This is my first time going to 26 inch wheels and I feel like my tube is not compatible with my rim- which would also mean my tire is not compatible with my rim
Can somebody help me?
by Senior_Piano_837
This is my first time going to 26 inch wheels and I feel like my tube is not compatible with my rim- which would also mean my tire is not compatible with my rim
Can somebody help me?
by Senior_Piano_837
9 Comments
Is it also your first time putting a tire on a wheel? This is normal. Tube sizes are not exact, nor do they need to be, as it is nobody’s concern what they do when not within a tire.
I’m confused. Are you putting 26″ wheels on a bike that previously had a different wheel size, or is this your first bike with 26″ wheels? If the former, that won’t work, because you have cantilever rim brakes, meaning the rim will be in the wrong place and the brake placement is determined by welded-on frame mounts. If the latter, the question is what is the tire size? That tube is correct for the wheel, but you have to put the tub inside the tire before mounting them together on the wheel. The tire should be somewhere between the range given on the tube box (26×1.75 – 26×2.125), and you should see 559 somewhere printed on the tire. If the tire size is given in a fraction (ie. 26×1 3/8), it won’t fit this wheel.
Gotta put the tube in the tire while it’s on the rim
It looks a bit big in the first picture but, that could be from someone inflating it when it wasn’t seated under a tire and stretching it. Maybe you did. Maybe someone else did then returned it to the store. It could just be the way Slime makes their tubes, I don’t know, haven’t used their tubes.
Put it inside the tire then install the tire with the tube inside.
What does the print on the tube say in the first picture? Looks like it says 26×1? I don’t think that’s the tube that should have been in this box. 26×1, if that’s what it says, is a larger tire/wheel size [26 Inch Bicycle Tires](https://sheldonbrown.com/26.html) Go back where you bought the tube, look at another tube inside the box and see if it looks the same. The tube that was in the box should work with that rim, unless someone swapped it.
The tube size looks fine but inflating tubes with a tire around it can damage them.
Self-sealing? 🤔
It has never occurred to me to put an inner tube on a rim without a tire. I just grabbed a rim that had nothing mounted on it, and wrapped an inner tube around it, and it fits a little less loosely than the ones in your photos, but it’s certainly not a tight fit.
I see your rim is labeled “559×18″, and the BSD of a 26” wheel is 559mm, so you have the right components. I think you should put it all together before you give up. The job of the inner tube is to conform to the interior of the tire, not to hold its own shape.
Lmao. Bruh, go on YouTube and watch a video for God’s sake.
Totally normal. Watch out for snake bites…your level of novice + your level of eagerness makes you a prime candidate for pinching your tube from improper tire install. There are probably lots of ways to avoid them, but my approach is to inflate, mostly deflate, peel the bead away from the rim all the way around, then reinflate. I haven’t had a flat in 10 years since I put Gatorakins on my commuter.