nut on a Presta valve - yes or no?

[kylecycler]

There was a time, funnily enough, when I was changing a tube after a puncture during a club ride when I was the ride leader and my pals were all pulling my leg me about how long it was taking me so I rushed it. I couldn't find the nut, thought I'd dropped it in the grass and used the one off the punctured tube. It was only weeks or even months later when I next had a puncture that I found I hadn't unscrewed the nut in the first place and fitted the tube with the nut still in place, i.e. under the rim! You'd have thought I would have felt a bump when riding but nope, nothing! It hadn't punctured the tube either, which you would also think might have happened. It was a 50mm tyre so I guess all the volume just 'absorbed' the nut.

[Redvee]

I'm using them on my bike...............to space the bottle off the frame to clear the braze-on adapter for the front mech and on the commute bike to space the mudguards off the tyre.

[Manc33]

Although I confess to not understanding the physics of why it's better to have one, I have noticed that cheap inner tubes don't have them and good inner tubes do. What more proof do you need, just use them!

[drossall]

I'm using them on my bike...............to space the bottle off the frame to clear the braze-on adapter for the front mech and on the commute bike to space the mudguards off the tyre.

I'm also using them on one bike that was made for modern, Allen-key brakes, and on which I fitted the traditional, nutted type. The Presta nuts screwed nicely in on the brake pivot to fill the recess meant for the Allen-key nut.

[rogerzilla]

If you don't just throw them away, they should go on the inside of the rim to stop the valve creeping through the hole and straining the rubber, which is what finishes off a lot of tubes.

[De Sisti]

they should go on the inside of the rim to stop the valve creeping through the hole and straining the rubber, which is what finishes off a lot of tubes.

I like this idea and will use it in future.

I was always told to cut a small square (about 1 inch) of a discarded inner tube,
slice a slit in the middle and put it over the valve before it's seated in the rim.

[jb]

As an aside does anyone still use inner tubes with Woods valves fitted? I had a puncture the other day and my spare had one on, no idea where it came from bit of a faf to fit as well.

[nez]

I think Indians use them, so maybe you have an Indian inner

[thirdcrank]

Whatever the merits of fitting these inside the rim, I cannot see that this is why they are provided. "When I was a lad" presta valves (or "high pressure" as I think they were called) had a sort of flange inside the tube and a nut screwed down on the outside of the tube holding the valve in place. They still had the type of locknut we are discussing to go on to hold the valve in the rim. In the days when spare parts for many things were more common than today, spare valves could be bought with the nut arrangement I've described or built into a puncture repair patch. Wondering why anybody might want to replace a valve with a spare, I think leaking valves may have been the answer. I've a vague memory of buying a nut-held spare. The original valve - including the inner flange - must have been removed somehow and I remember being baffled about getting the replacement in there. I presume that in those days, the valve was installed from the inside before the tube was sealed at the join. Whatever, moulded-in valves can be a pain.

[Vorpal]

As an aside does anyone still use inner tubes with Woods valves fitted? I had a puncture the other day and my spare had one on, no idea where it came from bit of a faf to fit as well.

They are still used in the Netherlands. They are called 'Hollands' valves, there. Some places they are called 'Dutch' valves. In Norway, they're are called 'Dunlop' valves, but mainly come on Dutch style bikes.

[jb]

As an aside does anyone still use inner tubes with Woods valves fitted? I had a puncture the other day and my spare had one on, no idea where it came from bit of a faf to fit as well.

They are still used in the Netherlands. They are called 'Hollands' valves, there. Some places they are called 'Dutch' valves. In Norway, they're are called 'Dunlop' valves, but mainly come on Dutch style bikes.

That would make sense, my memory has returned and I'm sure they came on a Raleigh Leeds I bought many years ago, they have a Dutch connection I think.
I took them off because the track pump would not fit onto them & they were thrown into a drawer (I can't throw undamaged new items away even if I don't like them). So I must have grabbed one and shoved it in my saddle bag.

[slowster]

I took them off because the track pump would not fit onto them & they were thrown into a drawer (I can't throw undamaged new items away even if I don't like them). So I must have grabbed one and shoved it in my saddle bag.

Halfords sell a Woods to Schrader adapter and a couple of valves for £2.00. The spare valves are worth having, because the rubber seal on the valves can eventually perish after a period of many years.

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-p ... 67168.html

[Mike Sales]

The Dunlop Robber Co. were a very early manufacturer of pneumatic tyres.
My guess this is where the name of the valve comes from.

It can be repaired with no tools and just a length of rubber tube.

Tubes can be repaired when the valve has pulled away, if you have a replacement of the type which is secured in the tube with a shaped washer and a nut.
Remove the nut and washer from the replacement.
Push the valve inside the tube through the hole.
Stick a patch over the hole.and when dry make a hole with a needle.
Push the valve through this hole and tighten the washer and nut down to secure.
I have seen my grandfather, who ran a bike shop, do this.
My own attempt, with a presta, failed.

Modern Dunlop/Woods replacement cores do not work with the rubber sleeve, but with an unrepairable but much easier to pump valve.

[kylecycler]

As an aside does anyone still use inner tubes with Woods valves fitted? I had a puncture the other day and my spare had one on, no idea where it came from bit of a faf to fit as well.

They are still used in the Netherlands. They are called 'Hollands' valves, there. Some places they are called 'Dutch' valves. In Norway, they're are called 'Dunlop' valves, but mainly come on Dutch style bikes.

Lidl here in the UK got a batch of them a few years ago, believe it or not - that's the only time I've come across them - I remember going online to find out what they were and deciding not to buy them.

[Mike Sales]

An inflated tube is in contact with the tyre throughout both its long and short circumferences. I cannot imagine how it could move.
If, because of some mishap, like a puncture, it can move I cannot believe that being restrained by its valve would be very good for the tube.
The nut may make fitting and inflation easier, but is not essential.
In fact, if it is fitted and tightened befor the tyre's second bead is fitted, it may prevent that bead being seated properly.