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Inner tubes... go big or go small? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 1 month ago by Showroom7561@lemmy.ca to c/bikewrench@lemmy.world

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I've got 32mm wide tires on my road/gravel bike. Currently looking at TPU tubes and I've got two options:

32-47mm
18-32mm

So, is it better to get one over the other, or will they both work equally well? Never used TPU tubes before, so I wouldn't even have a reference to compare these.

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[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That's what makes sense to me, too. I do have wider gravel tires (40mm) for this bike that could use the wider tubes.

I'd rather not have a pinch flat, though, and going big seems like it would be more likely. At least, it seems that way in theory 😂

[–] litchralee@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

All things considered, low air pressure is more likely to cause pinch flats than a tube fitted to a small-but-still-within-spec tire. So I'd go larger in your case. It also means you might consider investing in a suitable air gauge, if you don't already have one, so that checking air pressure regularly is a low-resistance activity.

Since you do have two bikes that can accept the same tubes, you can also view it as a reliability improvement: if either bike has a flat, you are more likely to have the spare tube on hand, meaning you can get back on the road quicker. So even if pinch flats become 0.0001% more likely, you're ready for it.