Tubeless valves – hewn from unicorn horn or just over-priced?

Why oh why oh why are tubeless valves so expensive?
£10 for a pair of valves? Bloody outrageous price!

Im going to have to attack some old innertubes and salvage the valves. I reckon customising the rim well seats using some Sugru might be a smart idea too.

Yours faithfully,
Tunbridge Wells

On a related note – anybody know where I can get a replacement o-ring for valve*?

* I lost one when I had to put a tube in last week…

I can get you one.
Cost you a tenner though.

Jim Do you mean the little rubber ones that go over mavic type valves and then you do lock nut up on top of?

£10 for a pair sounds reasonable in the grand scheme of things. There’s an outfit who’ll relieve you of £55 for a front mudguard because the word “Enduro” is printed on it. That’s not the zeitgeist of Peak Arsehole, but it’s well worth bringing up, repeatedly.

Alternatively, you can buy a presta tube from your local supermarket, take a pair of scissors to it and the job is done.

you can buy a presta tube from your local supermarket, take a pair of scissors to it and the job is done.

quite.

Ive never understood the need for removable cores – I just pop the bead off for a few inches.

The only other advantage is the fat conical rubber rim-well seat which does tend to seal a little better than the left over inner tube rubber on the bottom of el cheapo valve.

Think I recently paid £8 each for my tubeless valves from the bike shop in Glasgow that’s local to my lab. I just thought that was the going price. 🙁 .I’d jump at a tenner for a pair. :-/

Recycled inner tube valve will work reliably, may need a bit of bodgemanship to get it seated on some rims, but then you’re set.
I buy the proper ones if it’s a shiny new set of wheels just because, but there’s really no need.

Jim Do you mean the little rubber ones that go over mavic type valves and then you do lock nut up on top of?

Aye, that’s the ones.

I’m a tubeless newbie so not sure if it’s really needed or not!

Cut them from old inner tubes – I have a handful of wheels done this way. If you do the nut up quite tight (as you may have to depending on the rim bed) it’ll eventually tear the rubber off.

Removable cores on tubes exist only so that if you use a Lezyne screw-on style pump you will unscrew the valve core instead of the tube, leaving you with a deflated tube and a valve core somewhere across the busy road 🙁

You lot are getting mugged!!!

https://www.cyclestore.co.uk/specialized_tubeless_valve_stem-ID_60189?gclid=CMyq9JzSnc8CFVXNGwodEqsNlg&gclsrc=aw.ds

BB, here, take my seed. Have my babies.
This is what love looks like.

I withdraw my munificence. It’s still £9 posted for 2. 🙁

Cheaper from Evans if you’ve got a store nearby.

The removable cores are good for seating tricky tyres without resorting to soaping up / a compressor.
All my tyres have gone up without faff when the valve core has been removed. Not so with it in there.

Stoner – Member

Tunbridge Wells

You can afford it.

the zeitgeist of Peak Arsehole

^I’m going to make a habit of using that

10 for a pair sounds ok, tbh. I recall being asked > 20 way back when, which did irritate me

What’s a schwalbe inner tube cost these days? Probably a fiver so you wouldn’t save much/anything. You could farm them from old tubes and call that free I guess but if they were cheapos to begin with then they probably don’t have removable cores

I find the removable cores helps blast enough air into the tyre quickly enough to get tricky to seat tyres seated

“What’s a schwalbe inner tube cost these days? Probably a fiver so you wouldn’t save much/anything. You could farm them from old tubes and call that free I guess but if they were cheapos to begin with then they probably don’t have removable cores”

What he said…..

My Vavert tubes from PX come with removeable cores for a couple of quid. Trim them carefully and smoothly for maximum faff-freeness.

_mild hijack

Am I to assume that one of the major disadvantages of Tubeless is that swapping tyres (park weekend to trail riding weekend) is one of the biggest PITA?

£3 each posted? Specialized with removable cores
Granted you may have to trim the square bases for some rims to get the tyre into the well pre-seating
Still, cheapest I’ve seen and the valve heads themselves don’t seize like some can

Am I to assume that one of the major disadvantages of Tubeless is that swapping tyres (park weekend to trail riding weekend) is one of the biggest PITA?

If you are changing tyres that often then it might be better to have two sets of wheels.

Once you’ve got a tyre to seat tubeless then refitting tends not to be too bad, the biggest pain is getting the sealant out and even with the best system you are going to lose some sealant each time you swap so it’s not a no-cost operation.

Let tyre down.
Remove tyre leaving sealant in bottom of tyre for moment
Put new tyre on but leave one side off so you can pour in sealant from old tyre.
Scoop sealant from old tyre to new.
Seat second bead
Inflate.

jimdubleyou – Member

I’m a tubeless newbie so not sure if it’s really needed or not!

Not needed- the only actual seal is the one between the base of the valve and the inside of the rim. There’s no point sealing up the outside of the rim (where the valve sticks out) because the rim itself should never be pressurised anyway. It’s a mystery why some valves have it tbh.

Kryton57 – Member

Stoner – Member
Tunbridge Wells

You can afford it.[/quote]

Le Chateau Du Stoner makes Tunbridge Wells look like a third world slum.

Stoner, just buy some decent tubeless valves you tightarse. 😉

(Yes, we are getting ripped off).

I didnt become the immensely wealthy oligarch that I am today by being lavish when it comes to mountain biking. Afterall, I own a number of On-Ones… 😀

Main reason I use removable cores is to avoid repeatedly* reseating tyres and risking damage to the bead.

* probably only 2 -4 times a year so repeatedly might be a bit misleading 🙂

Tunbridge Wells darling? That’s just up the road.
Worrying.

If you are changing tyres that often then it might be better to have two sets of wheels.

Mmmm… thought so.

I haven’t done any of our non-fat bikes.

I did come up with an innovative solution to bead seating though…

yeah but…

It’s a a tenner, you know it will work first time, and will just sit there doing it’s job tyre change after tyre change after (you get the idea). Bodged might go up, might not, who knows, might stay up over night probably won’t though so you’ll have to faff with it…again.

They cost a tenner because they are £5 and bit trade. Take out VAT, postage and there is not a whole lot left for the retailer. They are tenner because the manufacturer has to make something, the distributor has to make something and then the shop has too. If you want the cheaper set up a bike shop and buy them trade.

why are the more expensive than a tube then?

Not that I’ve ever paid for one, always cut them from an old tube.

My tubeless valves have all “failed” when the cores got bunged up with sealant. Quite a few of my old pile of “to be repaired” inner tides have removable cores which fit the tubeless valve stems.

Take out VAT, postage and there is not a whole lot left for the retailer. They are tenner because the manufacturer has to make something, the distributor has to make something and then the shop has too. If you want the cheaper set up a bike shop and buy them trade.

I assure you I am fully conversant in the dark ways of capitalism, and even concede that the tubeless valve market is going to be limited so unit prices will be higher, but even so, I was surprised there wasnt a raft of budding Chinese price gougers on eBay banging them out for 50p each.

This is why you should be friendly with your LBS, my mate has a shop and usually replaces a few tubes a day, so is cutting the valves off for me 🙂

Why not just nick the valves off old Schrader tubes and take the cores out when seating? Or are all tubeless ready rims presta only?

You’re right, I’ve never run tubeless, but I’m curious…

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/no-flats-presta-valve-core/rp-prod94758?gs=1&gclid=CKu4kOHMoM8CFYYp0wodxJ4ISg&gclsrc=aw.ds