Originally Posted by
merlinextraligh
1) it's lighter.
2) it's mechanicaly simpler, i.e. less **** to fail.
3) it puts a smaller hole in the rim.
4) going to a gas station to fill your tires is a) a PITA, and,
b) not a very good way to regulate your pressure. (gas station pumps are made for cars not bikes).
5) you need a solution that allows you to fill your tubes when there is no gas station around.
6) high quality light, tubes are available in presta, not so much in schaeder,
7) high quality, light, are rims don't come sized for schraeder.
Did I miss anything?
1) True, but most of us can manage to carry the extra few grams without noticing.
2) Yes, it is simpler, but I've seen far more Presta valve failures than Schrader - and the Presta ones have failed completely while the Schrader ones were just slow leaks.
3) Again, technically true, but I have yet to see a rim fail at the valve hole so this doesn't seem to be problem. I do see lots of rim failures at spoke holes and due to brake surface wear, but not because of large valve holes.
4) Nothing about Schrader valves that makes it necessary to use a gas station pump since hand pumps and CO2 work just as well with them as they do with Presta. But having the option to use the gas station pump is surely a plus if your hand pump fails or you run out of CO2.
5) And with Schrader valves you have as many solutions as you would with Presta.
6) Good tubes are available with both unless you really want to use latex (and need to pump up your tires all the time). If you find yourself stranded in some rural area in dire need of a tube it'll probably be easier to find a Schrader one that you can get to work even if it's not quite the right size.
7) But within a couple minutes I could convert any of those rims to Schrader size - and they still won't fail at the valve hole.
As mentioned before, most of my bikes use Presta valves and I have no real problem with them. But I also see no clear advantage. And if someone does have a clear preference to working with one type of valve or the other then I'd suggest just switching to using tubes with that type of valve.