Tom Pedale

Ah...a question for an old fart to answer.

Way back when, when American bikes were generally one-speeds they all came with Schraeder valves.

When the bike market got a bit more sophisticated, creating a demand for imported road bikes, many of those came with presta valves 'cause they were European.

So it wasn't a case of what valve type was better, more a case of where the bike originated.
We won't even discuss a third type of valve, the "Dunlop".

Both work well, although in my experience with novice cyclists, many are puzzled at first by presta valves since its got that moving part "thingie" on top.

Regarding the perception among some that the presta valve was superior, some companies recognized that there were enough people out there who had this opinion, so when mountain bikes became popular, many companies would outfit their more expensive rigs with presta valve tubes since the presta valve was thought to come from a better neighborhood....

Raiyn

Dunlop? Oh you mean a Woods valve! I've seen a few of those

Hopper

What are Woods valves? I have never heard of them, let alone seen one.

Raiyn

Courtesy sheldonbrown.com
Woods Valve
There is a third type of valve, very rarely seen, which has a bottom similar to a Schrader and necks down to about the size of a Presta. This is a Woods valve, also known as a "Dunlop" valve. Woods valves were formerly popular in the British Isles and Asia. You can pump them up with a Presta pump.


Woods valve

Older versions work with rubber tubing and spit. If they don't hold air, you can unscrew the knurled ring that holds the valve core (the "Presta-sized" part) in place. You should see a short length of rubber tubing covering the inner part of the core. If the rubber tubing it old and perished, the valve won't work. Some patch kits include short lengths of replacement rubber tubing for this purpose. When installing new tubing, lubricate the valve core with spit before slipping the tubing in place.
Newer versions use a modern spring-loaded valve mechanism.

qmsdc15

I bought a pair of alloy spacers similar to Raiyn's rubber grommets. I've bought wheelsets with Shraeder holes, I think they were on sale because they are drilled for the less popular valves. I can use presta with the spacers, can use a shraeder tube if necessary, carry a good pump that fills both types. I carry the adapter, but I haven't used it in 20 years. A tire blew up im my face when I was a kid using the gas station air, I still avoid using that air in bicycle tires. I prefer my hand pump, but I have had my pump quit, so the adapter is there in my bag if I ever need it. Presta valve is lighter and more areodynamic.

Dazza

I despise Presta valves, as they have the added `benefit` of snapping when using a mini-pump as it puts pressure on the small screw valve on top. It doesn't help that the valve is made of the cheapest monkey metal available, and will snap or bend when subjected to small gusts of wind and the like.

Seriously though, me and my brother did a 2 week west coast tour of Ireland mid June on our roadies this year. We only sustained one flat between us the whole two weeks whilst cycling 40+ miles per day (happened on a dual carraigeway at 35+mph of all times!). I had a Blackburn Airstick minipump with me, and tried to pump up the new presta tube, well it got up to about 20psi and the O-ring inside the pump melted and stuck = us stranded.

We walked for 3-4 miles with the bikes to the nearest town to look for a new pump. Looks like that day there was only one presta pump in the whole of southern Ireland and that it was my broken one. We went to the tourist info centre and talked to the lady who worked there, she rang several people who she reckoned would have a pump, and after 30+ minutes, a guy turned up with a compressor, fitted with a schreader valve. I tried to tell him that the valve would not work, but of course he knew better, forced the compressor onto the presta valve, snapping the screw mechanism, rendering the tube useless.

To cut long story short we had to catch a bus to the next checkpoint, and were lucky enough to find a decent bike shop with adapters.

Lesson learned, presta tubes are a complete waste of time and money, and i shall strive to always use schreaders.

Portis

Touche.

HoboPhobic

My friend recently gave me a Nishiki that he was never going to use. Well after going to the store and buying all of my supplies I came back and realized that my front tire was a Schrader and the rear was a Presta. I would really like to keep it with a Schrader valve, for familiarity I guess, and I was thinking about drilling a hole in the rim so it would fit. My question to you, or any of you is... What size of a bit should i use? I didnt want to mess anything up by drilling too big, so i figured I would get on here and ask a few experts. thanks for the help guys.

catatonic

that story is why you use a schraeder adaptor with hand pumps...just makes more sense than some wobbly handpump stressing you presta nut.

Midman

Presta's offer a real advantage for roadies- allowing for thinner rims with less weight, lower rolling resistance, and slightly more aerodynamic profile. Is the thinner Presta a real advantage in the design of larger MTB wheels? I don't buy the holding air better argument- unless you don't use stem caps and allow your Schrader valve stems to corrode. Presta's seem more fragile to me since the little lock nut stem can break if you're rough with it (though I've never broken one). The universal availability of Schraders (no adapter required,replacement stem caps are everywhere) and the ability to replace the valve core are advantages.
So in the final analysis, are Presta's in MTB's mainly "snob appeal"???

(BTW- I have both types in my various bikes, inc. Schraders on a roadie and Prestas on an MTB.)

Tom Pedale

About that "snob appeal" thang, yup, you're right. There's a couple of things at work here. Since more expensive road bikes came with presta valves, MTB designers utilized them in pricier MTB's to differentiate them from their less expensive "Fred" models. Also from a design standpoint, presta valves make a bike wheel look lighter since the stem is tall and thin in contrast to the squat appearance of the Schrader valve.

qmsdc15

I use schraeder valves on my car, presta on my bikes

ajkloss42

I'm slowly converting all my bikes to presta (grommets). It lets me use one kind of simple pump, and the valve may be slightly more fragile, but is mechanically simplier. I think it should be self-evident that it is handy to have the same type of value on all your bikes. I figure that I'm usually close to another cyclist than a gas station, so if I'm ever in the very unlikely situation of needing assistance (ie. I ate my pump for lunch or I am on my third puncture in the last hour) I can rely on the kindness of a like-minded stranger rather than trying to find a gas station. That reasoning assumes more people will be out with presta pumps and tubs than schaeder stuff, which may be wrong, but that's my theory. Oh yeah, gas station compressors suck. They either (a) get you to 80 psi after four minutes of waiting and then you're stuck wondering how you're going to get that next 40 psi into the tube or (b) get you to 200 psi in three seconds (BOOM!) and then you're getting your spare-spare tube out and are looking for a handpump anyway.

Maelstrom 

Curious. How is it mechanically simpler.

Shraeder, I pull off the cap and start pumping, when done yank off pump and cover with cap.

Presta take off cap, undo tiny fragile piece plug. Attempt to put pump on without bending it too much, attempt to pump without bending it to much, attempt to take off without bending it to much. Screw tiny cap on, screw tiny plastic cap on. In all of this hope you didn't bend that tiny fragile piece of rubber more than 25 degrees because it will likely have a hole in it.

ajkloss42

Umm... presta doesn't have a spring or a threaded valve stem. To me, adding a spring to a mechanism is more mechanically complex than one without a spring than functions equivalently. The extra plastic cap is more for protecting the valve during shipping than for use on the wheel. As someone else said, the threaded part of the presta valve doesn't need to be tightened for the valve to work correctly, it's just a safety (and in wet/snowy/freezing conditions a really good idea). Even as a novice, I've never managed to bend a presta value to the point of making it unusable (although I have seen people do it, but always repairable with pliers). For me, it comes down to these four things:

1) I have rims that are probably too narrow to be drilled out to schaeder so I need some presta tubes anyway
2) I believe (with no good evidence) that I'm more likely to get roadside assistance from someone with presta tubes and/or pumps with schaeder, so I'd like to be able to use that stuff.
3) Since I need some presta, I'd like everything to be presta so I can always use the same pumps and tubes.
4) None of the local gas station compressors have enough pressure to properly inflate my tires, and local bike shops have presta pumps, so schaeder doesn't get me anything extra in terms of convienence. Even if I did rural tours, the idea that it's useful to have a valve that the gas station I'd have to walk 10 miles to could inflate my tires seems silly.

Your milage may vary.

Maelstrom 

ok. I know what you mean now. I do see a point, but I have broken several prestas. I am way to impatient for something so fragile.

LastStarFighter

And the winner is......

catatonic

Nobody!

UrbanBebop26

IF you really need to I've put presta into my standard rims, just by tightening the hell out of that little threaded washer that comes with the tube, as long as you can keep that tight on your rims you should be straight to ride with it forever, I've been fine anyway.

Midman

That trick alows me to carry only presta tubes on rides since I can fit them into either Schrader or Presta type rims. I switch back to a Schrader tube on a Schrader rim as soon as practical,though. (No real reason- just keeping the order of the universe I guess)

willtsmith_nwi

It's even handier to have the same type of valves on all my bikes AND my car. That way, my battery backup/compressor can fill my tire without an adapter. I'm also very fond of using standard car compressors to fill up my tires. If you only use small bursts of air, you'll be fine.

I've never used Presta, and I'm not really enthused about trying them. Too little benefit for too much hassle. Don't lecture me about 2 grams difference between the two. I weigh 270#. I laugh at your grams.

It would seem to me that presta's are probably best suited to road tires where the big Shrader whole can weaken a narrow rim.

The auto industry seems perfectly happy with Shrader. And I've never really had any problems. I'm also completely unconcerned about the possiblity of snapping a shrader valve from too much pressure.

willtsmith_nwi

And yet the auto industry continues to use these "complicated" mechanisms with little or no problems. I've NEVER had a valve fail on an automobile tire.

You should always cap your valves to keep mud oil, snow, whatever out of it. As far as repairing a bent presta valve with pliers, you can also easily break it. Shrader's don't bend and those threads are nice for screwing on certain types of pumps.

Well, most pumps sold today service a) both, b) shrader. The newest frame pumps have the "auto-select" heads that doesn't require removing and reversing that piece of plastic.

As far as shrader users being indifferent, how would you know. Do the Shrader users pass you on the trail while Presta users help. Or is it just that shraders are used by "more advanced" cyclists who have learned to carry frame pumps (for that matter, if you were "advanced" YOU would be carrying a frame pump)!!!!!
[/QUOTE]

Since I use the same valve as EVERY automobile in the US, I KNOW virtually every pump will service my shrader valves. Since all comfort and wally bikes come with shrader (because everbody's cars use shrader) I know that bike shops, wal-mart, etc... will ALWAYS have shrader tubes.

Well, you could use the compressor to pump as far as it can. And then you could finish it with your frame pump. Of course, if you had your frame pump, you wouldn't NEED the service station. In that case, the service station can get you enough air to ride home on mortal levels of pressure in the 80-90 psi area. Don't forget that those compressors typically will pump up truck tires that hold up tons of weight. They have to be pretty powerful to accomplish that. And something inside me says that a gas station compressor will not only reach the magic 120 psi but it will also blow your tire to smithereens. The compressor in my garage will blow your tire to smithereens and it isn't even industrial.

BTW, no bias AGAINST Presta. I just think it's a road bike thing and pure marketing for everybody else.

willtsmith_nwi

Let me get this straight.

You buy a handpump that will do presta/shrader for your shrader tubes. THEN you buy a presta adapter that will screw in and turn it into a Presta, thereby minimizing the inherint fragility of the Presta design. Then you can use the SHRADER side of your Presta/Shrader pump to avoid damaging your high performance Presta valve.

And all this is for:
a) making your bike look more expensive and more attractive to thieves
b) avoiding the use of a $.05 plastic cap in dry conditions
c) being tube compatible with your road bike that uses different size tubes
d) being pump compatible when all the pumps out there are either Shrader or Shrader/Presta combos.
c) Saving a gram or two of weight on the valve while adding a gram or two of weight in material that wasn't drilled out rim valve hole.
d) Being more "aerodynamic" on a surface that is 100% shielded from your vehicles air stream.

Do I have this right???? Or am I the one who's nuts???? Besides fitting nicer into narrow rims, I really don't see any advantages.

DocRay

Don't drill out a presta hole for shraeder, the rim wasn't designed for it.

Aren't Prestas lighter? I really like that screw thingy that I forget to tighten, or tighten until it breaks. Great fun.

We need a better valve.

royalflash

if Prestas are so good why is then that when I connect my little brass adapter thingy and then the floor pump that all the air starts immediately rushing out of the tube- I am lucky if the tyre doesn`t have less pressure at the end than at the beginning ?