Noob Question: Valve Stem Lock Nuts

xkred27' from said:

So my questions are:
a) What's the official word on locknuts and inflating your
tires?
b) Do you think my ham-handed use of the new pump was the
real culprit in these failures?

They're tubes. Cheap ol' tubes. When they fail, you can
cut them into pieces and tie up tomato stakes or
something. IF they fail a lot, get a different supply. The
nut is a non-issue.

--
[email hidden]
The most important thing is the thing most easily forgotten.
79

"xkred27" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

a) What's the official word on locknuts and inflating your
tires?
b) Do you think my ham-handed use of the new pump was the
real culprit in these failures?

I never use tube nuts. Some brands of tubes (e.g., Michelin)
don't come with nuts and they don't thread the valve stems
so nuts wouldn't work anyway.

Yes, really poor technique can cause the tube to tear at the
valve stem.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

...

Quoted message said:

So my questions are:
a) What's the official word on locknuts and inflating your
tires?

Well, this isn't official; just MHO, but I put on the
locknuts, but just bottom them at the rim, not tightening
them at all. That way they give some support to the stem
whem pumping.

Quoted message said:

b) Do you think my ham-handed use of the new pump was the
real culprit in these failures?

Possibly, but it sounds like yours fits tighter than is
appropriate. I don't normally have to fight with it to get
it off, and going on is no problem at all.

...

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Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in
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"xkred27" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Three weeks ago I bought my first-ever road bike, a Lemond
Tourmelet. Also bought a floor pump. As of today, both the
front and rear tubes on the bike have failed, both in the
same place--at the base of the valve stem.

When I bought the bike, it came with no valve stem
lock nuts.

So my questions are:
a) What's the official word on locknuts and inflating your
tires?
b) Do you think my ham-handed use of the new pump was the
real culprit in these failures?

Some people find lock nuts helpful, I never have, I just
throw them away. While they can help keep the stem of a
totally deflated tube from being pushed into the tire, so
can your thumb, pressing from the other side. If you do use
the nuts, I would caution against tightening them too tight
after the tire is pumped up, since upon deflation they tend
to get tighter, and may get too tight to remove with just
fingers (at a time/place where you have no pliers).

Ham-handed pump use can destroy tubes, you have to be
careful to "pump into your fist" -- hold the valve end of
the pump in your non-pumping hand, not the wheel -- let that
dangle free. In many cases however, failures around the
valve stem are due to manufacturing problems, and are no
fault of the user. If the sealing grommet on your pump is
grabbing the valve too tenaciously (sometimes a problem with
new pumps), you might be able to make it a bit looser by
unscrewing the covering cap (pump) a little.

xkred27 said:

So my questions are:
a) What's the official word on locknuts and inflating your
tires?

Eh, not really useful or harmful. I use them most of the
time, but wouldn't get bent out of shape if I didn't
have them.

Quoted message said:

b) Do you think my ham-handed use of the new pump was the
real culprit in these failures?

Possibly some. Though two failures in such a short time says
cheap tubes to me. Are you using a frame pump/mini pump for
all these or do you have a proper floor pump? I ask because
maybe you are causing the stem to separate by not using the
frame pump well.

Thinking about conflicting LBS advice, I've become lately
astounded by all the bad advice I get from bike shop people.
Whether it's propagating myths about frame materials, trying
to sell me hogwash about wheels, or simple things like
telling me it's not possible to service this or that part
[1]. Many bike shops are crammed with people who really
don't know what they're talking about. When you find a shop
filled with clueful, professional people don't let them go.

[1] I'm planning on picking up some bearings to overhaul one
of my trashed pedals today. Some bozo at the shop swore
up and down to me that that pedal had bushings and we
would have to special order them from Shimano and it
would be more expensive than new pedals. Guess what I
found when I opened them up? Stinking dirt standard
bearings with a cup & cone arrangement. :P

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only
regret I have is that I didn't study my Latin harder in
school so I could converse with those people." -Dan Quayle

xkred27 said:

So my questions are:
a) What's the official word on locknuts and inflating your
tires?

Eh, not really useful or harmful. I use them most of the
time, but wouldn't get bent out of shape if I didn't
have them.

Quoted message said:

b) Do you think my ham-handed use of the new pump was the
real culprit in these failures?

Possibly some. Though two failures in such a short time says
cheap tubes to me. Are you using a frame pump/mini pump for
all these or do you have a proper floor pump? I ask because
maybe you are causing the stem to separate by not using the
frame pump well.

Thinking about conflicting LBS advice, I've become lately
astounded by all the bad advice I get from bike shop people.
Whether it's propagating myths about frame materials, trying
to sell me hogwash about wheels, or simple things like
telling me it's not possible to service this or that part
[1]. Many bike shops are crammed with people who really
don't know what they're talking about. When you find a shop
filled with clueful, professional people don't let them go.

[1] I'm planning on picking up some bearings to overhaul one
of my trashed pedals today. Some bozo at the shop swore
up and down to me that that pedal had bushings and we
would have to special order them from Shimano and it
would be more expensive than new pedals. Guess what I
found when I opened them up? Stinking dirt standard
bearings with a cup & cone arrangement. :P

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only
regret I have is that I didn't study my Latin harder in
school so I could converse with those people." -Dan Quayle

On Thu, 11 Mar 2004 02:47:19 GMT, "xkred27" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Three weeks ago I bought my first-ever road bike, a Lemond
Tourmelet. Also

Congrats!

Quoted message said:

So my questions are:
a) What's the official word on locknuts and inflating your
tires?

Overtightening the locknut can damage the tube and/or stem.
In fact, damn near anything can damage presta stems; be
gentle with them.

I have a locknut loosely on one tube on the bike, just so
it's available if I have to pump from a complete flat.
The locknut makes it more convenient to pump a completely
flat tire.

Actually, both of my presta-equipped bikes each have one
tube with an unthreaded stem, so no locknut would fit.

Quoted message said:

b) Do you think my ham-handed use of the new pump was the
real culprit in these failures?

Probably on the first one, maybe on the second (or, you
freaked out and overtightened the locknut on the second
one). Both are probably manufactured badly.

Try adjustments on the pump head, and try lubricating
it with any handy lube that won't destroy the pump
head's seals.

Quoted message said:

A thousand pardons for my verbositude and a million thanks.

I deserve to be punished with much more verbositude than
that, considering my common neverending posts...the one-
liners I post don't make up for 'em, either.
--
Rick Onanian

xkred27 said:

a) Yeah, that's right, we sold you the bike with no
locknuts because you should never use locknuts unless
inflating a totally flat tube. If you're just topping
off, the 90+ PSI already in the tire will minimize the
"give" in the valve stem when you attach the connector.
b) If you leave the locknut on when topping off, you'll
[unintelligible/Nixonian18 minute gap/didn't get what
he said/but the gist of it was you'll blow your tube]

My, oh my. Allow me to quote Barnett's on this one:

The only function of the valve-retaining nut is to keep
the valve from escaping into the rim when trying to press
a pump head onto the valve. Valve-retaining nuts are also
reputed to prevent movement between the tire and tube
under hard braking conditions (and thus prevent the valve
from separating from the tube), but the real cause of this
problem is under-inflation, and nothing will reduce the
problem other than higher inflation pressures.

Feel free to keep/ditch 'em as you wish. Same goes for the
plastic valve cap, which is there to protect the tube when
folded in its box. (Although it nicely keeps the valve nut
free of mud and dirt.)

(OTOH, if you ever ride tubulars, Sheldon advises against
putting anything on the valve.)

Quoted message said:

b) Do you think my ham-handed use of the new pump was the
real culprit in these failures?

Why not take your pump to your LBS, and have them take a
look at it? (IMO, if you have to struggle to use that pump,
then something's not right, and you don't want to wait until
you're 50mi from home to find out what.)

--
Frederic Briere <*> [email hidden]

=> <[email hidden]> IS NO MORE:
=> <http://www.abacomsucks.com> <=

I use the locknuts on my road tourer (they only weigh a
couple of grams) because it holds the tube in place when
mounting the tire and makes it easier to get the pump on
when the tire is low. I loosen the nut after mounting to
push the stem up over the tire beads, then snug it down to
pump up the tube.

On my ATB I use two on each tube. one sits at the bottom of
the stem inside the rim, the other on the outside. The rim
is sandwiched between the two nuts. This is for when I have
to run the tire at real low pressures (sand, for example) to
prevent tube creep. And the inner nut prevents the rim hole
from abrading the base of the valve stem

Having a second nut inside the rim also allows drilling the
rim out for Schraeder (auto) valves. Nice if you find you
need a new tube and the only available source is X-mart.

"May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear
for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗