Innertube Question

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Innertube question: What are your recommendations for innertubes for a mountain bike - comfort bike that is ridden on pavement.

Don't know what kind I have now but they require air added to them about once a week to keep them around 65 psig.
 
Just get a nice thornproof one off the web or bike shop.

Don't fall for the Slime filled thing....I mean the Slime may work, but it sure has been no fun changing tires!!
 
It's not unusual to have to put air in bike tires on a weekly basis. If it makes you feel better, go buy a new tube. Skip the "thornproof" stuff, just get a good tube and if you want some insurance against minor punctures get some tire liners. Mr. Tuffy works better than it sounds, Slime also make decent tire liners...not the Slim that you fill the tube with, the tire liners....
 
Thornproof inner tubes are thicker and a bit heavier than regular inner tubes. They cost a little bit more than the regular tubes. Sometimes they are on sale at Performance Bike. I don't really like them that much, they still lose a bit of air anyways. Maybe if you do some hardcore mountain bike riding with jumps then maybe the thick inner tube. Otherwise regular tubes are just fine.

Slime works for very small punctures. What I don't like about Slime is when you check or add air to the the tires, some may squirt out.
 
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It's normal for air to seep out. Thicker tubes lose less air, but you can feel weight on the outside diameter of your wheel more than anywhere else. I probably lose about 10 psi a week with ultra-light tubes and 5 psi a week with regular tubes. If you don't do a lot of accelerating and braking or quickly changing the angle of your bike while riding then heavier tubes might be better for you.

Take out the tube and blow it up to about 3 or 4 inches in diameter to check for leaks if you think you have a hole. You can just leave it like that and see if it loses air for a couple hours if you can't find any.
 
. . . but really you probably wouldn't even notice the extra weight under normal acceleration or any kind of braking. It's only when pumping your bike side-to-side under hard acceleration or in quick transitions that the wheel weight becomes very noticeable.
 
I just buy whatever tubes are at the store. I don't concern myself with light weight since I weigh 270 pounds. What's saving a few grams of rotating weight going to do for me?
 
In my experience, most of the loss of air is through lousy valve cores. I replaced the valve cores on my car and bike tires with Titan-Tec valve cores. Now I need to add a little air only every three months. By the way, I run my tires at 100 psi on the road. When off-road, I go down to 65 psi in the front and 80 psi in the rear.
 
Originally Posted By: moribundman
In my experience, most of the loss of air is through lousy valve cores. I replaced the valve cores on my car and bike tires with Titan-Tec valve cores. Now I need to add a little air only every three months. By the way, I run my tires at 100 psi on the road. When off-road, I go down to 65 psi in the front and 80 psi in the rear.


Yeah the valve core if it goes bad can get leaky. I noticed that debris for some reason will get into the spring mechanism and not letting it work properly. 100psi on a mountain bike or road bike? My tires on my mountain bikes are 40-65psi, I run about 45psi for both street and off road.
 
Thorn proof tires and tire liners are the only way to go. I always carry a small pump, a spare tube and a tire iron in my back pack when I ride. I had to carry my bike home one too many times, and it was a lesson that I won't soon forget. Be careful of pinch flats from not installing the tube properly...it can happen to anybody if you are in a hurry. I put a small amount of teflon paste on my valve caps when I screw them on too...probably doesn't help much, but at least I feel good about it.
 
Originally Posted By: lpcmidst128
100psi on a mountain bike or road bike?


They are Specialized ATB Compound Pro26" x 2" tires (all terrain, but mostly suitable for street and hardpack), and they really may be inflated that high. I posted that picture in another thread just a few days ago, so it may look familiar:

specialized_atb_2s0107.jpg
 
As with most things, valves from mainland China can be trash. One thing good about the Slime tube, other than the Slime, it is a well constructed tube with a great valve, it loses no pressure.....OK maybe the slime keeps the valve from leaking
grin2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: moribundman
Why don't you go tubeless?


Tubeless looks a bit complicated. You need some special rims and glue in order to use tubeless setup. Its not a direct retrofit.
 
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