tangolik

Hi all, I have a citizen tokyo folder, I think it is a 2010 made. I bought it second but it is barely used but bike had been sitting around so she had a fatal flat. The rear tire broke around rim. I rode it about a week maybe 5 miles per day.

So anyway, I am trying to order a pair of tires with inner tubes online and BikeTiresDirect.com - Discount bicycle tires, components and accessories doesn't have a fitting 1.5 width inner tube? Has anybody done this?

thanks,

dynaryder

First,make sure you order the correct diameter tires. There are two 16" wheel sizes,349 and 305,and they cannot be interchanged. Given that your bike came with 1.75" tires,I'm about 99% certain you're running 305's,but check the sidewall markings to make absolutely sure. As for the tubes,tubes are designed to fit a range of tire widths(they're rubber,they stretch). For example,the tubes in my cargo bike's 2" tires are for 1.5-2" tires. As long as the tires are within the tube's range,you'll be fine.

Violinfish

Generally speaking, it works.
according to my experience,16*1.25,1.75 and even 1.95 tubes can fit in a 16*1.5 tire. if there was no 1.5 tube available, I preferred to use 1.25。narrow tube is easier to fit than fat one.

cmcristi

My experience is with 20x1.75 tubes on 20x1.5 Kenda Kwest tire. They fit but you have to be careful. When arranging the tube inside the tire, you start by the book with the tube area where the valve is located and push the tube inside progressing on both halves of the tube at the same time. What you will discover is that when get to the opposite side of the valve, you will squeeze in the last inch of tube and it will seem as if the tube is half an inch wider than the tire. If you are careless and push that tube as is in the remaining space, you will get a flat pretty soon in the opposite side of the valve because the tube is "wrinkled" inside the tire.

What I did and it stopped the flats was to redistribute evenly that remaining tube back towards the valve, on both halves of the tire. The tube will not match perfectly the tire across the entire diameter but the "wrinkles" will be too small to cause any flat.

cmcristi

And by the way, the Kenda Kwest 1.5" tires are cheap but they are also quite fragile. The sidewall of the tire will degrade at the contact line with the rim. My tires (one pair) did not last more than 2-3000 km. In fact, both of them failed in the same way at about the same mileage. I put the rear tire first, after 3 weeks I put the front one, then after several months, both failed, first the rear one and 2 weeks later the front one.

Other than that, they are quite fast, adherent in the dry, decent in the damp, low rolling resistance. Very good, too bad they don't last.

Violinfish

maybe you had got some 30 TPI lower-end version of kenda KWEST tire.I broke one of them too.
try some 60 TPI super-light version of KWEST.they would be much sweeter.

cmcristi

It was the 20", K193, 60 TPI, 100 PSI.

Violinfish

really? this version is rare at least here in chinese domestic market.it's easier to buy the 20x1.25 60TPI 100PSI version of K193, most of the 20x1.5 K193 are 30TPI 40-65PSI.

cmcristi

No. I was wrong and you are right. I had the 65 PSI. And I was always misled by Kenda's own statements from Kwest where one can only find these:
SIZE ETRTO MAX-PSI TPI
20x1 1/8 28-451 100 60 SRC PRC Wire 305±15 Hi-Pressure
20x1.25 32-406 100 60 SRC PRC Wire 305±15 Hi-Pressure
20x1.50 40-406 100 60 SRC PRC Folding 385±20 Hi-Pressure
20x1.50 40-406 100 60 SRC PRC Wire 445±20 Hi-Pressure

Here is the picture of the tire with a small flashlight inside the tire so that one could see the damage.