Originally Posted by
bigfred
Or, we might rephrase as, "No amount spent on the best tires can keep a cheap tube from giving up the ghost at the first opportunity." It is a composite structure after all, reliant upon each of it's components, each of which can be the weak link.
The issues that may exist with cheap tubes include but are not limited to poor joints at the valve stem, failures at the mold seam, inconsistant material thickness, low elasticity of the rubber.
I've also found that putting a 23c tube in 25mm-28mm tires may result in said tube being stretched a bit thin and increasing the likelihood of it flatting.
I must admit BigFred,
This tube theory has me intrigued for sure. It does indeed sound logical. However, I'm having difficulty wrapping my mind around the fact that millions of dollars go into the research and development of puncture-resistant-long-lasting tires, while very little research goes into the development of tire tubes. It's like nobody really cares that much about tire tubes. It's like, as long as the tube is adequately flexible and can hold air, it's good to go! That's it! There's nothing else to it, because the actual tire's duty, is to protect the tube. If the tire fails, the tube fails!
However, I'm still considering your tube theory, because you do put forth what I would regard, as a very intelligent argument...