Please advise on suitable inner tube(s)

[Nemesis_252]

After pondering all week, I've decided to invest in some Schwalbe Marathon tyres to replace the OEM tyres on my Carrera Subway.

I'm still very new to this whole thing, could someone please advise on a suitable (and well priced) inner tube to go with the tyres?

Thanks muchly.

 

[ianrauk]

Innertubes are much muchness. Unless you are a weight weenie or racing then just buy the cheapest you can find on the net from any of the online retailers. Also watch out for Halfords 3 for 2 deal they run now and again.

 

[biggs682]

planet x did have michelin tubes on offer last week

 

[simon.r]

You'll most probably be able to use your existing inner tubes, assuming the new tyres are about the same width.

Four things to check when buying new tubes:

1 - Diameter (probably either 26" (MTB) or 700c (Road / Hybrid)
2 - Width. To suit the tyre, but tubes will generally cover a range of widths.
3 - Type of valve. Schrader (car type) or Presta. You will not be able to fit Schrader valved tubes if your rims are drilled for Presta as Schrader are a larger diameter.
4 - Length of valve stem. Schrader tend to be all the same length, but Presta come in different lengths to cope with deep, or v-section rims.

 

[Nemesis_252]

Thanks for the help all.

As it happens, my original plans have taken a bit of a step backwards. My plan was to change the OEM with the Marathon, and having been googling all week to figure out if it was possible, I was under the impression it was. However, last night I had a moment of genius (read: common sense), and had a look at the Schwalbe website. The tyres currently on my Carrera are 51-559, the tyres I'm looking at are 37-590. The drop from 51 to 37 is what I wanted as I'd like a narrower tyre, however am I right in thinking the difference between 559 and 590 is non-negotiable without replacing the wheels?

Sigh, this is all a bit confusing for a Saturday morning!

 

[mcshroom]

Unfortunately yes those tyres do not fit 26" mountain bike rims. Unfortunately you've been caught out by sloppy conventions for naming wheel sizes over the years. The tyres you have are for old 26" road bikes (they get labelled with a fraction width such as 26x 1 3/8). Those wheels are larger than your wheels (moutntain bike 26" tyres get decimal labels such as 26x2.1). The ERTO numbers are the consistent set, so you need tyres with a xx-559 ERTO number. If you want to read more, then Sheldon Brown covered it here: - http://sheldonbrown.com/26.html

You can get marathons in your size, such as these, but the tyres you have won't fit unfortunately.

 

[Nemesis_252]

Thanks. By coincidence I was reading the sheldonbrown page on tyre sizing when I thought I'd check back to see if I had received a reply. Luckily I hadn't bought the tyres yet, so I can concentrate on getting the right size!

Thanks for your help though, at least I know what to do about tubes once I've finally found some tyres. Cheers.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

The Marathons are available in 32-559 and 40-559 as well. SJS Cycles show them as being in stock.

 

[Nemesis_252]

Thanks, but I'm on quite a tight budget too, was hoping to get a pair of tyres for around the 25 quid mark.
Chain reaction have got Michelin City for the same sort of money (don't have link as I'm on my phone), how do they compare to the Marathon?

 

[mcshroom]

Bullet proof but big and heavy in my experience. For 26" wheels at that price point you could do a lot worse than Schwalbe City Jets - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000NNR6...de=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B000NNR69M

 

[Nemesis_252]

This thread has rapidly turned into "Which Tyres" rather than "Which Tubes", sorry mods

I think you could go crazy trying to choose tyres! I thought it was difficult for the car, but deary me, bikes is a whole new world!

So, as I've mentioned to a few people in other threads, I'm a newby who's doing the C2C in June. I need some new rubber, and I would like to keep my spend minimal. The three contenders at the minute are:

Schwalbe City Jet 40/559, weighing 600g, at £10.41
Michelin City 35/559, weighing 620g, at £11.05
Michelin City 47/559, weighing 835g, at £11.05
Schwalbe Marathon 40/559, weighing 730g, at £17.99
Schwalbe Marathon 47/559, weighing 875g, at £17.99

I'm not going to loose too much sleep over the difference in weight, however what I'd like to know is are the Michelins or the Marathons worth the extra money/weight, or pound-for-pound do the City Jets beat them? or is there a third option which I've not really considered?