4.0" tube in a 4.6" tire?

Tarroneus

Tarroneus

Active Member
Just picked up a 2015 FatBoy with the 4.6" Ground Control tires. Running tubes for the time being, is it true you can use a 4" tube? Flatted last week and tried it but it never seemed to fill the tire. Do I need to pump them up to 20psi at home to stretch? Thanks in advance.
 
It'll work. Pumping up a tube outside the tire will not give the desired effect. It will grow mostly in overall circumference vs. in cross section.
 
Bought a FatBoy with the stock tubes and tires (ground control 4.6). At the shop I asked for some spare tubes and was given Bontrager 26x3.5"-4". Got a flat, put the spare tube in, pumped until the tube seemed to be very firm but did not expand enough to seat the tire. But if folks are using 4.0 tubes in fatter wheels maybe I just didn't get enough volume in there. So the question is do I have the wrong tubes and need the 4.6"
 
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Yeah, just keep pumping. Some tubes are more stretchy than others. That said, I have tried some undersized tubes that didn't work for me. Thicker ones seem to be the worst. I tried some 2.5" downhill tubes in my 4" tires that even after pumping them enough to fill the tire, they would shrink back after dropping the psi down to single digits.
 
I have used 2.7 tubes on 4-4.7" tires, so your should definitely work. It does take a while to pump them up if you are using a little pump
 
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