To TUBE or not to TUBE

The video sharing website that is YouTube has been revolutionary in this modern age. You can find millions of videos on YouTube, making it as good a "search engine" (if it was a search engine) as Google. My car had a puncture yesterday and it got me thinking about another kind of tube, the one you used to find in your tyres.

When I was younger, my bmx bicycle was my favourite (and only) form of self-driven transport. I recall having to push my bike from my house to the nearest workshop whenever I had a nail on one of my tyres. (trust me, it happened quite often.. unlucky me) The mechanic will remove the TUBE inside the tyre, look for the 'puncture', and then patch it up.

As I grew older, I moved on to my motorbike instead. Similarly, I was prone to getting punctures and flat tyres (to my disappointment and frustration). I had good cause to be disappointed: the bike was way heavier than my bicycle. Nevertheless, I had to do it. Hence, the routine continued; to the workshop, tube removed, check for the hole, patch it up. This time, there were instances when it could not be patched up, hence the tube had to be replaced at a price of about RM18 (for a good one) or RM 8 for something less.

4 years back, I took a huge step and changed my tyres to; you guessed it, TUBELESS tyres. They cost me about RM100 but it was well worth it. Since then, I've not encountered any problems with punctures. The following diagram shows the structure of a tubeless tyre.

Apart from being lighter, tubeless tyres are safer as well. In the event of a puncture, air escapes from the tubeless tyre which will lead to a gentle deflation (tyre gets flat slowly, there's time to either move to the side or continue a short distance to get it fixed). However, with the tube, there is a high possibility that the tube will burst, causing a rapid deflation and you might lose control. Experience tells me that it can happen. (Luckily I managed to use my feet to control the bike and move it to the side)

As for cars, most of them use tubeless tyres. However, some motorcycles still use tubed tyres as it is much cheaper while some bikes were made LONG before this technology came about.

For the bikers out there, do check if you are still on tubed tyres. If you are, I recommend that you consider tubeless tyres as it is much more economical in the long run (less punctures = less repair/replacement cost). Also, you can save on petrol since it has a rounder profile and has less rolling resistance. Most importantly, it is SAFER.

GOOGLE "TUBELESS TYRES" to find out more.