Akjam101

I was going to change the tire and tube on my rear wheel and got all the measurements. The old tire was 26"x 1.95" so I assumed I should get another tire like that. I bought a Schwinn Replacement Bike Tire Black with Carbon Steel Bead which is also 26"x1.96". I also bought a Bell Standard 26"x1.75-2.25" Schrader which I thought would work, I didn't look at the old tire tube because according to the videos I watched online you only needed to know the measurements of the bike tire and buy the same size tube. But once I put the bike tube on there were like 2 or 3 inches of leftover bike tube not sticking to the rim even after pumping it up. So I measured the diameter of the bike rim and got about 24". So now I'm confused as to why the old bike tire was 26"x1.95" and fit well, and if I'm supposed to buy a 24"x1.95" bike tube instead. Will that bike tube and my new bike tire fit together?

Bill Kapaun

Must be a mismarked box?
See if a size is stenciled on the tube itself.
The rim should be 22" diameter, measuring from tire BEAD SEAT to BEAD SEAT.

AnkleWork

Let the air out of the tube and try again.

JohnDThompson 

Unfortunately there are at least five different nominally 26" tire sizes. Look for the ETRTO tire size designation on the tire (it should look something like "45-559"); the first number indicates the nominal width of the tire but isn't terribly important to you as the tube will expand to fill the available space. The second number indicates the tire bead seat diameter, which for a nominal 26" tire could be 559, 571, 584, 590, or 599mm. If you try to put a tube designed for say, a 590mm tire into a 559mm tire, you will have excess tube as you describe.

Iride01 

I'm confused.... you put the tube on the rim and inflated it without a tire?

Yes as mentioned you need to look at the ISO or ETRTO size on the original tire if you still have it. It's on there somewhere. Maybe in tiny hard to see stamped or embossed lettering. Then you'll know the correct BSD of your rim and what BSD the tires you can consider for purchase. It also tell you the width of the tire. Many think it's external width, I don't know, but I thought it was the width of the casing which is covered with stuff that's not part of the measurement.

Sometimes you can find an ISO/ETRTO size stamped on the rim too. This will tell you the internal width of the rim and BSD.

Andrew R Stewart 

Measure the rim's OD again more carefully. Per Sutherland's manual the outer diameter should be about 573mm, a tad more the 22.5". If your rim really is about 24"" in diameter then you've got some other size then a common AtB's 559 ISO. But then you already have a go/no go gage in the tire you bought

When tubes are flat, no air, they will measure longer then when inflated a bit. Think of when you buy pants and before trying on a pair you hold them against your waist/legs and see they touch the ground. When you put then on they "magically" shrink in length. This is why it's suggested to slightly inflate the tube before installing. Andy

SalsaShark

Bicycle tires are measured differently than automobile tires. As an example, on an automobile, a 16" tire refers to the rim diameter at the bead seat, inside the rims outer flange. On a bicycle, however, the diameter is measured at the outer tread on the inflated tire, not at the rim. When you measured your rim, you said it measures around 24" (which i am assuming you measured with a tape on a built wheel, so is probably reading a bit longer than the actual outer diameter of the rim...if you want to measure this more accurately, stand it upright on the ground close to a wall and use a 2-foot level to mark it's height, like you would when measuring a child's height and marking it on the wall...then simply measure the mark's height on the wall), which would be in the ballpark for a rim designed to accept 26" tires. Your tube should be labeled on the rubber itself, indicating the size range of tires it was designed to work with. Without the tire to contain the tube, it will look loose on the rim. Mount both the tire and tube together, and inflate. If it still appears your tube is too big, or is not able to be contained between the rim and tire without creasing or pinching, then you may have the wrong tube size. It the tire you purchased is the same exact size as one you removed, then it is the correct size. You could always reuse your old tube also, if needed.

jadocs

Put a little air in the tube, then put it on your rim. It’s not supposed to be a snug fit when you are installing it. Get all the tube under the tire, finish mounting the tire and pump it up.

Akjam101

Thank you for your answer, I am still a rookie and have never put on a tube and tire, I thought it was supposed to be a snug fit. I've put the tire and tube on, it seems to work well so far, I've road it for a bit and everything seems fine.

Akjam101

Thank you for all your responses, I thought it was supposed to be a snug fit which is why I was confused. But I put the tire and tube on and it seems to be working pretty well.

jadocs

Good deal!