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Presta Valve?
NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.
Just bought a new inner tube today (Maxxis 26x2.20/2.50).
It has a Presta valve (see photo) and i have no idea how to inflate it :/ (Don't say use a pump)
Rookie question i know, but i guess that's what this site is made for.
Any advice would be helpful as i would like to ride asap, ie tomorrow haha.
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You'lll need a pump set up for it. Most pumps are adaptable. You undo the end of the nozzle, Lever out the rubber bit Then there is a plastic bit, shake this out, turn it over and replace, Flip the rubber bit and replace 9so the small hole is facing out. and replace the end
Unwind the little stopped on the top bit. Attach pump and, ah, um , pump.
Unscrew the top thread only enough so top meets top, then place your pump on and pump it up. Hope your pump is compatible.
You Know You're Addicted to Cycling When...
Your surgeon tells you need a heart valve replacement and you ask if you have a choice between presta and schrader
Just be careful and treat it a little more delicately than a schrader valve as i have had the screw tip break off in pumps before
Thanx to all of you who made a comment. Everything went smoothly
I thought the same when I first got my bike.
I went to the LBS and got an adapter for the pump. It's just a piece of brass with an internal and external thread. It screws on the valve and the schrader pump connects straight on.
Why do bikes have this valve instead of the valve used on car tyres etc?
As smaller hole is needed in the rim, which means a stronger wheel.
The presta valve can hold more pressure than the standard Schraeder (car type), is smaller diameter (requiring a smaller hole in the rim which makes it stronger) and lighter (so the wheel is more balanced).
As other have said it is a high pressure valve so better for road riding. Rim strength has nothing to do with it.
As road cycling in huge, especially in Europe, prestas became popular and passed on to mtb so riders didn't need to switch pump set ups between bikes.
Ah, makes sense.
Thanks for answering that.
If Presta's hold a higher pressure why do they use a schrader on our Shocks.
I thought that would be a higher pressure?
The rim strength issue is the main reason. It makes a big difference on skinny roady rims. The car type valves have really only appeared in the last 10 years or so. When I first started riding about 20 years ago you almost never saw the car type valves.
Not so sure that this statement is true - I've always preferred the car-type scrader valve so I can use the servo compressors & used them exclusively in the early 80's on my BMX. I'm sure that all my friends did too, & rarely recall ever seeing presta valves at all.
My pushies back in the 60's had the shraeder valves (tho I had no idea that's what they were called then), though I do remember ones with a latex rubber sleeve on them, which I think were more like the presta ones. I remember my father saying those ones used to leak a bit on the cobblestone roads. And no, I'm not joking. Back in the 30's and 40's he did some long touring road rides and even the main highways were still pretty primitive then.
Hmmm.. Ok, I was thinking road racing type bikes. I don't think I've ever seen a shraeder valve on a aero triathlon bike.
... on anything bicycle: Sheldon Brown.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/presta-schrad...
Although this particular entry is by wheelbuilding guru Jobst Brandt: