Cycling UK Forum

All my long and fortunate adult cycling life has been ridden using Presta valve inner tubes, ranging from posing with skinny 19 mm tyres on a Longstaff trike, to almost entirely using 32mm 'touring' types. However, I've now discovered the immense comforts of 55-60mm widths (with a little help form Bosch, so 'rolling resistance' is a care I no longer have, if I ever should have, never having raced))

A new bike arrived yesterday with said wide tryes and Schrader valves, so I immediately thought (without actually thinking), I'd better change the inner tubes to keep them all the same as the rest of the diminishing narrower shod stable.

I used a tyre pressure gauge on the Schrader valved tyres and then used a pump on them too . . .

. . . it seemed so much easier than all the faff with unscrewing Prestas and often bending the inserts with clumsy pump heads/operator error.

Is there anything wrong with simple Schrader valves and low pressure tyres as a choice?

Nothing wrong with schrader valves at all.

Presta valves are marginally lighter, marginally more aero (neither benefit enough to be remotely of concern, unless you are a professional time trialist) and more traditional (on bikes).

In every other respect Schrader's are better so far as I am aware !

Well, a Presta benefit is the smaller hole in the rim, taking less strength out of it.

I suspect this is of no practical concern with the enormous (and modern) rims you now favour. Besides, they’re already drilled for Schrader.

I suppose it might be annoying to have two valve types across your bicycles, but I have three on my family’s fleet (Presta, Schrader, and the Dunlop/Woods valve that many Dutch bicycles use) and we manage okay.

I've got woods valves on the tandem. I keep one of those screw on pump adapters permanently attached so I can use my Schrader pump. I have occasionally used it to help out a distressed presta valve owner who has had a visitation from the fairy and exhausted his or hers co2 pump.

I've still got presta valves on my faster road bikes.

Presta valves are primarily to prevent the valve opening for a fraction of a second on bumpy terrain. They are also more convenient for cycle pumps. Schrader valves will however take huge pressures far and above cycle tyre pressures. But they are faffier to deflate.
Air escapement can be prevented by buying a sealed cap to replace the normal plastic cover.

They are used by almost all road vehicles, so presumably they work OK.

I've got them on all my bikes. Far more international than Presta. Any garage or tyre shop will have an airline with Schrader fitting.

The detachable hoses on Lezne pumps fit presta at one end and schrader at the other end so you'll never have the wrong pump with you.
https://ride.lezyne.com/cdn/shop/files/ ... _v1_R1.jpg

The only drawback I can see to Schrader valves is that they need a bigger hole in the rim. I've heard of people drilling Presta holes out to Schrader diameters but never seen any criticism of the practice.

Audax67 wrote: ↑27 Oct 2024, 10:20am The only drawback I can see to Schrader valves is that they need a bigger hole in the rim. I've heard of people drilling Presta holes out to Schrader diameters but never seen any criticism of the practice.

Would I be right in thinking most rims for wider tyres, say over 19mm internal width will come as default drilled for Schrader - and can always be fitted with suitable easily obtained reducing grommets if Presta inner tubes are preferred?

I'm going to run the new bike with its Schrader and keep the others on Presta. I somehow doubt whether it makes not one jot of difference? Each bike has its dedicated pump - and the workshop track pumps have dual heads.

Presta are of course available in longer lengths for deep section rims + e-Bikes with motor speed magnets mounted on the valve as opposed to the chainstay.

The last time I had to change a tube during a ride was around 2011. That was approximately 80,000 miles ago and several many 10s of 1000s of miles before that were puncture free. We have kind roads (no flint and walls instead of hawthorn hedges) here in the mountains of Wales

I meant to add at the time.

I use Schrader and always use Schwalbe tubes. The metal valve stems fit fine on my rims. Sputniks and Andra.

However over the years I have bought a few cheapo local tubes on my travels as extra spares when heading off somewhere remote. I tried using one of these a a few weeks ago and the stem was too fat to fit the rim hole so useless without drilling the rims again. The stems are rubber but I think on a metal (or something hard) core.

All valve holes are not equal, so beware.

hufty wrote: ↑26 Oct 2024, 5:12pm Nothing wrong with schrader valves at all.

Yes there is! The air is let out along the same path it goes in and the valve has to be helped to stay shut by a spring. Woods valves are superior, at least with modern ball valves instead of the old rubber tubing.

Of course what you really need is one of these...

viewtopic.php?p=1855996#p1855996

Although to answer the OP, in the actual real world, it makes no difference, in fact the OP is in a fairly elite group of cyclists who
a) knows, and
b) cares
what type of valve they have...

I recently swapped all my inner tubes to.presta valve for one simple reason....they're easier to deflate.
I don't have particularly thick fingers but I struggle to push the pin in on a Schrader valve to let the air out if I'm going offroading. On the tubes I have, that pin is recessed making things even more awkward. They also need dust caps to stop them getting bunged up with muck.
With a presta valve, no cap necessary and with a quick unscrew and press, it's all done.
Every little helps as Tesco says.

deliquium wrote: ↑27 Oct 2024, 10:58am
Would I be right in thinking most rims for wider tyres, say over 19mm internal width will come as default drilled for Schrader - and can always be fitted with suitable easily obtained reducing grommets if Presta inner tubes are preferred?

Thought presta was pretty much the standard across the board now except cheaper/budget bikes.

Tubeless valves seem to have gone the way of presta and so MTBs etc where Schrader was more common are now coming drilled for presta.