MTN bike tubes

[fastdogs]

so when the tire itself gets cut, do you have to replace it? My rear tire got a chunk otu of the sidewall, a small chunk about an inch, and the tube was bulging through it. The tube was ok, and the tire wasn't flat, but I thought I should replace the tire- was it necessary or could the tire be repaired?
vickie

[bike4ever]

Vickie - If the tube can poke through a hole in a tire, I'd recommend replacing it. You are definitely going to be more prone to a puncture in that situation.

[TahoeDirtGirl]

My perfect combination is whatever tube the LBS has and goo in it as well as Mr. Tuffy strips that go between the tire and tube. People will say that's too much rolling resistance but I don't think rolling resistance is a problem for me. When I get much better maybe that will be the edge I can count on but for now, I have plenty of room for improvement through strength training and just training on the bike. If the tendon would let me on the bike

[sundial]

I switched to Kenda tubeless tires with Stan's and I am more than pleased. No more slow leaks and multiple tube changing.

[kermit]

I'm gonna be the oddball here but I put thorn resistant tubes in my mountain bikes. They are heavy, about 10x heavier than regular, but I have never had a flat. The worst thing in the world is being 6 miles into a trail with a flat. I would rather carry the extra weight.

[tzvia]

I use light weight tubes, right now running Specialized. With a spare in the seat bag, and another (along with patches) in the Camelbak, I think I'm covered. For tire cuts, I cut up an old water bottle into 2" squares, and taped then together with electrical tape. If I get a cut that allows the tube to stick out, I would put the square of plastic inside the tire and hold it in place with a little electrical tape till pressure from re-inflating the tube holds it against the sidewall. That would get me back to my car without any extra risk of the new tube being cut because it was exposed. I did it once and much to my surprise, it did work. And it was a good excuse to buy new water bottles .

Rotating weight is a good place to save weight; whatever you can trim from the wheels is like trimming 3 times the weight somewhere else. No thorn proof tubes for me; if an object is strong/sharp enough to get through my tire, it can get through a thornproof tube too so I don't think it helps much. I'd rather save the weight.

[stephanie1129]

self healing tubes are heavy, and the "slime" inside can pool to one side of your tire making your wheel unbalanced.

I used to have tire liners in my mtb, until they kept slicing my inner tubes.

Now I just have regular tubes, no liners, or self healing stuff, and I rarely have problems with flats.