Best lightweight inner tubes
The best lightweight inner tubes are made from slightly thinner natural latex rubber (as opposed to the other option, being synthetic butyl rubber). This enables them to move at a greater speed. However, there is a catch! With speed comes more vulnerability to puncture, as the tubes are not as resilient. So it all comes down to your needs and how you want to hedge your bets! We recommend our BBB SuperLite Tube as the best lightweight inner tube.
How do I determine which bike tube and valve I need?
OK, the first thing we need to consider is the type of bike you have. If you’re on a road, gravel or time trial bike, typically, you will be running a 700c bike tube. However, a mountain bike tube comes in more options. Why? Because mountain bike wheels vary in size. Variants include:
29-inch bike tubes
27.5 mountain bike tubes (you might also hear this referred to as 650B)
29-inch mountain bike tubes
For kids’ bikes, it’s a whole other story! Wheels are obviously much smaller, and so bicycle tubes come in sizes like 16-inch, 20-inch or 24-inch.
There is no wiggle room for matching the right bicycle tube with the correct wheel diametre. As you can imagine, a little bit too big or too small just won’t work - you’ll either never get the tube in without ripping it, or you’ll have too much excess rolling around the wheel. However, in contrast, you have a bit more leeway with matching it to your tyre width.
Bike tube valve types
You have three options for bike valves, Schrader, Presta and Woods, although the latter is more uncommon. Let’s check them all out in a bit more detail.
Schrader bike valves
Welcome to the user-friendly option that involves you simply placing the pump head over the valve, locking it into place and then getting a good workout as you inflate the tube. Once you’re done, you remove the pump and close off the valve. Easy! However, the catch is that Schrader is not as versatile as Presta (which we talk about next). Why? Because it needs a larger diameter hole in the rim, meaning it’s not an option for narrow rims (which cancels out a lot of road bikes).
Presta bike valves
Fear not, roadies, as Presta is here! However, the inflation process is not quite as straightforward as it is with Schrader. Step one requires you to unscrew the nut on the stalk sitting atop the valve. You then very gently depress the stalk until you hear some air escaping. That’s your queue to attach the pump (and start that work-out!). Now you’re ready to remove the pump, screw the top nut back down again and in doing so, close the valve. Be mindful not to push the pump onto the valve too vigorously as you risk bending the stalk, thus making it difficult to close the valve.
Woods bike valves
You will be more likely to encounter this valve on a Dutch commuter bike. The Woods has a wide valve stem but requires a Presta pump to inflate (although there is no top nut to undo and do back up again).
Bike valve length
Aerodynamic wheels with deep profiles will require longer valves. A standard length is 40mm, whereas a more aerodynamic set-up could go up to twice that length.
How to replace a bike tube
If you want to know how to change a tube on a mountain bike or how to change a road bike tube, the steps are the same:
Fully deflate the tube by releasing air from the valve
Either with your hands or using levers, release one side of the tyre from the rims. You should now be able to push the tyre to one side and see the inner bike inner tube clearly exposed.
Push the valve backwards through the rim and now pull the tube out completely.
Using gloved hands, carefully brush the inside of the rim and the underside of the tyre. This will detect any debris that may have caused a puncture. Be careful, as the offending item could be a shard of glass, a thorn, nail or another potentially harmful item (hence the gloves).
We assume you are replacing the tube rather than just administering a tube patch from a puncture repair kit. As such, roll up the damaged tube and pop it in your jersey pocket, so you don’t confuse it with the new one.
Take your fresh, new bike tyre tube and pump a small amount of air into it to give some very slight shape or body.
Weave the tube’s valve through the valve hole on the rim.
Using your hands, tuck the tube underneath the tyre's entirety.
Check thoroughly that no bits of the tube are peaking out from underneath the tyre. If so, then you’re likely to puncture as you inflate.
Begin to pump away!
Contact us about bicycle tubes today
If you’re searching for bike tubes near me, you’ve found them! We’re sure to have everything you’re after, but if not, or if you have questions, fire away! Our team is here to help, and we look forward to hearing from you.
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