6zfshdb
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Northeast Pennsylvania
Much has been posted here on quality bike tires but little on inner tubes. This topic is sure to be as opinionated but all comments are welcome.
The popularity of tubeless tires continues to grow but the great majority of bicycle tires still use tubes. It stands to reason that a quality tire is only as good as the tube inside. In the past with my conventional bikes, I've used whatever tube was handy, repaired the occasional flat and didn't give it much thought. In my quest to reduce or eliminate flats on my e-bike, I began seeking out the best products. After much consideration and from reading comments here on the forum, I decided on Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. Most of my riding is done on sometimes rough gravel trails so I chose the HS-468 MTB tread.
The question then became what tubes to use. There are many good quality inner tubes available from Kenda, Continental and Sunlite but several reviews I've read favor the Schwalbe MTB "Downhill" product. At nearly $15 each, they aren't cheap but I decided to try a pair. When I inspected them, my initial thought was they are actually thinner and lighter in weight than the Kenda medium quality tubes which came stock on the bike. I realize thickness inn't everything when it comes to overall quality. Much to my dismay, the first Schwalbe tube blew out during the initial inflation. It appeared to have a defective seam weld. I returned it for a refund. The second Schwalbe tube installed fine and I've ridden it a few miles so far with no issues.
Before I invest in tubes for my other two bikes, I'm curious what others here have experienced and what products they recommend.
The popularity of tubeless tires continues to grow but the great majority of bicycle tires still use tubes. It stands to reason that a quality tire is only as good as the tube inside. In the past with my conventional bikes, I've used whatever tube was handy, repaired the occasional flat and didn't give it much thought. In my quest to reduce or eliminate flats on my e-bike, I began seeking out the best products. After much consideration and from reading comments here on the forum, I decided on Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. Most of my riding is done on sometimes rough gravel trails so I chose the HS-468 MTB tread.
The question then became what tubes to use. There are many good quality inner tubes available from Kenda, Continental and Sunlite but several reviews I've read favor the Schwalbe MTB "Downhill" product. At nearly $15 each, they aren't cheap but I decided to try a pair. When I inspected them, my initial thought was they are actually thinner and lighter in weight than the Kenda medium quality tubes which came stock on the bike. I realize thickness inn't everything when it comes to overall quality. Much to my dismay, the first Schwalbe tube blew out during the initial inflation. It appeared to have a defective seam weld. I returned it for a refund. The second Schwalbe tube installed fine and I've ridden it a few miles so far with no issues.
Before I invest in tubes for my other two bikes, I'm curious what others here have experienced and what products they recommend.
