Earlier in the week, I penned an article about 4 of the best Cyber Monday TPU inner tube deals. Nothing out of the ordinary there; it's my job to cover these shopping events by helping you, the Cycling Weekly readers, cut through the noise and get the best cycling deals on offer.
What was unusual was the number of comments on our Facebook page. Rarely do we get any comments on our deal articles, yet that post currently sits at just over 80 comments.
The topic of hookless versus hooked rims has been very hot, and one I also feel very strongly about. Yet, after reading almost all 80 comments, I had no idea the topic was still so divisive about whether we should run tubeless on road bikes. Equally, how strong the following for tubes still is. I thought it was just Cycling Weekly Magazine Editor Simon Richardson stuck in his ways. However, after reading those comments, I felt very out of step with current trends, and it really got me thinking.
I, myself, am a tubeless convert and have been since the widespread adoption of mountain bikes in the early 2010s. I even run tubeless on my hybrid bike. However, given the very clear and well-publicised performance benefits of tubeless on the road, I had wrongly assumed that tubes were now in a minority.
So, I want to know more...
I'd love to hear from you. Below are a couple of super quick polls; Firstly, who, in my opinion, is still living the 90s? Who can't be dealing with the hassle of tubeless but has embraced the plastic TPU revolution? And... Who sees no tubes in their future?
I'd also like to know, as the title of this article says, an excellent play on words from commenter Matic Robic, who is fully tubeLESS and not tubeWITH? I am a full belt-and-braces guy; I literally wore a belt and braces at my wedding. I carry both a TPU inner tube and a plug kit. For a long I haven't needed to use the tube, as plugs have handled most tubeless issues, but id rather not risk it. I very nearly did have to use my tube in my latest review of the Hutchinson Caracal Race, though.
If you missed those deals on Monday, three of them are still live:
