@bobjonkman via @CharlesSites sort of ask:
Q4. What are your thoughts about presta vs schrader tire valves?
What do you use? prefer?
#BikeNiteQ #BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes cc @bikenite
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@ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite Does anyone use Italian regina? Does anyone got experience using Schwalbe click valve?
@ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite A4. I prefer schrader. I can pump up at any gas station. The hand pump I carry with me is not that strong, but I can inflate enough to ride to a gas station to do the rest.
Presta (or French Sclaverand) is on my other bike and pretty common in Europe too. I find it pretty reliable. I use to carry an adapter with me in case I need to pump up at a gas station.
Dunlop is the valve of my childhood. I had several defects, so I don't like it anymore.
@ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite Both suck in their own ways. Clik valve is the winner.
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@f09fa681 @ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite As Clik valve by Schwalbe is pretty new. What are your experiences? Why do you prefer Clik?
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@realSiegfried @ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite It's the convenience factor for me. Pump head on, pump, pump head off. No need to fasten anything, no need to losen a screw, no worrying about bending the thingy. And you can use pump heads for presta valves if you don't have the clik pump head available.
It doesn't sound like much and it's one of those things I was skeptical about, then experienced and don't want to go back.
The only annoying bit is that my SKS mobile pressure gauge is not compatible (the presta head doesn't push down the pin when measuring which would be necessary). If someone has a hack... I'm interested!
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@f09fa681 @ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite Sounds good. Plus an adapter to fill up at gas stations could become my preference.
@ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite
A4: Neither. I have switched all 6 bikes in my family to Clik valves.
It is just much easier to handle for everyone.
@ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite
#BikeNite A4:
Four of my five bikes have Presta, one has Schrader. I just prefer Presta because that's what I deal with a ride most. The one with Schrader, my Brompton, is a bit problematic as with the narrow space between spokes, I can't use my usual pump head, and the one I have that works is a pain to screw onto the valve. I need a better pump head for that bike. Suggestions?
@ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite A4) had multiple cases of Presta valves slowly leaking air - only way to reliably fix this was to swap the valve.
Schrader valves work with gas station car tire inflation stations. At least they used to. Newer "smart" tire inflation stations can't deal with the low amount of air in bike tires and I heard storys of exploded tires and gas stations forbidding inflating bike tires.
@ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite #BikeNite A4: I never liked Presta valves. My G-Line had them and I replaced them after a few months.
I'm ok with Dunlop valves (were the common bicycle valve in Germany back when I was a teenager) and Schrader valves — most of my cycles of the past 2 decades had Schrader valves. Schrader valves can be filled at most gas stations.
I recently started switching to Schwalbe's Clik valves, so my 2 most common bikes are already converted, more to come.
@bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite A4. I have bikes with both! I don't have a big preference though I feel like I've broken more presta valves by fatiguing that little threaded part by wiggling it with a pump head.
Maybe that just happens more often because we have more tubes with presta valves. I think presta valves look better, but that's just a personal aesthetic thing.
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@ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite I think presta requires a wider rim. That's why you will find Schrader (Sclaverand) on racing bikes.
@ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite S'funny, I do too. I like the thinness. But it's still "yep that's a valve" xD
I suppose it matters on particularly thin wheels too, of course. Might on mine, I dunno one way or the other.
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@moira @ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite #BikeNite A4 follow-up: Funnily, Brompton has (or at least had) thicker Schrader valves for the narrow 16x1. 35" tires of the classic 16" Bromptons and thinner Presta valves for the wider 20x2.1" tires of the 20" G-Line.
@ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite A4: I'm on Presta because that's what my wheels use. I don't have a strong preference but I feel like the ability to tighten the valve by hand (and then put on a cap) makes slow valve leaks due to misaligned pins less likely? But I don't actually know that to be true.
It's not a big deal for me, my pumps handle both and if my wheels came in Schrader I wouldn't change it.
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@moira @ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite only tighten presta valves with one finger. Too tight and you will destroy the rubber seal keeping the air in. I've had to replace many tubes because the non replaceable valves wore out and started leaking. Note that with removable cores, it is all too easy to loosen them over time with weekly unscrewing for inflation. Tighten them at least once a year!
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@trouble @moira @ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite Interesting. Never seen that myself. Even with 20+ years old valves.
@moira @ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite
A4. Yes, all my rims accept Presta only. I've done bent cores on more than one occasion. I carry spares on the tourer now.
Still looking for a good frame pump option that fits easily on the valve, doesn't leak while inflating and doesn't take the core with it on removal
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@oheso @moira @ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite
A3 I use a Zefal sp3, Topeak Morphie and Topeak Rocket on my bikes. Rocket is smallest and is in a bracket attached under bottle cage. Sp3 is limited to steel frames and I've folded one up in the past. Morphie is probably the best pump but the frame mount options not great so best thrown in a pannier.
@ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite A4 I have no strong opinions about either.
Is this like a vim/emacs, pepsi/coke, windows/mac thing? Am I going to be exiled for not taking a side?
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@yantor3d @ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite well yes you will be, the answer is obviously Nano
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@Pionir @yantor3d @ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite The hard guys prefer edlin valves anyway.
@ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite A4: I have bikes with Presta and with Dunlop. Both are fine with me. I kind of like the minimalism of Dunlop, where a complete overhaul of the valve involves just pushing a fresh piece of tiny tubing onto the inner stem.
#bikeNite
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@fgbjr @ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite Dunlop seem to be more popular in Japan than elsewhere these days. (Can't swear about England.)
Edit: Ah, I see from @xtaran 's remark they were popular in Germany.
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@oheso @fgbjr @ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite #BikeNite A4 follow-up: Yep, back in my youth there weren't Dunlop, Schrader or Presta valves. We called them the bicycle valve (Dunlop), the car valve (Schrader) and the French or the road-bike valve (Presta). I think that explains a lot about their distribution in Germany back then.
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@xtaran @bikenite Today's the first day I'd even heard of Dunlop valves. I had to look it up to see a photo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunlop_valve #BikeNite
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#BikeNite A4 follow-up: Thanks @meganL, this comment made me realise how uncommon Dunlop valves seem to be in some markets. So far they seem to be common in Germany and Japan. (Thanks @oheso for that information.)
Citing from the Wikipedia article you linked: "[The Dunlop valve] is a type of pneumatic valve stem in use in many countries, including Japan, Korea, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, most European countries, and a number of developing countries."
Probably not France though.
Cc @bikenite
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@spacehobo @xtaran @meganL @bikenite It would be interesting to know how that came about! I know that Dunlop originated the pneumatic tire on bicycles.
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@oheso @spacehobo @meganL @bikenite #BikeNite A4 follow-up: Maybe it's related to Dunlop valves requiring quite some initial effort on each pump stroke to fill a tube.
@xtaran @oheso @fgbjr @ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite I fully confirm. Dunlop was simply everywhere during my childhood in Germany. My first Peugeot in 1979 had Sclaverand, which was exceptional for a non-racing bike. The next step were when Schrader became common, because you could ride to the next gas station, although their early pumps did not go farer than 3 bar.
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@xtaran @oheso @fgbjr @ascentale @bobjonkman @CharlesSites @bikenite Btw. Pump heads in Germany noawadays can handle Presta, Schrader and Dunlop.