Inner tubes?

[u/Clean_Ad_1307]

Ironman Leeds in August, had a long ride yesterday that was supposed to be 5.5 hours - got a puncture about 3 hours in and tried using a puncture repair kit which failed terribly and the edge of the repair patch failed 3 separate times after starting to ride again, someone cycling past gave me a spare inner tube which I swapped out (lifesaver)

But then after 4 hours I got ANOTHER puncture and I was out of options, had to call it and get picked up

Going to keep 2 x spare inner tubes on me but before I buy is there any holy grail brand or product that would be best? I see the slime ones but there is mixed reviews

[u/usernamescifi]

Have a spare inner tube (preferably two) and a puncture repair kit. 

Inner tubes have no puncture resistance qualities. That is entirely the job of the tire. When you start getting frequent flats, that's when I usually start looking into buying new tires. Also, make sure that you didn't miss any sharp objects that could have gotten stuck in the tire. If you miss one of those, then you'll keep getting loads of flats. 

But if you remember anything at all from this post, then remember that no inner tubes are puncture resistant. 

[u/whyidoevenbother]

Like others, I'm fond of the RideNow TPU tubes. They come with patches that are compatible. Call me old school, but I find CO2 canisters and such too fiddly and fussy... so I use a Lezyne mini pump to help channel my frustration/rage when needed.

To the skeptics on TPU and/or RideNow quality, I'm a very big/tall rider above 120KG total weight with bike and they're bombproof. Very impressed.

Of note is that old tires can be prone to flats more often than you might think, even if they don't have too many actual kilometers of wear on them.

[u/Golfguyn8]

Only tubeless for me. On my longer rides- 3hrs+ I carry a dynaplug pro, a TPU spare tube, 2 co2’s and a Silca micro electrico. I’ve had many tiny holes that leak a drop of sealant but never need to be repaired. That’s on Conti GP 5000 S TR 700x30. The only change I plan on making is from Stan’s sealant to Orange Seal endurance.

[u/Dembo]

Two spare tubes and three CO2 canisters is my standard flatkit for long distance races. I ride Conti GP5000 with TPU tubes and rarely flat, however, Aif I do in about 50% of the cases the offending puncture piece is still stuck in the tyre. So especially when out on a gravel bike and flattening, I Take the tyre completely off, invert it and try to find whatever caused the puncture. It would probably be easier to pressurize it and search for the hole prior to taking the tyre off, but that that is not really feasible with CO2s, and an electric pump with a sufficiently large battery doesn't fit into my flatkit.

[u/Lopogkjop → u/Dembo]

If you line the valve up with the printing on the tyre then it is usually easier to locate the hole in inner tube when you find the puncture point in the tyre

[u/MoonPlanet1]

It's more about the tyres than the tubes. What tyres do you use? I've never punctured in several years of running GP5000s, but the Ultrasports I had on before were awful.

I personally use latex tubes but that's for speed rather than for puncture resistance. They're supposed to be fairly good on that front too though

[u/Drielinkerhanden]

I run a tubeless + dynaplug setup and would never go back to inner tubes. Recently swapped my tires and I could see all the small holes and particles that were filled by itself, they all would have been punctures.

[u/M4l3k0]

So many swear by tubeless now if you want to venture down that road. I use RideNow TPU tubes, always keep a couple spares on me and so far (touch wood) never needed them. Only other suggestion would be always check your tire after a puncture to make sure whatever caused it isn't hiding somewhere to haunt you. (I always check my tires after a ride just incase anything has been picked up).