Schrader valves vs. Presta style

DC1999 said:

What's the difference between Schrader and Presta style valves? Any
difference at all? Or just a matter of personal preference.

I have nothing but trouble with Presta valves, even with an expensive
floor pump. The tires go flat ever week or so.

You may want to review this link:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/presta-schrader.html

Losing air is quite normal. The tubes are somewhat porous. If you're
losing 80-100psi in the course of a week, however, you likely have a
problem, either with a tiny hole in the tubes, or defective valves, or
....?
--
Live simply so that others may simply live

Quoted message said:

What's the difference between Schrader and Presta style valves? Any difference at all?

Certainly they're different. Most experienced roadies prefer presta
because they are easier to pump, and fit narrow rims better.

Quoted message said:

I have nothing but trouble with Presta valves, even with an expensive floor pump.

Might be your technique. Try a Silca brass head:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/tools/tire.html

http://sheldonbrown.com/brandt/presta-schrader.html

Be sure to open and tap the stopper before pumping.

Quoted message said:

The tires go flat ever week or so.

Are these sew-ups with latex tubes? Otherwise, you must have a slow
leak.

Art Harris

Thanks for your help. That's a great site with lots of info.

Dave

DC1999 said:

What's the difference between Schrader and Presta style valves? Any
difference at all? Or just a matter of personal preference.

I have nothing but trouble with Presta valves, even with an expensive
floor pump. The tires go flat ever week or so.

I'm just a recreational rider, maybe 100 miles a week, and never
racing. At my age (64), all I want is for the valve to work
consistently.

Dave

100 miles a week would be 5200 miles per year which would not be too
shabby. I am not able to ride nearly that much, but I ride almost every
day and still top my (presta tube) tires off before leaving the house.
I would not expect to be able to ride a week without topping off the
tires, regardless of the valves I used.

Dave,

There's no contest. Presta is better, and it's the only way to go with
higher pressure road tires. With schrader valves, you lose a lot of air as
you remove the pump head from the valve. With prestas, whatever air is in
the tire stays in the tire. The air you hear when you remove the pump is the
air under pressure in the hose of the pump.

You are losing air from your tubes, not your presta valves (unless they
happen to be broken or defective). As another poster said, higher pressure
road tubes inherently lose air pressure over a period of days - not all of
it, but a significant amount. Even if you had high pressure tires with
schrader valves, this would still happen. The reason it doesn't with tires
say on hybrids is that these aren't under as high a pressure to begin with.
If you have problems using them, you might not be using the right technique
with them.

Pierre

"DC1999" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What's the difference between Schrader and Presta style valves? Any
difference at all? Or just a matter of personal preference.

I have nothing but trouble with Presta valves, even with an expensive
floor pump. The tires go flat ever week or so.

I'm just a recreational rider, maybe 100 miles a week, and never
racing. At my age (64), all I want is for the valve to work
consistently.

Dave

Pierre wrote:
:: Dave,
::
:: There's no contest. Presta is better, and it's the only way to go
:: with higher pressure road tires. With schrader valves, you lose a
:: lot of air as you remove the pump head from the valve. With prestas,
:: whatever air is in the tire stays in the tire. The air you hear when
:: you remove the pump is the air under pressure in the hose of the
:: pump.
::

Thanks for posting this info....I didn't realize this.

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

Quoted message said:

Pierre wrote:
:: Dave,
::
:: There's no contest. Presta is better, and it's the only way to go
:: with higher pressure road tires. With schrader valves, you lose a
:: lot of air as you remove the pump head from the valve. With prestas,
:: whatever air is in the tire stays in the tire. The air you hear when
:: you remove the pump is the air under pressure in the hose of the
:: pump.
::

Thanks for posting this info....I didn't realize this.

You may also want to try a touring tube. The butyl Vredsteins I installed
seem to lose a lot less air.

Pierre said:

There's no contest. Presta is better, and it's the only way to go with
higher pressure road tires. With schrader valves, you lose a lot of air as
you remove the pump head from the valve.

I don't lose hardly any air when removing the pump head from my schrader
valves. And that's with a 10 year old pump.

Quoted message said:

You are losing air from your tubes, not your presta valves (unless they
happen to be broken or defective).

Thicker tubes would decrease that substantially. I can go several weeks
if not months without putting air in my MTB tires. Thick tubes and
relatively low pressure are probably why.

Rich

Quoted message said:

Pierre said:

There's no contest. Presta is better, and it's the only way to go with
higher pressure road tires. With schrader valves, you lose a lot of air
as you remove the pump head from the valve.

Quoted message said:

You are losing air from your tubes, not your presta valves (unless they
happen to be broken or defective).

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

Quoted message said:

I don't lose hardly any air when removing the pump head from my schrader
valves. And that's with a 10 year old pump.

Quoted message said:

Thicker tubes would decrease that substantially. I can go several weeks
if not months without putting air in my MTB tires. Thick tubes and
relatively low pressure are probably why.

Rich

This is what I said. Lower pressure tires won't lose air as much and if they
do, it doesn't matter as much because they have a large volume of air in
them. Heavier butyl tubes won't loose air as quickly as lighter butyl or
latex tubes, but then, they ARE heavier. It's a trade-off some people might
want and others not.
Pierre

DC1999
I will disagree with the common knowledge here. In my experience Presta
valve tubes lose air much faster that the Schrader valves. I tested this
with the installation of new (butyl rubber) tubes, of the same size,
operating at the same pressure of 110 psi on two similar road bikes.
This may be a quality control issue with Presta valves.

I originally thought that the major loss was diffusion through the tube
wall, and indeed this is an issue. However since I bought and installed
new tubes for both bikes, I find that the Prestas on my old Peugeot lose
pressure faster than the Schraders installed on my Fuji.

Normally the Prestas lose 30 psi in three days, whereas the Schraders
lose a similar amount in about a week.

Latex tubes are notorious for losing air (through diffusion), and I
would not recommend them unless you are a certified weight weenie or a
real racer.

YMMW-HTH
EJ in NJ

DC1999 said:

What's the difference between Schrader and Presta style valves? Any
difference at all? Or just a matter of personal preference.

I have nothing but trouble with Presta valves, even with an expensive
floor pump. The tires go flat ever week or so.

I'm just a recreational rider, maybe 100 miles a week, and never
racing. At my age (64), all I want is for the valve to work
consistently.

Dave

DC1999 said:

What's the difference between Schrader and Presta style valves? Any
difference at all? Or just a matter of personal preference.

Schrader are the same as on an automobile, so most people have more
experience with them, Prestas are virtually unheard of outside of the
cycling community.

Quoted message said:

I have nothing but trouble with Presta valves, even with an expensive
floor pump. The tires go flat ever week or so.

If there is a local cycling club, drop by for a visit, or visit an LBS
and ask about presta valves, I know one LBS who has been very helpful,
even though I didn't buy my bike there. My guess is that once you learn
the trick to using them, your problems will go away......

W

Pierre who? said:

Quoted message said:

What's the difference between Schrader and Presta style valves?
Any difference at all? Or just a matter of personal preference.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I have nothing but trouble with Presta valves, even with an
expensive floor pump. The tires go flat ever week or so.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm just a recreational rider, maybe 100 miles a week, and never
racing. At my age (64), all I want is for the valve to work
consistently.

Quoted message said:

There's no contest. Presta is better, and it's the only way to go
with higher pressure road tires. With Schrader valves, you lose a
lot of air as you remove the pump head from the valve. With
Presta, whatever air is in the tire stays in the tire. The air you
hear when you remove the pump is the air under pressure in the hose
of the pump.

For road bicycles ridden on longer rides, and especially in
competition, the thinner stem of the Presta valve is a requirement for
durable narrow rims. Other than that, it depends on how the tire is
inflated. With a frame fit hand pump a Presta valve (with no closure
spring) is more convenient because no valve opening depressor is
needed.

Quoted message said:

You are losing air from your tubes, not your Presta valves (unless
they happen to be broken or defective). As another poster said,
higher pressure road tubes inherently lose air pressure over a
period of days - not all of it, but a significant amount. Even if
you had high pressure tires with Schrader valves, this would still
happen. The reason it doesn't with tires say on hybrids is that
these aren't under as high a pressure to begin with. If you have
problems using them, you might not be using the right technique with
them.

Neither Presta not Schrader valves leak when closed. This can easily
be tested with a small blob of saliva over the valve. A creeping leak
will develop a bubble, however small, and make itself apparent. Not
all tubes of the same weight are equally air proof. However, you
shouldn't need to re-inflate tires more than once every eight weeks or
so. Schrader valves are used in industry and for automotive tires
where no re-inflation takes place over years, and at high pressure.

Jobst Brandt

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

Quoted message said:

Normally the Prestas lose 30 psi in three days, whereas the Schraders
lose a similar amount in about a week.

I keep my road tires at around 110 psi. With Presta valves, they
drop to around 90psi over the course of the summer. Sometimes I top
them off twice a season.

--
[email hidden] is Joshua Putnam
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/>
Braze your own bicycle frames. See
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/build/build.html>

On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:42:56 GMT, [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

However, you >shouldn't need to re-inflate tires more than once every
eight weeks or so.
Jobst Brandt

I usually bow to your wisdom, but where do come up with eight weeks?

Using 700x25 with Continental Race 28 Light tubes, I generally lose
2-3lbs of air per day. My riding range is 100-105lbs. I've experienced
about the same drop in pressure with a variety of tubes and on my
other bike which has 27x11/4 tires.

I check my tire pressure before every ride and usually top off about
twice a week. From April thru October, weather permitting, I ride 4-5
days a week.

With the risk of pinch flats and the ease of checking tire pressure, I
believe it should be checked regularly. For me, that means before
every ride. I use a Topeak digital gauge, that, when used correctly,
loses little air.

Life is Good!
Jeff

With Shraeder valves, the tip inside the valve chuck must depress the valve,
or air does not enter the tube. Sometimes, with some pumps, this can be
annoyingly inconsistent.

With Presta valves, the chuck seals to the outside of the stem by means of a
rubber collar. When this becomes worn, or if the hose leans a lot, this
seal may leak. I have also had Presta pump hoses blow off the stem before I
am finished pumping, when the pressure gets fairly high. Seems like it
takes three hands.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

However, you >shouldn't need to re-inflate tires more than once every
eight weeks or so.
Jobst Brandt

I usually bow to your wisdom, but where do come up with eight weeks?

Using 700x25 with Continental Race 28 Light tubes, I generally lose
2-3lbs of air per day. My riding range is 100-105lbs. I've experienced
about the same drop in pressure with a variety of tubes and on my
other bike which has 27x11/4 tires.

Jeff: My experience mirrors yours, almost exactly.

Quoted message said:

I check my tire pressure before every ride and usually top off about
twice a week. From April thru October, weather permitting, I ride 4-5
days a week.

I simply top them off with my floor pump before each ride, whether it's a
second ride later in the day or five days later. Even if your tubes didn't
lose any air (which they're not likely to lose enough to make a difference
on the same day!), it still helps to spot slow leaks that probably aren't
detectable with a thumb test, but would make a difference in resistance ot
pinch flats.

Being paranoid about proper air pressure can't hurt. And given my history of
perhaps one flat every 3,000 miles or so, it just might help.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

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

Quoted message said:

On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:42:56 GMT, [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

However, you >shouldn't need to re-inflate tires more than once every
eight weeks or so.
Jobst Brandt

I usually bow to your wisdom, but where do come up with eight weeks?

Using 700x25 with Continental Race 28 Light tubes, I generally lose
2-3lbs of air per day. My riding range is 100-105lbs. I've experienced
about the same drop in pressure with a variety of tubes and on my
other bike which has 27x11/4 tires.

I check my tire pressure before every ride and usually top off about
twice a week. From April thru October, weather permitting, I ride 4-5
days a week.

With the risk of pinch flats and the ease of checking tire pressure, I
believe it should be checked regularly. For me, that means before
every ride. I use a Topeak digital gauge, that, when used correctly,
loses little air.

Life is Good!
Jeff

Leo Lichtman said:

Quoted message said:

With Presta valves, the chuck seals to the outside of the stem by means of a
rubber collar. When this becomes worn, or if the hose leans a lot, this
seal may leak. I have also had Presta pump hoses blow off the stem before I
am finished pumping, when the pressure gets fairly high. Seems like it
takes three hands.

I'm not that adept at using my portable pump. That is probably why I
started topping off the pressure with a good floor pump before riding,
after I got a couple of pinch flats early on.

The only trick I was told about using presta is to try and push or pull
the hose end straight up and down in line with the valve stem. That way
I don't get the valve in a bind left or right at any point.

[email hidden] wrote:

:> Neither Presta not Schrader valves leak when closed. This can easily
:> be tested with a small blob of saliva over the valve. A creeping
:> leak will develop a bubble, however small, and make itself apparent.
:> Not all tubes of the same weight are equally air proof. However, you
:> shouldn't need to re-inflate tires more than once every eight weeks
:> or so. Schrader valves are used in industry and for automotive tires
:> where no re-inflation takes place over years, and at high pressure.
:>

I always need to add air after several days off the bike. I assume air
leaves via the tube, not the value. For my car, though, I agree with you,
but the pressure is low.

Jobst Brandt: "However, you shouldn't need to re-inflate tires more
than once every eight weeks or so."

Jobst, dood, I want some of what you've been smoking!

All brands of presta-valve tubes I've tried will deflate from 100 lbs.
to 90 lbs. in two days.