You are hereForums / By Discipline / Mountain (off road) / MTB Gear / dam presta valves!
dam presta valves!
Hey everyone. Im trying to figure out how to check my tyre pressures with a presta valve!! I've got a presta valve adapter but that still dosent allow my to use the tyre gauge on the compressor (dosent push the little pin in on the pump to let the air out). And my hand pump dosent have a tyre gauge. Its quite difficult guessing tyre pressures, i've pretty much got two choices....puncture.....or no grip :S
Could i maybe just switch over tubes to shrader valves? Or is there a reason im running presta.
Thanks.
- Login to post comments
- Bookmark & share
Tags
I just guess
you can get a rough idea of how much pressure you are running by the amount of tyre flex you have when pushing down with your thumb on the tire
seems to work for me
and if that doesn't work, i am sure there is a presta pressure reader out there (ebay is your friend)
I have been doing that but its a bit sketchy..
Get a different adapter as I use a compressor to seal as they are tubeless. Also, don't forget you need to fit the o'ring before the adapter and make sure you completely unscrew the presta valve.
I hate those things. I changed mine over as soon as i bought my bike.You can then pump 'em up at the servo,or at worst, use your shock pump (which i've done before).....the pressures i run dont warrant those valves anyway. Thats my 2 cents worth...
www.prestacycle.com/
Yeah, I hate those damned presta valves too - I've never been able to work out why every bike seems to come off the shop floor with them installed instead of schraders. May be a bike vs car thing?
Anyway, I've always just bought schrader tubes and ditched to presta's.
Advantages:
- can use the pump at a servo
- can use my mini 12v cigarette light powered compressor
- can also use a shock pump if needed, although not recommended
- can get a cheap accurate tyre pressure guage from SuperCheap Auto for less than $20
Disadvantages:
- can't think of any.....
- still can't think of any
Every thing you mention is exactly why i want shraders and to get rid of my dam presta's! There a pain in the a** nothing is compatible with them!
Well that solves my problem now im gonna change over thanks for the help.
or even a hand pump that attatches to your bike that is gauged , I have no probs as they are on roadbikes too but some people don't own two bikes also some rims are unable to take schrader valves & they are usually the tubeless rim
Anything you can recommend smiley for track pumps?
Just got back from a ride and far out i had no grip! Rode 100m and decided i was too flat so pumping up the tyres too ages because of the adapter and this and that. Then they were sliding everywhere (still had an awesome lap of cascades). I just had to test the new granny gear out. What tyre pressures should i be running anyway?
Me = 80kg + -
Trance x2 = 12.5 +-
Pressures???
Thanks
Depends on where you ride alot , tyre pressure varies on what the surface is like too ,i'm 90kg & run between 28-36 psi . As for track pump go to your local & try them out on your bike or a bike in the shop.
Hard to find a gauge at most LBS. chain reaction have a couple of nice digital gauges.
Your rims may not allow schrader valves and if you also have a road bike why would you ?
I bought a digital BBB gauge from BA for under $30. There were plenty around at a number of shops at that time, so I'm not sure where the issue is with scarcity. Seems to do a good job.
I'd suggest keeping the Presta valves. It is what all high-end bikes come with.
Topeak Joe Blow II is my track pump, works great. I'd recommend against drilling out your rims to take schrader valves.
Adapters are available for just a few bucks if you need to use a servo pump - get the short ones so that the little plunger thingy is depressed when you apply the servo pump head or you'll struggle to get inflation.
I have one in the saddlebag on each of my bikes for just-in-case, but I have a lightweight pump in my Camelbak, since service station air compressors seem to be a bit hard to find on the trail for some reason.
Last time I used one was to get my first set of tubeless to bead up.
i wouldn't start to drill out my rims just because of the valves ok...
The gauge isn't a bad idea thou. Another problem i have with the presta valve is that they also bend very easily. I like the fact that there very easy to deflate thou. I've already got an adapter (short one) and it dosent work with anything besides my hand pump including my compressor unless the servo ones are different.
By the way can i leave the valve converter on full time?
I bought on of the, http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?M... with the gauge for out on the trails. Not too expensive, the gauge is obviously not super accurate but it is more than good enough when you're out in the middle of nowhere and most times when I get home and use my floor pump with a decent gauge I find that its pretty close. Never had an issue with the presta vales at all. I am big (97 kgs) and run mine at 40 psi.
No you can't leave the adapter on full time - the presta valve will slowly leak if the cap is not screwed down fully. (Made that mistake myself...)
As for converting to schrader valves think about your future options for tubeless before doing it. The presta valve has a nut that secures it to the rim and works well when there is no tube to keep it in place.
Is there anything like that for schrader valves?
With the adapter I've never had a problem using a servo compressor or my cheapo 12V in the car boot. Are you sure you're unscrewing the nut fully before screwing the adapter on?
And just so we're all clear on which valve is which, here is a picture of them.
Cheers
Jon
Agreed - if you have to drill out your rims to install the thicker diameter schrader tubes then I wouldn't do it. Its not worth sacrificing your rim strength integrity for the convenience of scrader tubes
However Jonathon, I note that you have a Trance too, so if your rims are like mine that came with presta's installed, then all you have to do is remove the little plastic donut at the rim hole to accomodate the schraders.
@Loki - I wasn't aware that tubeless systems used presta valves, is this true for all the kits avaialble ie Stan's, FRM etc?
"@Loki - I wasn't aware that tubeless systems used presta valves, is this true for all the kits avaialble ie Stan's, FRM etc?"
Seems to be the case, got a stans in front of me that's Presta and I can't recall ever seeing Schrader kits
should have hand & track pumps that have a gauge on them.
I went to the servo and besides almost getting blown over by the massive winds while riding at 40km/h it still didn't work due to the same style pump as my one at home ( you have to press the pin in at the pump side to release air which the adapter wasn't pressing ). However...i did have an old, earlier style attachment for the compressor (the one where you press the little lever on the side to lock onto the thread) and that worked the charm! showing my front was around the high 30's along with my back, which was especially slippery when descending down quarry track on the cascades
Thanks for everyones help.
Jono
track/floor pump & a topeak bike pump on the bike with a gauge , you might have too hook up with Hawkeye to show you if you are doing something wrong ?