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Does dirt collect right around anyone else's valve stems?

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Does dirt collect right around anyone else's valve stems?

Old 08-28-21, 12:35 PM
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mstateglfr 
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Does dirt collect right around anyone else's valve stems?

This started a few weeks ago and happens on every ride. No air is noticably escaping during or between rides, and the valves are tight. I now clean the rims after each ride since it's intrigued me.
No big deal, just an odd thing to suddenly happen and continue.

]
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Old 08-29-21, 09:53 AM
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Perhaps there is some residual sealant or water in your rim that is seeping out around your valve stem, making the rim wet in that area.
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Old 08-29-21, 07:25 PM
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unterhausen
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Are you running tubeless?
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Old 08-29-21, 08:55 PM
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No different than the rear of a vehicle that sees gravel/dirt roads.

It's air turbulence, combined with lower air pressure surrounding valve stem. sucks in dust, allows it to settle.

You could glue a fake valve stem onto the other side 180⁰, and it would do same thing.
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Old 08-29-21, 10:23 PM
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Yes, tubeless.
I haven't noticed it in the few years that I've run tubeless, but maybe I was just unaware?
I assume it's the slightest bit of air escaping somehow, even though I haven't been able to measure the difference with my pump.
Oh well.
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Old 08-30-21, 06:42 AM
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My entire bike collects dirt.
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Old 08-30-21, 10:40 AM
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I've never noticed this happening before on my bikes. It seems like you'd see similar smaller patches of dirt around each spoke nipple if air flow was causing this. It doesn't seem like any air turbulence caused by the valve stem would play a role.

Is it doing this on both wheels? I'd suspect some tiny amount of sealant is escaping and collecting dirt. It's also possible that old sealant wasn't completely cleaned off and some residue on the wheel is still attracting dirt.
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Old 08-30-21, 05:39 PM
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I haven't seen anything like it on my bikes, but I'm still using tubes.
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Old 08-31-21, 08:16 AM
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is it on both sides?
is it on both wheels?
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Old 09-01-21, 12:16 PM
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I’ve never thought about it until I saw this thread. My rain bike which I recently converted to tubeless does the same thing. I bet it’s from sealant slowly leaking from the stem. I do have to top them up every few days.
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