I have both, but am thinking I’ll probably only need to go with one or the other while riding in Alps on my XC bike this summer.

Had got into habit of putting a DH tube in single-ply rear tyre for riding in Lakes anyway and can’t see terrain being any rockier – but I’m sure some of you have more experience.

XC tubes in 2-ply tyres or DH tubes in 1-ply ones? Any opinions?

duel ply tyres, tesco tubes

Are you looking to prioritise rolling resistance or puncture resistance?

If you are doing lots of climbing, then I would go with single-ply tyres, with Maxxis freeride tubes (not as heavy as dh tubes).

If you aren’t doing much climbing then dual-plys with standard tubes.

Agree with DTF. DH tubes split (apparently).
I use dual ply HRs with whatever xc type tubes are cheapest (and rated to inflate adequately).

Dual-ply tyres for the Alps – not necessarily rockier than the lakes, but you’re likely to be travelling faster, so more prone to damage. Up to you if you want to use thin tubes.

DH tube in a single ply is pointless, many get away with XC tubes in Dual plys (not me tho)

If you’re lift assisted riding, at least stick a DH tube in the rear Dual ply tyre. fronts never get as much of a pummelling

davidtaylforth – Member

duel ply tyres, tesco tubes

Aye, sounds good to me- not too heavy, not too skinny, £1 each Though I am a) very slow and b) skinny

Dual ply tyres and light tubes. For aggro dh at anything below rock hard pressures you’ll still be able to pinch a dh tube and sidewall roll could be an issue too.

I’ll have a freemince bike with DH tubes and tyres too for our DH days out there.

This is for my 140mm bike which I will do the PPdS and some lift-assisted XC rides on. Just wanted to lose a bit of weight really.

DH tube in a single ply is pointless

Why do you think that? I’ve found I’ve cut rear punctures out completely when riding in the Lakes with one.

experience 😉

“DH tube in a single ply is pointless, many get away with XC tubes in Dual plys”
DH tube in a single ply tyre would (generally?) be lighter, especially if it were a folding tyre

If the Dual Ply (or Single) is too big for the tube, having to inflate the tube loads before it even meets the tyre (ie standard XC tube in maxxis 2.25″/2.5″ or bigger* how does that effect things?

*maxxis 2.35″ being a fair bit smaller than 2.25″/2.5″ maxxis (which IMO are very similar volume overall-with tread taken into account)

I’m interested in this, I’m currently Maxxis freeride tubes in folding tyres in the UK, have used single ply (wire) 2.5″ maxxis (I can’t seem to find them to buy any longer) with XC and Maxxis freeride tubes in the Alps
Switching to my spare wheel (2.5″ SP Maxxis/Maxxis FR tube) with a narrower (too narrow) rim seemed to make a bit of a difference to pinch flat resistance

Pinch flats are the biggest issue if you’re running lowish pressure, so dual ply tires with cheap tesco tubes is pointless, the dual ply tires don’t stop pinch flats.

I’ve been running single ply (well RQ, dunno what ply they are) and DH tubes and not had a puncture for over 2 years.

Dual ply thick tires and DH tubes would be very heavy but meh, no punctures.

ymmv of course there are lots of different opinions.

dual ply tires don’t stop pinch flats

IME they do.
Isn’t that the point of them?

randomjeremy – Member

Pinch flats are the biggest issue if you’re running lowish pressure, so dual ply tires with cheap tesco tubes is pointless, the dual ply tires don’t stop pinch flats.

And yet I pinch flat incredibly rarely with this combination… Eh, once actually that I can recall, and that took some effort. But fairly constantly with singleplys and the same tubes and same pressures. I’m no tyrologist but I assume the relative stiffness of the tyres is making the difference there.

DH tubes in a singleply to deal with pinches seems a bit like treating the symptoms not the cause to me. But would be cheaper than changing tyres I guess.

DH tubes are rubbish, I always use dual ply and skinny tubes, never puncture. Currently running specialised clutch sx, they are 1.5 ply and weigh 800g compared to a 1250g high roller. Very grippy and highly rated on SDH.

Yes well there we go nobody can agree, what a surprise 🙂 Use what works for you.

Same as it ever was! 🙂

DH Tyres for the sidewall protection, toasted 3 sinle ply minions up i the lakes this year

Dual ply tires, (ghetto) tubeless – that’s what I did for the Mega. Was pretty much the only person in our group without a flat all week, and I weigh over 16st. Maybe I just ride like a fairy though.

Dual ply and skinny tubes on my mega week, no punctures for me at 15 stone. Mind you out of a group of nine nobody punctured all week.

Dual ply and whatever tubes I can find. Using a softer compound tyre can mean you can run higher pressures to reduce the risk of pinch flats. I’ve heard anecdotal evidence that a lot of tubes in the Alps fail due to hot spots building up between the tyre and tube, so don’t forget to talc up.

dual ply rear tubeless surely

“DH tubes in a singleply to deal with pinches seems a bit like treating the symptoms not the cause to me. But would be cheaper than changing tyres I guess”
single ply/DH tubes would usually be lighter though?

Talc up the tyre tube? I’ve not heard of this before

Defo dual ply with standard tubes for the Alps – it’s the speed that’ll have you.

On a recent trip I thought I’d save weight with a single ply on the back. Out of all my mates, it was the only tyre that punctured all week.

Doh.