Originally Posted by
EjustE
There are several advantages to Presta valves, with the main 2 being that a. they are less likely to lose air both on a ride or when stored than Schreder valves, because of their design and the fact that there is a lock for the air release and b. that they need a smaller hole drilled on the rim, which increases the rim's integrity. Other than that, if you are running Prestas and worry about gas station tire inflations, buy a Presta to Schreder adaptor. Costs about $1.00 and it is about the size of a dime. Much less space than the 3 quarters you would need to operate most gas station's air stations...
I think Schrader is probably the most miss-spelled name in bicycling, an American born in Germany named August Schröder invented it (Schroeder is also an accepted spelling, the German ö is actually pronounced as a long A would in English) at some point Mr. Schröder or his son George who also had a hand in the development anglicized the spelling to Schrader probably because he got tired of correcting the pronunciation all the time.
Personally I don't care what kind of valve is on the tube, as most bicycle pumps are convertible from one to the other, last time I used a garage to fill a bicycle tube was probably around 1974.... I have a good convertable foot pump, and each bicycle really should have it's own on-board pump setup for the valves on that bicycle....