In this article I will share my thoughts about the Craft Cadence TPU Inner Tube, which takes a different design approach than RideNow- and CYCLAMI TPU Inner Tubes. I’ve ridden all of these TPU Inner Tubes and compare against the Pirelli RoadTube – Butyl Inner tube.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key features Craft Cadence TPU Inner Tube
On the product page for Craft Cadence TPU Inner Tubes the following product description with key features is published:
“A dependable set of lightweight TPU inner tubes. Really.”
Craft Cadence has created the world’s first TPU inner tubes with aluminium valves, removable valve cores, and wall thickness that is comparable with butyl inner tubes but at 1/3 of the weight.
Road – 700C – 18-32mm tyre width – 45 grams – 65mm valve.
Gravel – 700C – 32-45mm tyre width – 60 grams – 65mm valve.
- Seam welded Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) construction.
- 65mm valve length.
- 0.3mm wall thickness.
- Aluminium valve.
- Removable valve core with included valve core removal tool that doubles as the cap.
- 45 grams for Road, 60 grams for Gravel.
- Reinforced valve end
Craft Cadence is taking the reliability point of view and using that as the starting point for the design and development process.
We believe that in the over pursuit of lightweighting, current TPU inner tubes have scarified too much reliability. Stories of slow leaks, random failures are all too common.
While good high quality tires and similar quality rim tape can prevent a lot, it will not always be sufficient. I’ve read stories myself that by installing TPU inner tubes, these were already wrecked without riding a single meter. The TPU tires are extremely thin, have a super low volume and are thus more vulnerable to be damaged. Before I had the Muc-Off Tubeless Rim Tape installed on A-Symmetrical DT Swiss RR411 Road Rim, the TPU Inner Tube punctured swiftly, simply because Velox Cotton Textile rim tape moved a tiny bit.
Wall thickness comperable with butyl at 1/3 of the weight
Back to the Craft Cadence TPU Inner Tubes, you can see and feel that these TPU Inner Tubes are thicker (than the others I’ve tested before). This is the Craft Cadence design philosophy combining the lower weight of TPU with the reliability of butyl. According to Craft Cadence the wall thickness is 0.3 mm, which will certainly de-risk most of the installation issues.
Aluminium valve with Removable valve core
The RideNow TPU Inner Tube has resin valves, the CYCLAMI Inner Tube comes with aluminum valves (and a green aluminum cap). The Craft Cadence TPU Inner Tubes come with a black aluminum valve, with a removable core. Removable valve cores is something we see in tubeless tire setups. I must admit the Craft Cadence Valve cap looks a bit like the Peaty’s x Chris King MK2 Tubeless Valves. The removable valve core has two unique advantages:
- You can replace / repair a valve core when needed;
- Apply inner tube (tubeless) sealant to automatically patch up punctures as they happen;
Especially in a gravel bike scenario advantage 2 is a super cool feature. With a small bottle of sealant you could keep going for many punctures. Craft Cadence TPU inner tubes are compatible with the following inner tube sealants (not included, purchased separately):
I’m curious to learn why Silca Ultimate Tubeless Sealant and Replenisher is not advice-ed to be compatible.
Reinforced valve base
Another key design feature I see the reinforced area where the valve is attached to the inner tube. While the other TPU brands also have some form of re-inforcement, Craft Cadence has this well engineered. As you can see in the picture the valve base is complete reinforced, so that the valve area cannot break where the valve and tire hit the rim (and the valve-hole in the rim, which sometimes has a sharp edge).
I don’t think I have ever seen this on another inner tube, not TPU nor Butyl. So heads-off for the Craft Cadence Engineers.
Concluding thoughts and wrap-up
The price point of two Craft Cadence TPU Inner Tubes is € 39,52 for two road inner tubes and € 41,31 for two gravel inner tubes (60 gram version). While it is not super cheap, I think that the price point is fair given the long-term investment and outlook for these TPU tires.
The re-inforced valve base, the ability to replace the valve core and even the ability to add tire sealant to the Craft Cadence TPU inner tubes, would make it my go to TPU Inner Tubes for a gravel adventure !
Another point of discussion I’ve recently had with the Craft Cadence team is around heat resistance in a high mountain scenario (and I’ve explained that a bit in the Pirelli Roadtube – Lightweight Butyl Inner Tube article).
For rolling terrain (even in the Belgian Ardennes) I would opt for the Craft Cadence TPU inner tubes as a rock solid choice. Despite the slightly higher price point the useful features and solid design make the Craft Cadence TPU Inner Tubes an excellent choice that will provide long term value !
- What do you think about these Craft Cadence TPU Inner Tubes ? Let me know in the comments …
Other TPU Inner Tube reviews on this website are:
Craft Cadence has a history with durable and robust product design, so I’m happy to see this design philosophy also in their TPU Tires.
Other product reviews on this website can be found in the categories below:
