erbfarm

picked up an old bike recently w/ shrader tubes -- I've never had'em before. What's the best way to get the air out of them?

thanks!!

rhenning

Push the center of the valve in. Basically works the same as a Presta. Roger

Captain Slow

Shrader valves are just like the ones on car & motorcycle tires. You can drop by a tire store and ask for a valve core removal tool... It's just a valve cap with a serrated crown on it... They're likely to give you one, especially if you've ever been a paying customer.

You insert the crown into the Shrader valve and unscrew the center portion. What will come out looks like a tiny plunger with a spring wrapped around it. With the valve core out, you can roll the tube up tight, pressing out all of the air. Then just reinsert the valve core and screw it on tight.

If you have a puncture or blowout, and have to discard the tube, remove the valve core and save it... You can reuse it if you ever damage one on another tube (unlikely, but ya never know... I lost one once down the kitchen sink while rinsing Slime off of it.)

ericthered

Sorry did not see captain Slow's response for some reason. For a repaet :

any auto store will have a valve core extracter. It will remove the valve core and will mean you do not have to pushin the stem. i use it when i go tubing on the river. it is easier to remove a half dozen cores then sit and hold the stem in. For a single bike tire, push the stem in as mentioned above.

Eric

kellyjdrummer

You can just twist it once or twice and wait for it to deflate.

DannoXYZ 

To get ALL of the air out of it, I just roll the tube from the opposite end from the valve while holding the valve open with the other hand. When I've gotten it down to the last part with the valve sticking out, I just wrap a rubber band around the whole thing to hold it together.

flian

If you have a slow leak you can't find, check to see that the valve core is fully screwed in! Had one like this recently, wondering why I was losing a few psi overnight.