700 x 18 or 700 x 23? Tires

This a.m. I excidetly got up at 5:00 a.m. and was out the door by 5:20. With the time change I can see in the morning and am now back to my sort of daily routine of riding for an hour or more before going to work. It is wonderful riding while the sun comes up. Then it happens a few miles away from home I get a flat. I take out my tools an change the tire only to find that my tube is too big. It was a 700 x 23, my tire was a 700 x 18. Luckily I had a 700 x 18 in my bag, always carry 2 tubes.

So am I stuck always worrying about having the right size tubes? I can never borrow anyone else's tubes then? Or is this a common size?:eek:

700x18 is rather unusual. Tubes, however, are not sized as specifically as tires. You may get a tube labeled 18-25 or 25-32 or some other range. So I would guess that anyone who rides 700x23 tires would have a spare tube you could use. It may look a little large, but you should be able to make it work. Likewise your 700x18 tubes would probably work fine in 700x23 tires. Also not a bad idea to carry some patches in case you ever run out of tubes.

Agree, 700x18C is a *very* small tire. It is also a very unusual size, I don't think I have seen that size around any store. Normally the are either 19, 21, 23 etc The more universal size used would be the 700x23c. But if you like the 18 then go for it.

And tubes I normally use are the Vittoria Ultralite 700C and they fit in tires ranging from 19c to 23c.