help to explain tyre sizes

[up hill struggle]

my bike has tyres sized

700x42

further round the tyre it says

42-622 & further still says 28 x 1.6

on the rim is a sticker saying

19 - 622 700c.

are 28" wheels 700c?

reason i ask is i called into lidles on way back from hospital today & found in reduced bin a twin pack of inner tubes labeled as

28/47-622/635
28" - 711mm

only looking 99p for both so thought id get them to use as spares incase i get a flat although when i opened them they actually feel like there decent tubes not the crappy ones that were on my old mountain bike but more the quality of the continental tubes i had fitted when i upgraded its tyres.

so if these tubes fit my hybrid im happy for the extra spares if not i can sell them on ebay for a few quid.

will they fit?

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Yes, those tubes should fit your tyres fine.

Tyre sizing can be a bit of a muddle as there are two old standards being used (Imperial and French) plus the newer ETRTO one (42-622). The ETRTO size is the best one to use as you are far less likely to get the wrong size tyre.

What the tube markings tell me is that they will fit a range of sizes from 28mm to 47mm width tyres on 622mm to 635mm diameter wheels (coz tubes are stretchy so don't need to be the exact size)

Have a look at this PDF from Schwalbe which explains it all really well (sizes on page 4), plus pretty much anything else you could want to know about tyres.

 

[up hill struggle]

cool thanks for clearing that up for me, i will a look at the link later when i get on the desktop.

decent bargain then for 99p, im please with that.

while i was there i also picked up a pair of lycra paddle shorts, mountain bike shorts with removable padded lycra inner shorts, some sort off liner to wear below cycling jerseys though that was actually bought more for compressing & holding my gut in place so it doesn't wobble around as much making me less self conscious about my new lycra tops i bought last weekend.

oh & new more comfortable gloves were also purchased.

all in all ive spent not that much today & got some pretty good gear, much better than i expected from lidl & more comfortable than the gear i had bought from proper sports shop at the weekend which i tried on when i got home then returned to store for a refund.

well chuffed tonight.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

This link from the sadly-departed Sheldon Brown also describes tyre sizing very well:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

 

[Ian H]

Bicycle tyre sizes are a wonderful minefield for the unwary. Just one example: a 26 x 1.25" tyre will not fit the same rim as a 26 x 1 1/4" tyre. As mentioned above, Sheldon explains it very well.