Review: Aeron TPU Tubes Final Word

 Note: Guitar Ted received Aeron TPU tubes and a patch kit at no charge for test and review from Aeron. Guitar Ted is not being paid, nor bribed for this review and all opinions are Guitar Ted's.

The Aeron TPU tubes ended up in this wheel set. 

 
 It is time to put the Aeron TPU tube test to rest. As I had intended to do, I put the Aeron tubes in the Rene Herse tires I have and set those up on an old set of HED Ardennes + wheels I had laying around with a quick release interface. That worked out to test the wheels on the Fargo. The last update can be seen HERE. 

During the test we found out that these tubes can be transferred successfully from one tire to another. I thought this was a good thing to learn because some of us change out tires more than others, and if the Aeron tubes were okay with moving from one tire size to another, I thought this might help alleviate anyone's concerns who might be thinking about making the switch to TPU tubes. 

Image courtesy of Aeron

I know a few folks who are converting bikes from tubeless to TPU tube set ups. It is a great idea if you have multiple bikes and tubeless maintenance is driving you mad. Setting up a few bikes that do not get ridden often with TPU tubes instead will save on that maintenance and get you riding faster when the time comes to ride. 

Like many newer TPU tubes, Aeron is using an aluminum valve stem and they have a removable core. Technology moves fast though and some TPU tubes now feature fully threaded aluminum vale stems. I like that idea a little better than the partial threaded stem Aeron employs. 

Aeron uses a 'multi-layer TPU'' in their TPU tube construction which I felt was a boon to durability and for successful transfer of an Aeron TPU tube from one tire to another. 

As previously mentioned, Aeron makes this tube to work with a 650B size rim and tire. This makes mounting an Aeron TPU tube in a 700c wheel and tire a chore. More than it should be. I'd rather see Aeron go with separate sizes for both wheel diameters. 

Final Word: The ride quality is fine. Again, it isn't tubeless smooth, but it is close and you may have trouble telling any difference. It's that close. I feel it, but I admit it is a subtle difference. I wouldn't trade off tubeless for any brand of TPU tubes if I lived in an area with puncture problems like sharp rocks or thorns/goat heads and the like.  But for riding anywhere else I do not see a disadvantage to TPU. It certainly eliminates the hassles of tubeless maintenance and TPU outperforms butyl rubber in several ways. 

Would I go with the Aeron TPU tubes? They are very good, but with new TPU tubes having fully threaded valve stems and with other brands offering dedicated 700c sizing, I would spend my money elsewhere. Aeron is just a tic off with this offering, and if they corrected the sizing issue, and upgraded the valve stem I would be totally fine with this brand. The TPU tube itself is very good. 

Find Aeron TPU Tubes HERE.