Tubes
 

I have found many different tube styles when shopping for tubes. Currently I have a tube with a very long valve stem on the front and a short stem on the back. Both are hard to fill, and if I get a flat I doubt that my hand pump will be able to do the job. They lose air as I attempt to pump the tires up. Are there certain brands that have "good" tubes, or am I buying the wrong tubes? I have purchased at my LBS and from Nashbar. Thanks.

I just buy the cheapest regular 700c x 20-23 tubes and never have a problem.

sup wid u

Your problem may have more to do with the pump than the tubes. Try using some different pumps if you can, and see which works best for you...

Inner tubes come in 3 different valve lengths.

What we used to call "standard" tubes have 36mm valves. They work best with box section rims. A lot of bike shops have stopped stocking them in order to minimize the number of inventory skews. I stopped buying inner tubes locally simply because 36mm tubes are hard to find in stock.

The new bike shop "standard" are 48mm tubes. That's about 2" long. If your wheels have profile depths of 25 or 30mm, these are what you are probably looking for.

There are also 60mm tubes. They work best only if you have very deep section wheels. They look really dorky if you have box section rims like me.

Thanks!

There's a few more than three in 700 prestas: 32, 34, 42, 52 to name a few more.