Stupid Presta Valves

Gee ... I've never met anyone who couldn't figure out a presta valve. Do
you have trouble with paper clips? ;-)
--
Bob C.

"Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I remember when there was nothing simpler than pumping up a bicycle
tire. You just screwed on an attachment, pumped about 100 times and
there your were. I have just purchased a self-healing inner tube and
thought that the frustration of flat tires was behind me. Then I
noticed it had a new (to me) valve on it called a presta valve. You
need a special attachment for your pump, which I actually have, but the
valve apparently has two modes. One mode is screwed in where the air
doesn't go in to begin with. The other is screwed out where you pump
it in and it comes straight out. Brilliant invention!

Quoted message said:

I remember when there was nothing simpler than pumping up a bicycle
tire. You just screwed on an attachment, pumped about 100 times and
there your were. I have just purchased a self-healing inner tube and
thought that the frustration of flat tires was behind me. Then I
noticed it had a new (to me) valve on it called a presta valve. You
need a special attachment for your pump, which I actually have, but the
valve apparently has two modes. One mode is screwed in where the air
doesn't go in to begin with. The other is screwed out where you pump
it in and it comes straight out. Brilliant invention!

Your pump, if it is reasonably new, probably has a
reversible mode to fit your Presta valve.

Prestas are considered generally easier to pump by hand than
Schrader.

Certainly one might replace the tube for the valve with
which one is more comfortable. This isn't worth being upset
over. Choice is good.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

I eventually figured it out. The guy at the bicycle shop had shown me
the wrong way to adapt the pump. I still lost a fair bit of air
tightening the valve after filling the tube. Hopefully it won't give
me any more trouble.

Thanks,
Peter.

I eventually figured it out. I thought it would be easier to try to
figure it out than take it back. I still don't see what is so good
about presta valves. I've been cycling for decades and have only
encountered Schraeder valves in the past. I always thought they worked
fine.

Thanks,
Peter.

I've put together bicycles from scratch and fixed computers. I have
used Shraeder valves for years w/o the need for adapters. I don't see
the point of change for the sake of change.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I remember when there was nothing simpler than pumping up a bicycle
tire. You just screwed on an attachment, pumped about 100 times and
there your were. I have just purchased a self-healing inner tube and
thought that the frustration of flat tires was behind me. Then I
noticed it had a new (to me) valve on it called a presta valve. You
need a special attachment for your pump, which I actually have, but the
valve apparently has two modes. One mode is screwed in where the air
doesn't go in to begin with. The other is screwed out where you pump
it in and it comes straight out. Brilliant invention!

All ribbing aside, are you sure you are operating your tubes' Presta valves
correctly? Some tubes with Presta valves have removable cores and some
don't. The ones with removable cores will allow you to make the error of
unscrewing the whole core, which will then come out and leave you with all
your air coming right back out at you after you pump the tube up. It sounds
to me like this is what you are doing. Instead, you should only be opening
the valve by turning the small knurled knob on the very top of the valve a
few turns in a counter-clockwise direction. Pump it up and when you remove
your pump from the valve stem you should NOT have air whistling back out.
Then, just close the valve by screwing that small knurled knob on top back
down.

Don't know what you're riding but you're going to find that lots or wheel
rims are drilled for Presta valve stems, not Schrader.

HTH,

Cal

Per [email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

One mode is screwed in where the air
doesn't go in to begin with. The other is screwed out where you pump
it in and it comes straight out. Brilliant invention!

Give it some time. You'll learn to love Presta valves and Schraeder valves will
seem a little dysfunctional after that.
--
PeteCresswell

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

I've put together bicycles from scratch and fixed computers. I have
used Shraeder valves for years w/o the need for adapters. I don't see
the point of change for the sake of change.

The most important thing (And Presta valves have been common for
considerably longer than I have been alive, and I am a Masters racer)
Prestas do is allow for a narrower rim hole, which is absolutely
necessary for normal road-bike rims, which are too narrow to accommodate
Schrader valves.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

Quoted message said:

I've put together bicycles from scratch and fixed computers. I have
used Shraeder valves for years w/o the need for adapters. I don't see
the point of change for the sake of change.

You have a mind like a steel trap!

Quoting <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

I eventually figured it out. The guy at the bicycle shop had shown me
the wrong way to adapt the pump. I still lost a fair bit of air
tightening the valve after filling the tube.

The trick is to maintain a slight pull on the valve away from the rim
while tightening it. You won't lose a drop.
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> Kill the tomato!
Today is Teleute, Presuary.

Ryan Cousineau said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

I've put together bicycles from scratch and fixed computers. I have
used Shraeder valves for years w/o the need for adapters. I don't see
the point of change for the sake of change.

The most important thing (And Presta valves have been common for
considerably longer than I have been alive, and I am a Masters racer)
Prestas do is allow for a narrower rim hole, which is absolutely
necessary for normal road-bike rims, which are too narrow to accommodate
Schrader valves.

What's a "normal" road-bike rim? Shrader works fine on Open Pros, once
the valve hole has been enlarged. No problems due to the larger hole,
either.

--
Warren Block * Rapid City, South Dakota * USA

: 4) It *seems* easier to inflate though a Presta valve. Dunno why unless
it's
: something about the protruding unscrewed valve stem - but OTOH, maybe it's
my
: imagination.
: --
: PeteCresswell

I think that's because the Schrader has a powerful spring in there and the
Presta does not. You are working against that spring.

Pat in TX

Prestas are considered generally easier to pump by hand than
Schrader! a surprise!
i have fiber problems stranded on the schrader valve seat und thought
the smaller presta would cause even more problems with self sealing
setups. NAPA carries valve tools: self sealing tube runners need a good
valve tool like they need a...

i tried to find "bicycletoolsec" but the server is down

"toolsect" has a german schrader clip on head for $4-measure the tube's
diameter and if compatible take a sharp razor and...

Quoted message said:

I remember when there was nothing simpler than pumping up a bicycle
tire. You just screwed on an attachment, pumped about 100 times and
there your were. I have just purchased a self-healing inner tube and
thought that the frustration of flat tires was behind me. Then I
noticed it had a new (to me) valve on it called a presta valve. You
need a special attachment for your pump, which I actually have, but
the valve apparently has two modes. One mode is screwed in where the
air doesn't go in to begin with. The other is screwed out where you
pump it in and it comes straight out. Brilliant invention!

So you bought a tube with which you're unfamiliar, and the VALVE is stupid?

(Won't even get into your thinking that a "self-healing" inner tube will end
the "frustration of flat tires".)

Bill "adapters are about two bucks" S.

Per [email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I still don't see what is so good
about presta valves.

When I got my first high-end MTB I think my reaction to the Presta valves on it
was in the same vein as yours. "What do we need another valve type for? I've
been using Schrader valves on all sorts of tires all my life with no complaints
and I've got pumps all over the place that do Schrader."

Things I've since come to appreciate in Presta:
---------------------------------------------------------------
1) The hand-openable valve. Easier to totally deflate the tire quickly. No
valve wrench needed.

2) The little screw-on ring. Easier to attach the pump to a deflated tire bc
the stem doesn't keep slipping back into the rim.

3) Length. Usually the presta stems are about twice as long as Schraeders.
Makes it easier for us Magilla-The-Gorilla types to attach the pump.

3) Adapters. Given that there *are* two standards and some pumps only fit one
or the other, running Presta allows use of both Schraeder and Presta specific
pumps by means of a little brass screw-on Presta-To-Schraeder adapter (a buck or
two at the LBS) whereas I haven't seen a Schraeder-To-Presta adapter. They may
be out there, but I haven't seen one...

--
PeteCresswell

Per (PeteCresswell):

Quoted message said:

3) Adapters.

4) It *seems* easier to inflate though a Presta valve. Dunno why unless it's
something about the protruding unscrewed valve stem - but OTOH, maybe it's my
imagination.
--
PeteCresswell

Changing the subject a little, I recall my first exposure to Presta
valves when I was in the Army and stationed in West Germany in 1973.
My friends and I never could figure out how to pump the tires up and
keep the pressure in. The stems were not held in place in the tube
like they are now, so we always unscrewed and removed the stem
completely, then attached the nozzle. So when we were done pumping, we
removed the nozzle and all the air rushed out from the hole where the
valve was supposed to be. We never knew that you could unscrew the
valve just partway. Our bikes always ended up with very low
pressure in the tires.

"(PeteCresswell)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Per [email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

3) Adapters. Given that there *are* two standards and some pumps only

fit one

Quoted message said:

or the other, running Presta allows use of both Schraeder and Presta

specific

Quoted message said:

pumps by means of a little brass screw-on Presta-To-Schraeder adapter (a

buck or

Quoted message said:

two at the LBS) whereas I haven't seen a Schraeder-To-Presta adapter.

They may

Quoted message said:

be out there, but I haven't seen one...

They exists, in two flavours, and one is better.

The cheaper ones are just a section of knurled brass (usually) with a female
Shraeder end and a male Presta end.

The better ones have the same threadings, but also have an internal valve
and a central [censored] on the Schraeder end. This valve is much easier to open
with pump pressure than the valve in the Shraeder valve.

I've tried to pump Shraeder-valved tubes with both types of adapter, and the
second one is the only way to go.

On whichever bike/trike I'm riding on the day, I usually have a pump
(presta; it's better), and Presta-valved tubes, one with a
Presta-to-Shraeder adaptor (so I can help unprepared cyclists), a
Shraeder-to-Presta adaptor (should my pump break and my tube need air and
the only source is Shraeder) and one of those valve caps with the Shraeder
core remover. Both belt _and_ braces, says I.

"(PeteCresswell)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

4) It *seems* easier to inflate though a Presta valve. Dunno why unless

it's

Quoted message said:

something about the protruding unscrewed valve stem - but OTOH, maybe it's

my

Quoted message said:

imagination.

The space through which the air passes is greater in the presta valve, as
well as there being that spring-loading to overcome.