Ok, I've not been involved in the cycling sport for some 20 years (bought an automobile in 1987), so things have "progressed." I don't know if I'm just looking in all the wrong places or if all of today's valve stems are hideously long. The Conti tubes I bought for my clinchers have stems designated 36mm in length. They make the wheels look butt-ugly (the black sidewalls don't help). Then I buy a set of three Servizio Corse sew-ups and they also sport a strangely long valve stem which for some reason is not threaded, thus no nut to secure it in place on the rim. (Dang nice $20.00 tires, though.)

Its probably just me, but I think these long stems look weird on an old bike with non-aero rims. Ok, I'm probably just getting old and cranky, but are short stems available for sew-ups?

Old and cranky John