Hi All,
I’ve got a new gravel bike currently in build on then on its way to me. It’s going to be my first gravel bike, so I’m sounding out thoughts for some things I’ve been thinking about.
The bike is coming spec with non-tubeless tyres (and tubeless ready wheels), and although I’m thinking longer term about going tubeless, it seems wasteful to just bin otherwise brand new tyres out of the box. They’re Schwalbe G1 Comps in 45mm. Most of the gravel riding I’ll be doing is the tow path/fire road/forest trail variety, so no massive risk of things like flints slicing the tyres open.
So to get at least some use out of the stock tyres, what inner tubes would you all suggest would be worthwhile for gravel use in my use case? I’ll be grabbing some TPU tubes for the saddle bag when I get paid next anyway, so more of them? A specific butyl tube? Or something else?
Many thanks
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A nice quality TPU tube is likely the way to go. Those will likely give you a little more resistance against the pinch flats that are likely to occur if you’re running low pressures.
Certainly look to tubeless tyres in the medium-term. Gravel demands a lot from tyres in a limited volume, and the best way to run suitably low pressures is with tubeless (and perhaps inserts).
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Thanks Dave, When it’s time for replacement (or if I enter any events) I’ll definitely be going tubeless, like I said, I just don’t want to waste something that is perfectly functional for now!
I’ve both run TPU and latex on my grav bike, with Schwalbe G1-R Pro times (40c - 31psi R, 29psi F). After switching several times I’ve settled with latex in the tires and a pair of TPU’s in the seat bag. I’m light-ish (67kg) so pinchflats are pretty manageable. While latex can be viewed as a PTA, in my experience they are far easier to patch vs the TPU tubes.