The 'giveaway' factor definitely occurred to me, and it's hard to get around that one, unless you get one for all your friends, although then there's still the stranger factor.
Regarding packing a much smaller tube...that might work in a pinch, but just two weeks ago Trevor flatted while running 29, but was only carrying 27.5 because he had been running a 27.5 rear. That smaller tube (only one size smaller, mind you) wasn't going in. So...YMMV on carrying a really small tube. As for a road tube - that'll only work if you're really desperate. The tube walls of a road tube are thinner, and the puny volume of air it can hold without getting wretchedly thin will mean you'll be limping out of there at best, should you need to use it. I realize you prefaced the whole thing with 'rarely get a tubeless flat you can't plug' but...that's the whole reason why Tubolito makes sense in my mind. Just different strokes.
Dec. 12, 2019, 7:26 a.m. - Pete Roggeman
The 'giveaway' factor definitely occurred to me, and it's hard to get around that one, unless you get one for all your friends, although then there's still the stranger factor. Regarding packing a much smaller tube...that might work in a pinch, but just two weeks ago Trevor flatted while running 29, but was only carrying 27.5 because he had been running a 27.5 rear. That smaller tube (only one size smaller, mind you) wasn't going in. So...YMMV on carrying a really small tube. As for a road tube - that'll only work if you're really desperate. The tube walls of a road tube are thinner, and the puny volume of air it can hold without getting wretchedly thin will mean you'll be limping out of there at best, should you need to use it. I realize you prefaced the whole thing with 'rarely get a tubeless flat you can't plug' but...that's the whole reason why Tubolito makes sense in my mind. Just different strokes.