Does inner tubes make a difference

Samvan77

Hi all,

Silly questions, but I have always been meaning to ask this. My LBS and Halfords are selling 700x23 inner tubes at about £5.00 a pop(pun not intended). But I have been starting to buy inner tubes from my local QD stores instead at £2.29 each instead and I actually think they lost longer that the branded ones on sale at my LBS.

In your experienced opinions does more expensive branded inner tubes perform any different to cheap no name brand cheaper ones?

wellbeloved747

Halfords will usually charge slightly more for their own brand, your LBS choose a good mid range usually. so i would stick to the cheaper option if you personally believe they are better. The only reason to spend more i.e £6-8 is if you use latex tubes (like me).

skyd0g

The branded ones are probably lighter & have better quality valves (ie. theoretically better quality contol and lighter/thinner).

If you're getting P@'a$44£'s regularly, look at the tyres you're using & choose your line through what you're riding through... ...but you can often get branded innertubes cheaply in bulk (5 or 10) at a time through many retailers at a good discount.

deswahriff

.... I prefer a decent branded tube over a no-name one, usually buy Contis or Specialized....you can find them for £3.50 or so if you search..Evans and Wiggle come to mind....£5 for a tube is way more than I would pay....!

..meant to add, some (like Continental) have removable valve cores, others are fixed. Opinion is mixed on what is "best", personally, I prefer a removable core, having snapped a few valve tips before. If you have these, just make sure its nice and tight from time to time (use needle nose pliers or a specific little valve tool you can get for £1 or so), a loose valve core is often the cause of a "slow puncture"...