Bike Inner Tube Guide

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How To Choose The Right Inner Tubes For Your Bike

It's inevitable you'll get a puncture at some point. When you do you'll need a spare bike inner tube with you. Use our simple step by step bicycle inner tube guide to discover the right type for your bike.

What Size Inner Tube Do I Need?

Follow these three simple steps to find the right size inner tube for your bike.

Wheel size diameter on tyre sidewall for correct inner tube sizing

1
Wheel Size

Inner tubes are made to fit specific wheel sizes, so you need to know what size the wheel on your bike is.

The easiest way to do this is by looking at the tyres on your bike. On the sidewall you'll see a combination of digits such as:

700 x 28c (road bike wheel) or 27.5 x 2.4 (mountain bike wheel)

It’s the first figure that shows the diameter of the wheel or the wheel size.

The next figure is tyre width which is the other measurement you need to know.

2
Tyre Width

Inner tubes are designed to fit a range of tyre widths, so the next thing you need to know is the width of your tyre.

This is shown in the second number that’s printed on the side of the tyre.

700 x 28c (road bike wheel) or 27.5 x 2.4 (mountain bike wheel)

When choosing an inner tube you need one with a width range that covers your tyre width as well as exactly matching the size of the wheel. See the tables below for examples.

Note: Sometimes metric sizes are shown as c instead of mm. This is just a different way of saying the same thing. A 25c tyre is the same width as a 25mm tyre.

Inner tube size examples for road and mountain bikes

Mountain Bike Inner Tube Sizes
Wheel Size	Tyre Width (inches)	Inner Tube Size (inches)
26”	2.1”	26 X 1.75 – 2.4
27.5” or 650b	2.3”	650b x 1.75 – 2.4 or 27.5 x 1.75 – 2.4
27.5”+ or 650b+	2.8”	650b x 2.3 – 3.0
29”	2.4”	29 x 1.75 – 2.5

Road and Gravel Bike Inner Tube Sizes
Wheel Size	Tyre Width (mm)	Inner Tube Size (mm)
700c	25mm	700 x 20 – 28
700c	28mm	700 x 20 - 28
700c	32mm	700 x 28 – 38
700c	45mm	700 x 32 - 50

Inner tube size examples for hybrid and kids bikes

Hybrid and Touring Bike Inner Tube Sizes
Wheel Size	Tyre Width	Inner Tube Size
26”	1.85”	26 x 1.75 – 2.4”
700c	32mm	700 x 28 – 38mm
700c	40mm	700 x 32 – 47mm
28”	1.4”	700 x 32 – 47mm

Kids & Junior Bike Inner Tube Sizes
Wheel Size	Tyre Width	Inner Tube Size
12”	1-1/2 - 2-1/4”	12 1.5 x 1.75 - 2.125”
16”	1.75”	16 x 1.75 - 2.125”
20”	1.75”	20 x 1.5 – 2.3”
24”	2.2”	24 x 1.5 – 2.3”

Shop All Inner Tubes

3
Valve Type

There are two types of inner tube valve; Shrader and Presta. The easiest way to see which one you need is to look at the tube on your bike.

Schrader Valve
Easily identified by the 'car type' stubby profile.

These valves are often found on entry-level hybrid, mountain and kids bikes which run on lower tyre pressures.

It is worth noting that Schrader valves require a slightly larger hole in the rim. This means that you can use Presta valve tubes on a Schrader compatible wheel rim but not the other way around.

Shop Schrader Inner Tubes

Presta Valve
These have a long and narrow profile. They have a central core you unscrew before inflating the tube.
Presta valves are often used on road bikes which run at higher tyre pressures as well as mid to high-end mountain bikes.

These valves come in a range of lengths. Longer valves are designed for use with deep section aero rims.

Shop Presta Inner Tubes

ETRTO bike tyre sizing can be found on tyre sidewall

My tyre size looks different - ETRTO Sizing

Sometimes tyre size on the sidewall of your tyre is shown in the ETRTO format like this 54-559 or 23-622. ETRTO size tyres are the same size as Imperial / Metric tyres, it’s just that the measurements are shown differently.

All our inner tubes are listed in Metric or Imperial sizing but you can use the table below to convert your ETRTO size to Imperial for MTB tyres or Metric for road bike tyres.

Tyre and Inner Tube Size conversion charts

ETRTO / Metric tyre size conversion for road bikes

ETRTO Number	Dimension
700c road bike wheels
18-622	700 x 18C
23-622	700 x 23C
25-622	700 x 25C
28-622	700 x 28C
32-622	700 x 32C
37-622	700 x 35C
47-622	700 x 47C

ETRTO / Imperial tyre size conversion for MTBs

ETRTO Number	Dimension
26" mountain bike wheels
50-559	26 x 1.9
54-559	26 x 2.1
55-559	26 x 2.2
58-559	26 x 2.35
27.5" (650b) mountain bike wheels
50-584	27.5 x 1.95
54-584	27.5 x 2.1
57-584	27.5 x 2.25
29" mountain bike wheels
50-622	29 x 2.0
54-622	29 x 2.1
55-622	29 x 2.2

The Benefits Of Self-Sealing Inner Tubes

Punctures are inevitable. Instead of having to lug around spare inner tubes with you, you can opt for a self-sealing inner tube. These bike inner tubes are delivered with tube sealant already inside. When you get a puncture the sealant will plug the gap so you can keep riding.