32c tube in 35c tyre

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can i get away with it?


My old sirrus used to have 28mm's but I puntured on a club run once and when I put the spare in it had failed at the valve; so for speed I borrowed a 23mm tube rather than a repair and it coped fine with the speed and distance. So in the short term I'd say you'd get away with it. I changed it when I got home (iirc 30miles later), so I'm not qualified to talk on the long term!
 

CanucksTraveller

Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
Location
Hertfordshire
Yup, agree with Tundra, it's perfectly normal. Tube size isn't as critical as tyre size, and a smaller tube will just stretch that little bit more.

An inner tube will stretch to about 5 times it's normal diameter before it even thinks about going bang.... so a few millimetres difference in width is within the designed range.
 
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garrilla

garrilla

Senior Member
Location
Liverpool
I've got some kenda tubes, old ones in the shed, they both have 700x32c printed on them... I have no idea if they are only 32 if they are 25-32c, if the 32c-43c or what ever

I have need to fill my 35c tyre to ride on the ice next week, so I'll probably be riding a little flat anyway

I knw I'm being cheap, but I don't want to wreck the tyre !!!
 

CanucksTraveller

Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
Location
Hertfordshire
I knw I'm being cheap, but I don't want to wreck the tyre !!!

How will it wreck the tyre? I'm not sure what you're concerned about.... pressure is pressure, it's (let's say) 100 PSI in a smaller tube and it's still 100 PSI in a slightly bigger tube.... the outer tyre is not affected.
All that happens is that the smaller tube is stretched slightly more than the bigger one.
 
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garrilla

garrilla

Senior Member
Location
Liverpool
I don't know what I'm worrying about, sorry! was worrying about, thats why I was asking...

thanks for all your response
 

threefingerjoe

Über Member
In days of old, when we used to have tubes in automobile tyres, the rule of thumb was that you could run a slightly smaller tube than the tyre size. The tube would stretch and all was well. HOWEVER...if you put too big of a tube in a tyre, it would get folds in it, and would eventually crack and leak along the fold. I generally follow that same advise today. If I can't find the exact size, I'd much rather have a tube slightly smaller than one that is too big.
 

andrew_s

Legendary Member
Location
Gloucester
If you use a small tube, any punctures are going to be more immediate than with a big tube.
So if you put a 28-37 tube in a 37 or 40 tyre, and get a thorn through the tyre, you will be flat in a few seconds. If you use the same 28-37 tube in a 28 tyre, it's hardly stretched at all and the thorn is more likely to result in the sort of slow puncture that will last all ride and then go soft overnight.
 
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