, like the Tubolito Tubo-MTB, TPU tubes are sealed out of the box, and as long as your tyre is free of thorns, you’ll just need to ditch the butyl tube and replace it with a TPU tube. These inner tubes can be installed onto any kind of rim, into any kind of tyre, as long as you select the correct size.

Before I forget, as there’s no need for tubeless sealant, installation of any kind of inner tube is generally mess-free.

Both can be repaired with varying degrees of difficulty

Tubeless tyres and TPU tubes can both be repaired, however, a tubeless tyre repair isn’t always reliable and should be considered a non-permanent get-me-home fix. If the puncture is bad enough, you’ll need to get handy with a needle and thread.

TPU tubes, on the other hand, are repaired using patches that are applied with glue, which, like the tubes themselves, are small, lightweight and easy to carry. They provide a more solid repair that can be run for the remaining life of the tube.

In the event of a particularly tricky repair that refuses to hold air, a mid-race rush or when the weather is nasty, users can easily install a fresh tube and save the repair for when they get home – whether you’re riding with tubes or not.

If you’re chasing grams, TPU tubes might be the better choice

Apart from a specific rim as mentioned before, tubeless setups require three key components: a specific valve, around 140ml of tyre sealant and rim tape. The combination of the three can weigh more than a single TPU tube. For example, Tubolito's S-Tubo-MTB for 27.5/29in tyres weigh 43g.

You can run less tubeless sealant, in which case you’re likely to achieve a similar weight, but that can affect a tubeless setup’s ability to self-repair.

TPU tubes don’t ride all that differently from tubeless setups

One of the main reasons we advocate a tubeless setup so strongly is owing to the benefits of better bike handling that the conversion provides. Tubeless tyres rustle up greater traction, better vibration reduction and lower rolling resistance, owing to the fact that there’s not a thick inner tube butting up against the inside of the tyre.

But because they’re super thin and very lightweight compared to butyl tubes, TPU inner tubes don’t have nearly as much of a negative impact on a bike’s ride. Any effects on rolling resistance and a tyre's ability to conform to a trail are minimal, owing to a TPU tube's thin construction. They also don’t add much rotational mass, so there’s little difference in general handling.

And like a tubeless setup, they can be run at lower pressures without as much of a risk of pinch flats.

If you’re one for tyre inserts, a tube isn’t for you

If you’re a particularly heavy rider or your ride aggressively, you likely rely on tyre inserts to add valuable protection to your bike’s rims. Unfortunately, that’s not possible with TPU tubes because they’re tubes – they fill the tyre and, when inflated, there’s simply no space for anything more.

But if you’re after greater puncture protection, there are burlier TPU options on the market, so while they don’t offer much more in the way of rim protection, thicker tubes will help stave off pinch flats at the expense of a few extra grams.

Then there’s the maintenance argument

While we love a tubeless setup, there’s one key downside – it requires maintenance. Tubeless sealant will eventually dry up, and you’ll need to clean it out before pouring more into your tyre to keep its puncture resistance rolling. Although there’s a range of extra fancy valves emerging onto the market, tubeless-specific valves can clog, too, either requiring replacements or a tricky touch of cleaning. Rim tape can also be damaged, and if that’s the case, you’ll need to remove the old stuff and install more, which is fairly labour-intensive.

With TPU tubes, you’ll just need to repair your punctures or replace the tube should you pick up any while being mindful and removing any sharp objects embedded into the tyre.

The valves on TPU tubes require a bit of extra care

Much like the tube itself, a TPU tube’s valve is made from plastic. Going full ape-mode while inflating the tube can stress the valve as it can bend slightly in the valve hole. As this happens, the valve’s construction can deteriorate and get damaged. If you’re using TPU tubes, be sure to use a pump built with a small hose to take some of the stress off.

One real benefit of a tubeless setup is that valves are replaceable, but they’re often made of aluminium, so they’re much stronger. Though if you damage a tubeless-specific valve, you’ve likely wrecked the valve core, but replacements aren’t expensive.

That said, TPU tubes aren't just an alternative to a tubeless setup. Thanks to their small size and lightweight, they make an excellent spare to be carried in a pocket or a backpack, ready to be deployed when necessary.

www.tubolito.com

Author block

Liam Mercer

Since beginning his mountain biking career while working as a resort photographer in Greece in 2014, Liam became a freelance contributor at off.road.cc in 2019. From there, he’s climbed the journalism job ladder from staff writer to deputy technical editor, now finding his place as technical editor.

Partial to the odd enduro race, heart rate-raising efforts on slim-tyred cross-country bikes, hell-for-leather e-MTB blasts or even casual gravel jaunts, there’s not a corner of off-road cycling where Liam fears to tread. With more than 40 bike reviews under his belt and hundreds more on MTB, e-MTB and gravel parts and accessories, Liam’s expertise continues to be cemented and respected by the industry.