mercator

I once lent my pump to a fellow with a similar hangup as the OP. To whit, when he released the chuck and heard the air escaping at 110 psi he was convinced the pressure in the tire had dropped and insisted on pumping it up again. After he did it four times, I explained that none of the air was coming from the tube, since the presta valve closes instantly, it was just the air in the hose.

I'm not sure if I convinced him, he seemed to have a high degree of confidence in his mental model, but I took my pump back and he rode off. Maybe it was @mjac?

desconhecido 

As for valves, I agree with you -- to each his (or her or whatever) own. And why do we have presta valves at all? I've long thought it started with tubulars and when people started using clinchers on narrow rims they wanted a valve that would work with their pumps.

As for pumps and presta valves, I had a Zefal pump for years and it worked fine on presta valves. I either lost it or it was stolen and the Zefal pump I bought to replace it is supposed to be for both presta and Shrader but I can't get it to work on either. Topeak Road Morph does the trick,though.

Have a Silca floor pump that I bought back in the 80s and the Shrader piece (little prong to depress the valve) broke years ago but it kept working on the prestas. Then, the bushing finally wore out and it wouldn't seal. Replaced with an official Silca polyurethane bushing and now I can't get the presta valve into it so I replaced the head with a Lezyne reversible chuck and it screws on to both presta or shrader and works like a charm.

Bought an SKS pump not too long ago supposed to come with what they call an EVA head -- either presta or shrader, shove it into the same hole and go for it. But, it came with a two port head, one hole for shrader, the other for presta. Presta works ok but the Shrader end wouldn't work. Bought an SKS EVA replacement chuck and all works fine though I don't pump shraders with it because the Lezine chuck works so well for that.

mjac

I do not know this stuff, I am trying to learn it. I find it interesting. What type of rim would be so narrow that the difference in the size of the valve hole between PrestI and Schrader would be critical? What type of tire would go on there? I have never measured the throat of my rims but they hold 23mm or 25mm tires and the Schrader holes don't look anywhere near obtrusive. Not anywhere near.

I had had the use of the retaining nut all wrong. I thought it must be to secure the stem and ThermoniScott ( I believe) said they were basically useless but they just keep the stem fro plunging down when you try to get the pump head on. Even with a good pump with a good pump head you have to press that head on.

You see, another inconvenience. If someone does not have to run PestI I don't for the life of me see why they would.

mjac

PrestI...They are girly.

Wilfred Laurier

...says the person who can't figure out how to use them

StanSeven

This interesting thread started to get an insulting comment or two thrown in. I cleaned it up. Let’s keep C&V friendly and cordial among eac other. Thanks

UniChris

Given my narrowest tires are in the 40's I'm the wrong person to ask.

But I'd think that a rim for a 23 or 25 tire would be under 20mm in width at which point drilling for a Schrader cuts out at least half of it. It would also seem to require the valve to tube seal to pinch into a very narrow inner width.

Granted, the inner web of beam like structural members often does have lightening holes in such a position.

mjac

That has not been my experience. I have had several stems tear and I look at that narrow little base and I blame it. User error, other factors, I do not know. I find PrestI valves harder to pump because it is harder to get the pump head on(using same head on PrestI and Schrader), you loose all of the air engaging the pump head or it is harder to get started if air remains in the tire and Schraders are easier to disengage. But that is just my experience. Might not apply to others.

mjac

Or has figured them out and realizes their disadvantages so doesn't blindly follow the script.

cb400bill

mjac, I suggest that if you are having many problems with Presta valve tubes that you go to a good bike shop, with your pump, and ask them to show you how to pump them properly.

Wilfred Laurier

Nope. The problems you are describing are not problems for the rest of us. A better description for your troubles is 'user error'.

And, in fact, before I learned how to properly use a frame pump at age 14, I actually damaged a series of Schrader valves at their base. Increased skill = decreased problems.

Iride01 

My Raleigh Competition GS is from the late 70's. It has Weinmain A124 concave rims that have a 14 mm inner width. This is intended for those that want to run 23 to 28 mm wide tires, possibly narrower. By having a presta valve, the rim is probably stronger than having a hole for a schrader.

I'm not even certain I could easily mount a tire on that rim easily if the valve were schrader as the width of the tire beads plus the width of the schrader and it's additional rubber to strengthen the tube are certainly using up quite a few of those 14 mm's.

At any rate, I've never seen a schrader drilling on those rims. So to me presta valves make sense.

Since road bikes went through the era of skinny tires and rims which then dictated presta valves, it is what will be standard for many years to come even though most road bikers now are running wider tires. It's a historical thing I believe, and most of us are happy with them.

Your disadvantages you share still seem to be more operator issues than issues with the design itself.

mjac

It is not me, it is the PrestI Valves.As has been well documented in previous posts. They are too delicate...Thank You,mjac

Wilfred Laurier

No. It's you.

mjac

Please look at this from another perspective. Oh, you have to learn how to do this, you have to learn how to do that, you need a better pump, you have to be careful, for what? For what advantages? Weight savings? Give me a break. Because the Schrader Valve hole size in the rim jeopardizes the integrity of the rim? Please. This might apply in 1 or 2% of very rare air cases of super competitive equipment that has no business in the street. So with all the things you are sacrificing, where are the advantages? Maybe I am missing something. That is why I am posing the question. Even poking a little bit. I don't get it. Just take a PrestI and a Schrader side by side and look at their bases in a common sense manner and tell me which one looks more robust and trouble free. That is what I am going on. Not what somebody said.

alcjphil

47 years of using prestA valves and no idea what your deal is

mjac

So you are going to base your decision on what valve to use because of the integrity of the rim designed in 1970 and even based on that you are not sure it would have made a difference even back then. You don't think there have been advances in rim design and materials since 1970? I doubt ver seriously a modern rin design with its shoulder configurations and modern materials could care less if it is drilled Schrader or PrestI at all. Not even close. Except like I stated before in very rare cases of super competitive equipment that has no business in the street.

You our may very well be right. Some of my problems may have been user error. I don't think so, but it could have been. But I do know those same problems would not exist using the same procedures with a Schrader Valve. So why am I going to take all these safeguards for what advantage. What advantage does it give me? None. None that has been pointed out. So why do it? Another thing I don't do is follow the crowd because that is the way it has always been done. Show me why and I will listen.

desconhecido 

The narrow 27" rims back in the 70s, for 27 X 1" tires, were drilled for Shrader valves, maybe some for presta, but I don't remember them. I think most all 700C rims, no matter the width, used to be drilled for presta. These days, I think you can find 700C rims with those gigantic holes in them.

Oh, boy, just within the last couple days I've been cleaning and polishing a pair of 27" Super Champion 58 rims. Red label, probably from about 1975 and they are drilled for presta. They say short-term memory is the first thing to go. Probably wouldn't remember what I had for breakfast but I avoid that problem by not eating breakfast.

mjac

No, it is the PrestI. Wake up and smell the Petunias and quit following the crowd. Tell me one advantage PrestI gives you. One. Then I will listen. Not generalizations, one concrete advantage.

mjac

I am not looking for generalizations. I am looking for one concrete objective advantage PrestI Valves give you. One. Like I said, hold up a PrestI Valve and a Schrader Valve together, side by side, and tell me what base looks more sturdy, reliable and trouble free. That is what I am going by. I may be wrong. But no one has been able to show me yet.

Iride01 

I still don't understand what you are complaining about. There are 700C tubes that are schrader and there are 700C rims that handle them. So why not get them if that is what you need? Although I did have some issues with a couple, It only required five dollars worth of parts to solve, hose and chuck. I don't take any special care with them.

The bikes I rode for 45 plus years were schrader. They had wider tires. The bike I started riding circa 2010, the Raleigh, had presta. I don't like or dislike them any more than the other. I do like that there is a nut on the presta's stem. There were several time that my kids rode on nearly flat tires and the tube with schrader valve went down into the rim. But none of these experiences is enough to put me off on either. I can adapt easily and don't believe that industry must provide my perfect solution.

I am happy with rim brakes, but look where the industry is now. My next bike which I'll get in three weeks will be disc. It has presta valves on it, but if the industry decided to change it, I wouldn't care. I can competently use either and have the inexpensive equipment to use either.

And for the record, misspelling presta is probably a slap to the person that named them IMO.

Iride01 

Why do you have to be swayed to what you consider following the crowd? The presta vs schrader isn't a big issue for anyone here. You are the one that is having problems with it.

The industry doesn't have to provide the perfect solution at any one moment. They just have to provide what most people will buy. The industry does provide you with the option to have your bike with your valve of choice. Albeit you may not get the rims you want.

UniChris

That you can engineer a narrow rim that works with a big hole in it doesn't mean that all narrow rims are engineered to work with a big hole in them.

AnkleWork

"When you find yourself at the bottom of a deep dark hole, drop the shovel."

ThermionicScott 

Use your thumb to keep the pump head from pushing the valve into the rim when starting a tire with no air, like this:



Technique works great with any kind of valve. Good luck, I'm outta this thread.