What's so great about presta valves?

[ChrisEyles]

How often have you got your bike out and found that the valves have unexpectedly shattered due to their extreme fragility?

Valves are valves. Meh.

I've smashed one presta valve, but admittedly that was bombing a 150mm full sus down a rubbly slope so I'm not sure a schraeder valve would have fared much better!

Bent a couple of presta valve stems through sheer incompetence too.

I wouldn't get worked up over it particularly, but it does seem to me that schraeder valves are the better option.

 

[Ajax Bay]

it does seem to me that schraeder [sic] valves are the better option.

Better option for what? Car tyres? Aircraft tyres? Front shocks (I'm hazarding a wild guess that "150mm full sus" refers to something like that)? Wider cycle rims?
They are heavier (especially for a deep section rim), can get grit in, cause more rotational drag, need a larger area of the tube/tub to 'anchor' and are more difficult to get the air out of if you need to roll them up tight at the side of the road. Presta valves on cycle tubes/tubs/tubeless, are self-assertively "faster".
Have you just come here and offered that; first posts for months, without reading the thread? After all the pages we've contributed! And can't even be bothered to spell Shrader correctly

 

[Dogtrousers]

They [Schrader] more difficult to get the air out of if you need to roll them up tight at the side of the road.

And as we've learned above, this is especially true if you insist on using your tongue to open the valve.

Cyclechat - a continuing education.

 

[Dadam]

The correct spelling is Schräder with an umlaut on the a, which changes the a from ‘ah’ sound to an ‘ay’ sound. In English lacking such diacritical marks Schraeder is the more correct spelling.
I usually type schrader even though it’s technically incorrect because I can’t be bothered to find the key combination in Chrome on windows. But I’m on my iPad now so it’s easy.

 

[mjr]

The correct spelling is Schräder with an umlaut on the a, which changes the a from ‘ah’ sound to an ‘ay’ sound. In English lacking such diacritical marks Schraeder is the more correct spelling.
I usually type schrader even though it’s technically incorrect because I can’t be bothered to find the key combination in Chrome on windows. But I’m on my iPad now so it’s easy.

August Schrader dropped the umlaut on immigration to the USA and did not add an e, as can be seen in his company's adverts. He and his son developed the valve after that.

 

[mjr]

I have had Woods valves fail when the rubber tube split.

Wow, a 1970s one, without a ball bearing. Not seen one of those for literally decades. I wonder if they're still made.

 

[rogerzilla]

Schrader is still a living brand. I bought a set of these Schrader TPMS valves for the car recently.

https://tpmswarehouse.co.uk/product/mazda-cx-5-2017-replacement-tpms-sensor/

 

[tyred]

Wow, a 1970s one, without a ball bearing. Not seen one of those for literally decades. I wonder if they're still made.

They are still made. Buy tubes in 28 x 1 1/2" or 26 x 1 3/8" and it's probably what you get.

I've had issues with the more modern type too. I had on that had stuck closed and I couldn't pump it up until I had soaked it in WD40 and 1 or 2 that stuck open.

 

[Jameshow]

I use standard BMX tubes, Schrader valves at 110+ PSI. No problems with keeping the air in.

Is your dentist on commission?!!

 

[figbat]

The correct spelling is Schräder with an umlaut on the a, which changes the a from ‘ah’ sound to an ‘ay’ sound. In English lacking such diacritical marks Schraeder is the more correct spelling.
I usually type schrader even though it’s technically incorrect because I can’t be bothered to find the key combination in Chrome on windows. But I’m on my iPad now so it’s easy.

I’m a stickler for diacritics and always make sure to include them where appropriate. I had assumed it was Schräder but before posting looked it up and was surprised to find no umlaut, but that’s how it is.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Suntour is still manufacturing, and SunXCD, a sort of off-shoot company, made some good components.

In the garage somewhere I still have a 5 speed Suntour arx long arm rear derailleur, if they made it in 9 speed I'd buy another. The unique single swing-arm design meant you did not need to remove the lower jockey wheels free it from the chain or the chain from the derailleur - an occasionally useful feature for no notable downside.

 

[freiston]

In the garage somewhere I still have a 5 speed Suntour arx long arm rear derailleur, if they made it in 9 speed I'd buy another. The unique single swing-arm design meant you did not need to remove the lower jockey wheels free it from the chain or the chain from the derailleur - an occasionally useful feature for no notable downside.

I replaced my Shimano 600 with a Suntour rear mech - a V GT Luxe iirc, when I put a 36 or 34T Suntour block on back in 1981. Long arm, lovely (friction) shifting and no breaking my Sedisport chain if I ever removed it* to give it a proper clean. Proper shiny metal too, unlike a lot of modern offerings.

* The mech, not the chain.

 

[classic33]

Is your dentist on commission?!!

No, and all four wheels tend to be run at a similar pressure.

 

[Dadam]

I’m a stickler for diacritics and always make sure to include them where appropriate. I had assumed it was Schräder but before posting looked it up and was surprised to find no umlaut, but that’s how it is.

Interesting, it appears you’re right. I stand corrected. I’d assumed it was invented by a German. But Schrader was a German immigrant to the US and if his name did originally contain an umlaut (not sure either way) it would likely have been dropped to Americanise the name.

 

[ChrisEyles]

Better option for what? Car tyres? Aircraft tyres? Front shocks (I'm hazarding a wild guess that "150mm full sus" refers to something like that)? Wider cycle rims?
They are heavier (especially for a deep section rim), can get grit in, cause more rotational drag, need a larger area of the tube/tub to 'anchor' and are more difficult to get the air out of if you need to roll them up tight at the side of the road. Presta valves on cycle tubes/tubs/tubeless, are self-assertively "faster".
Have you just come here and offered that; first posts for months, without reading the thread? After all the pages we've contributed! And can't even be bothered to spell Shrader correctly

Haha, yes I did think it was a strange topic to have drawn me back to post after a long absence, but I must admit those pesky presta valves and their silly delicate stems do get me riled up - I'll take the "extra rotational drag and weight" (really?!) of a schrader valve any day I'll give you that presta valves are easier to expel air out of to roll up nice and tightly though.

However, I never knew "schrader" was trademarked and spelled without the umlaut, so I have learned something new today and will henceforth correct my spelling!

And shall now go and contribute something else to the forum besides a knee-jerk grump about valves