A few weeks ago i started a thread asking if i should drill out my rims to accept schraeder valves or stick with the presta ones. I had mixed reviews about the best valves so thought i would set about giving presta a shot.

On and off for the past few weeks i had tried unsuccesfully to pump these tyres up but was not getting anywhere. It seems i am one of the people that don’t get on with them – the drill was coming ever closer.

After my frustration tonight i said to Mrs Gnusmas the drill will be out tomorrow and i will get back on my bike. She said the words no sane man wants to hear “do you want me to try?” I said if you want so she did.

Now it seems i owe her one 😉 as i now have two very inflated tyres.

She made me tell the world of STW about this. Now i have 2 choices. Do i:
accept she gets on with presta valves and ask her kindly every time i need my tyres pumping up
or
use my wheels as huge frisbees until they can’t be pumped up anymore and say “ha ha now do it”

A big thankyou to my wife, as she sits next to me laughing and gloating. Bloody Presta Valves!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bet you’re shit in bed too.

I struggle to see what problem you have with presta valves?

Put the pump on, and inflate as normal. Why cant you inflate them?

Why cant you inflate them?

pumping technique.

My wife always refuses when I ask for ‘pumpy pumpy’.

OP… Using drill to solve this…….Are you for real?!! What happens when you push on a door that says pull? Do you drill that to bits too?

Really though…Sounds like you are having these problems at home, let alone out on a ride. Presta valves are not an enigma. They can be tricky to pump up while you are out on the trail with a small hand pump, but if you have a foot pump or similar with the correct adaptor (from schraeder to presta usually) you shouldn’t have a problem.

Try this….

1. Take the dust cap off
2. unscrew and open the presta valve
3. attach pump (use adaptor if need be)
4. ask wife to pump
5. take off pump and adaptor if you used one
6. tighten presta valve
7. attach dust cap
8. ride bike

Now most (foot) pumps have a small leaver just where you attach them to the valve. Make sure you get this small leaver into the correct locked position before you start pumping. I have used ones that lock up and others that lock down. Most lock down.

If presta valves continue to cause you problems take up bowls, rumour has it you don’t need to pump them up.

Im with you on the dislike of presta tubes I think they are crap and overly fiddly. I have never had a problem pumping them up but when the temperatures are negative you just try unscrewing that stupid valve with numb fingers.

It would definitely be the drill for me. The bonus of schrader is you dont look like a rodie or a xc ghey boy.

The only problem I’ve ever encountered with Presta valves is with careless removal of the pump, in the process tearing out the valve.

Apart from that, I can’t see what’s not to like?

Cheers, Rich

I’m sure drills and homemade fixes have all sorts of warranty let alone saftey issues….. Would hate to hear you got hurt while using the drill. Besides don’t you only get shrader valves on kids bikes?

Does anybody actually warranty rims? If they break they break a hole a couple of mm wider wont make much difference to the strength of a rim if any.

If you can drill straight………. Besides removing material with possibly substandard tools may cause stress points. Maybe use a laser instead of a drill?

If you really must expand the valve hole, I would suggest using a tapered hand ream and not a drill.

Cheers, Rich

I switched to schrader as I prefer slime inner tubes and the presta ones always seem to clog up around the valve. I would use as Rivh said a team or circular file. Some rims have a guide around the hole of how much you need to file away.

For the life of me I can’t see any advantage at all in Presta valves, and I just can’t work out why people bother with them. Delicate and fiddly.

turboferret – Member
If you really must expand the valve hole, I would suggest using a tapered hand ream and not a drill.

Oh give up! 🙂
I’ve been drilling out my rims for 20 years now, never had a problem with a normal drill and a quick file of the burrs. It’s a tiny sliver of metal that’s removed….

Get the drill out! Presta valves have no place on a mountain bike. They have No benefits over a Shrader valve which is far more reliable and sturdy.

Oh give up!
I’ve been drilling out my rims for 20 years now, never had a problem with a normal drill and a quick file of the burrs. It’s a tiny sliver of metal that’s removed….

I suspect he was being sarcastic pete 🙄

Shreader for the MTB (tougher, easier to use when muddy or cold) Presta for the road bike (easier for higher pressures).

I drilled out the rims on my Pitch before it’s first ride, I mean, Presta valves on a burly full sus? Bah.

To be honest if you haven’t got the physical or mechanical skill to even pump up an inner tube I don’t think it’s a good idea to start using a drill on anything. Just going to end in tears.

Stick a woods valve in there 😉 its the way forward 😀

Girls, Girls on the whole i have found the mb community to be supportive, intelligent and friendly i am disappointed by some of the comments witch are none of these things
Mrs Gnusmas

To be honest if you haven’t got the physical or mechanical skill to even pump up an inner tube I don’t think it’s a good idea to start using a drill on anything. Just going to end in tears.

+1

I think you should take your mrs on rides with you in case you get a puncture.

Am I the only one to find Presta valves easier to use than Shreader? Presta always seem fit and pump up easier on every pump I have used.

I have presta on my bike because I use UST. I don’t understand why presta was seemingly picked as the ‘standard’ valve type for mountain bikes. They are more fiddly in my experience, in mid winter with freezing hands it’s easy to bend the top of the valve.

Is it some sort of **** Mavic obsessive belief that Le Tour is the pinnacle of cycling and that MTBers should try to get as close to that ideal as possible? Mountain biking is finally starting to move away from crap roadie technology, with through axles, wide BBs and all that, why can’t we have decent valves as standard?

I find presta much better for a number of reasons. If you carry a presta as a spare, anyone can use it. No so with schrader. They also seem to fit better on the connector. While not the end of the world, schrader do seem more prone to leaking with an ill fitting pump head. As for drilling the rim,, it would be pretty hard to get it wrong.

I find if you push down on the Presta to release a little air before pumping it all goes easily. (Sometimes the valve is stuck)

gnusmas – Member

Girls, Girls on the whole i have found the mb community to be supportive, intelligent and friendly i am disappointed by some of the comments witch are none of these things
Mrs Gnusmas

Oh dear! It’s going down hill very, very fast. First you need your wife to inflate your tyres and now she does the fighting for you on an internerd forum. DO NOT TOUCH THE DRILL! 😯 😉

I find presta much better for a number of reasons. If you carry a presta as a spare, anyone can use it. No so with schrader

On the flip side, you’re knackered if you don’t have big enough holes to fit a Schreder valved tube if you need to, so get drilling… 🙂

Mountain biking is finally starting to move away from crap roadie technology, with through axles, wide BBs and all that, why can’t we have decent valves as standard?
+1

Put the pump on, and inflate as normal

ie pump hiss pump hiss pump hiss pump hiss pump hiss pump gasp

most of the air goes anywhere but into the valve 🙁

I knew there were some mechanically illiterate people out there but do people really have this much trouble with prestas? Do you also have to buy shoes with velcro fastenings to avoid having to tie laces? 🙂

IME, presta valves don’t leak whereas schraeders do. Each to his own, eh?

, why can’t we have decent valves as standard?
We have, they’re called prestas.
Shraders are only really for people who can’t go past a window without licking it.

So what are the advantages of presta valves, ignoring the aspect that you can put one in any rim, as if schraders were the standard all rims would be predrilled to accept them?

Advantages – they work and don’t leak
disadvantages – the mechanically inept don’t get on with them

😉

For the life of me I can’t see any advantage at all in Presta valves

Both types of valves are effectively one way or non return valves and one unveral truth about that type of valve is that they leak. The advantage of presta is that rather than relying on the pressure within the tube to close the valve, the screw part give an added method of keeping the valve closed. Whether this is a sufficient advantage to warrant changing is another question. For my part I use presta on all my bikes, that way I don’t have to worry about chaning pump heads or carrying the wrong sort to tube.

ime this is true for schraeder valves
Advantages – they work and don’t leak
disadvantages – the anachronistic ex-roadies dont like them

Stick a woods valve in there its the way forward

yer go with woods then you can finally use that little bit of rubber tube you get in tiptip puncture repair kits!

Is it some sort of **** Mavic obsessive belief that Le Tour is the pinnacle of cycling and that MTBers should try to get as close to that ideal as possible?

To be fair, my Mavic rims came with large enough holes for schrader plus a little plastic insert to reduce the size for presta so a smooth fit for either type with no drilling required.

I’m with Ian Munro on this one. 😆

I swapped to Schraeder as an experiment and I’m going to back Presta as soon as they’re all punctured beyond repair. Schraeder are much harder to pump up as you have to work against the valve. They are also a pain to completely empty, which you need to do quite often if you get a puncture and want to put it in your pocket. The valves also don’t keep the air in as well and are more fussy about much.

The main downside to Presta is that you can snap or bend the head when you are ham fisted in removing the pump. But you have to be really ham fisted to do this. I cannot imagine how you cannot pump them up? Some new ones will require the valve pushing in first as it gets stuck.