[jmjanecek]

I have a 26X2.20 on the rear of my bike and I popped it about a month ago. I replaced it with a 26X1.95 and it went flat yesterday. Today I went back to the only bike shop in town(if you wanna call it that) and got the biggest tube they had, 26X2.195. Is this going to make a difference?? Should I take it back and get the right size tube from a store in another town? And, could the smaller size tube be the reason why it keeps going flat????

 

[zon]

I have a 26X2.20 on the rear of my bike and I popped it about a month ago. I replaced it with a 26X1.95 and it went flat yesterday. Today I went back to the only bike shop in town(if you wanna call it that) and got the biggest tube they had, 26X2.195. Is this going to make a difference?? Should I take it back and get the right size tube from a store in another town? And, could the smaller size tube be the reason why it keeps going flat????

Did you check the tire for a thorn stuck in it? Run your hand along the inside of the tire to feel for anything sharp poking at the tube.

 

[shiggy]

It does not matter. Tubes stretch very easily.

 

[crashomatic]

tube issues

Take the tube out and keep it in the orientation it was in the tire and inflate to 3 or 4 times its size and listen, or run it by your face to find the hole; that should indicate where in the tire/rim setup the problem is coming from. A common occurrence is that one gets a thorn or some other object lodged in the casing, remove the tire and run a rag around the inside of the casing to locate the object and/or turn the tire inside out. Also, check that the rim strip is not moving and exposing a spoke hole.
sometimes tubes are defective and split on the seam lines, sometimes they are so thin they are just crap

 

[Maida7]

The tube size is not super important. As long as the first number (26) is correct and the second number (2.0) is in the ballpark, it should work.

As others have suggested you probably have some other kind of problem that is causing your flats. In addition to thorns or glass in the tire and rim strips, it's very easy to get the tube folded up or trapped under the tire bead when mounting. If it's twisted, folded or traped under the bead it will pop when inflated. To avoid these problems some put baby powder on the tube so it can straighten out while inflating. You need to be very careful and make sure the tube is straight when mounting. Oh and don't use levers to put the tire back on. The levers often mess things up.

 

[TrashBike]

Rubber stretches

I have over 500 miles on a 26x1.75 tube in my rear tire, which is a 26x2.1. I have several of these smaller tubes, which I have been using with good success for the past couple years. I usually inflate them and let them sit overnight before installing them to give them a chance to stretch. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone but since I have them on hand I like to make use of them.

 

[Anonymous]

I use puny 2.1 tubes in mt AS-X, with 2.5 motoraptors. I wanna go tubeless, but aint got the cash. I have had 0 pinchers and only one thorn flat.
IMO, tires are more important than tubes.

 

[Eric Hoefer]

Make sure you are running the correct tire pressure too, even though the tire may feel inflated its always good to check its pressure and make sure it is within the realms of the reccomended psi range on the tire. Even a slightly underinflated tire can be pinched alot easier than one would think. I also would reccomend baby powder in the tire (as already mentioned) it keeps the tube moving as needed inside the tire when inflating (and also makes for an easier removal if you want to switch tires.)