Originally Posted by
jonwvara
Maybe I'm trying to solve a nonexistent problem. I have seen plenty of schraeder wheels with crazily-angled valve stems but since I haven never used said wheels myself, I have no idea how they got that way. Maybe it only happens if wheels are run while nearly flat? If they can be run at 30-40psi without problems, I guess I have been wasting everyone's time. If I'd thought this through I'd have realized that lots of mountain bikes use schraeder valves and are run at pretty low pressures, but I don't hear a lot of mountain bikers complaining about their valve stems?
When I see angled stems, I usually figure the person was careless when putting the tube and tire back on the rim. The valve might have been straight when they initially stuck it through the rim, but then they pushed it off-center when stuffing the rest of the tube into the tire and wrangling the second bead into place.
I'm probably a little more OCD than most, in that I'll tug the uninflated tire one way or the other to get that valve straight again, and will unmount everything and start again if that's what it takes.
Tire creep *does* happen, but like you say, it takes really super-low pressures that we shouldn't be running on the road and when touring. Just begging for a pinch flat at that point.
