General Cycling Discussion - "Universal" Innertubes?

I was in K-Mart the other day and noticed they had Bell "universal" 26" bike wheel innertubes. I know there are universal bike pumps that are designed to fit both presta and schrader valves. However, somehow the idea of using one valve on an innertube to fit both holes seems deficient to me. Is the tube designed to fit both types of wheels? Has anyone tried using them? Would it be better just to get a presta or schrader only tube?

I was in K-Mart the other day and noticed they had Bell "universal" 26" bike wheel innertubes. I know there are universal bike pumps that are designed to fit both presta and schrader valves. However, somehow the idea of using one valve on an innertube to fit both holes seems deficient to me. Is the tube designed to fit both types of wheels? Has anyone tried using them? Would it be better just to get a presta or schrader only tube?

Are you sure they mean the valve stem, and not just a moderate tube width?
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Eric, Doug is right. the "universal" applies to a range of tire widths, not the valve.

Eric, Doug is right. the "universal" applies to a range of tire widths, not the valve.

But while on valves- You can fit a presta into a rim that is drilled for Schraeder. But a Schraeder cannot fit in a Presta rim. Although I use schraeder on my MTB's- The spare tube I carry is a Presta to cover my mates that have forgotten to carry a tube. My tyre sze is 1.8- but the tube covers from 1.5 to 1.95 aswell. There are tubes that cover a wider range of size available.

I couldn't find on the box where it specified what the valve was. When I opened the box, I found the tube was plastic shrink wrapped and the valve was burried in the middle of the roll so I could tell :/

My guess is that since most bikes they sell at K-Mart use schrader wheels, that's probably what they are.

Thanks for the responses.

But while on valves- You can fit a presta into a rim that is drilled for Schraeder. But a Schraeder cannot fit in a Presta rim. Although I use schraeder on my MTB's- The spare tube I carry is a Presta to cover my mates that have forgotten to carry a tube. My tyre sze is 1.8- but the tube covers from 1.5 to 1.95 aswell. There are tubes that cover a wider range of size available.

Back in my mountain biking days I used to do that too. That way my spare tube was a "universal donor" while my bike was a "universal recipient". That's more important if you're doing real mountain biking because you tend to get lots more flats.

Eric, Doug is right. the "universal" applies to a range of tire widths, not the valve.

For what it's worth, I've bought only two sizes of tubes for 10 or 12 years. 26x1.5 goes in everything from 1.4 to 2.3 tires, and 700x25 fits everything from 25 (skinniest tires I allow in the house) to 700x41. No problems ever.
I use presta valves because that's what my pumps are set up for, but I carry one of those screw-on schrader adapters just in case.

For what it's worth, I've bought only two sizes of tubes for 10 or 12 years. 26x1.5 goes in everything from 1.4 to 2.3 tires, and 700x25 fits everything from 25 (skinniest tires I allow in the house) to 700x41. No problems ever.

And in a pinch you could use the 26" tubes in a 700c tire or the 700c tube in a 26" tire - installation would just need to be a little more careful. But we've had occasion to do both when meeting other cyclists stranded without a spare tube. As mentioned before, the only real problem is fitting a Schrader valve through a Presta-sized hole.