Road bikes have never been more connected. Lights now come with radar sensors that can alert you to nearby traffic; pedals house power meters that can gauge your efforts; electronic shifting enables uber-precise gear changing that can be modified and reconfigured to suit your preferred styles – and all of that can be displayed on a GPS head unit.
However, despite the critical role tyre pressure plays in safety, comfort and performance, the humble inner tube has remained stubbornly ‘dumb’.
First introduced in their current clincher tyre plus inner tube guise in 1891, not a lot has changed for almost 150 years, with cyclists gauging whether they’ve got a flat tyre or not by doing the primitive stop and squeeze test – or feeling the tell-tale vibration of rim on road.
That was, until the arrival of Tubolito’s new SYNCD range.
This smart inner tube features an integrated, battery-powered sensor that can send live pressure readings to your smartphone or selected Garmin head units. It can give you on-the-fly pressure readings, and even alert you if there’s a sudden loss of pressure.
It adds an extra layer of safety to every spin, letting you know if you’ve got a slow puncture before things get too soft.
From lightening your road wheels to adding connectivity to your everyday rides, here’s how the revolutionary Tubolito SYNCD inner tube could be a smart addition to your road setup.
Rethink your road setup
Tubeless tyres have been one of the biggest talking points in road tech in recent years, but not everyone is convinced.
Tubeless setups can be difficult and time-consuming to install, sealant levels need to be regularly maintained, and it isn’t the lightest solution possible.
Also, when tubeless goes wrong, it does so rather spectacularly – and if you get an unsealable hole, you’ll still have to use a trusty inner tube to get you home.
The Tubolito SYNCD works like a regular inner tube – saving you the hassle of a tubeless setup – and can be fitted in minutes.
Maintenance consists of no more than the occasional top-up of air, and the SYNCD feature is claimed to last 10,000km or two years.
Even after the sensor’s battery has died, it still works like a run-of-the-mill tube.
It’s also made from TPU, meaning it is lighter, stronger and more compact than standard butyl – and at 45g per tyre, it’s a significant weight saving over tubeless.
What’s more, the SYNCD feature means you can keep pressures optimised for your setup, and it'll alert you if there are any issues – preventing you from embarking on a fast descent with rapidly deflating tyres, and a potentially disastrous crash.
Add connectivity to your commuter
Commuting by bike is one of the fastest, cheapest and most fun ways of getting to work or to the station… until you get a flat tyre.
For many riders, that commuter bike will also be their road bike. After all, not everyone has the money – or space – for a separate bike for every type of riding.
That makes keeping your road setup in good working order even more important, whether you’re heading out for a Sunday spin or trying to make the train on time.
There is an alternative to grubby hands and trying to fix a flat in your work clothes, though.
The Tubolito SYNCD gives you a quick and easy way to keep an eye on your tyre pressures before leaving home or the office to see whether it’s time to give them a top-up of air.
Plus, if your levels dip below a pre-set pressure, you’ll get an alert to say it’s time to find a bike pump – saving you a lot of greasy grief in the long run.
Looking ahead
SYNCD tubes are currently available for road bikes, with the Tubo-Road SYNCD compatible with 700c tyres up to 35mm wide.
Tubolito says it is working on further SYNCD products, which could open up interesting possibilities in the future, particularly for riders who want a more accurate way to monitor tyre pressure than the usual squeeze test.
