Tube question

[Steeleye]

Any sage advise out there on the relative merits of using tubes with 80mm valves (hard to find and a little expensive) vs. tubes with more standard sized valves and valve extenders? Extenders seem to make sense but I'm a little concerned about leaks, reliability etc..

Thanks in advance,

Chris

[thegunner]

no leaking probs if you use a bit of teflon tape... PLUS less of a weight discrepancy at the valve stem. i vote for short tubes + extenders, but that's just me.

[Pete Serotta]

no leaking probs if you use a bit of teflon tape... PLUS less of a weight discrepancy at the valve stem. i vote for short tubes + extenders, but that's just me.


good suggestion. :beer: PETE

[EricEstlund]

Even if you run the deeper valves, toss an extender or two in your seat bag on longer rides. If you need to borrow a tube it's nice to be able to make anything work. I'd say the same to anyone with a rim deeper then standard box.

[SoCalSteve]

And I say just the opposite. I've been running 80mm valve stems now for a few years with no problems whatsoever.

I found that valve extenders leak and are not as user friendly as I would have liked...so, I went the other route and would never look back.

Good luck!

[ajz07]

For me it has also depended on the type of valve extender. The one that came with my cosmic carbones works great with no leaking in the absence of teflon tape. But, it is very heavy, so I just keep it in my saddle bag until I get a flat. The zipp ones are much lighter, but without teflon tape they work terribly with all sorts of leaking.

These days I just run 80mm tubes as I have less problems trying to inflate and getting accurate pressure readings once I have inflated.

[crownjewelwl]

i also use 80mm tubes. i buy them in bulk. just carry a patch kit too!

[kgbianchi]

The Lezyne extenders are pretty nice

[lurpy]

I've always used tubes with a 60 mm valve in my Cosmic Carbones and used their extender (w/o-ring) for inflation with a floor pump. I've always carried the extender with me on rides when using these wheels, but have never had to deal with a flat on the road until this weekend. My first problem was that my spares had 52 mm valves. Not a huge deal, I just wouldn't have access to close the core after removing the extender. But...in inflating with my frame pump I managed to bend the core inside the extender. I could unscrew the extender from the valve, but not remove it. Again, not a huge deal, I'd just have to ride with the extender installed and hope I didn't flat again.

At the next stop with mechanical support I attempted to top-off the pressure, but at that point the core was completely jammed and wouldn't release to allow additional air into the tube. So I rode the last 30 miles of STP rather nervously, avoiding all road debris as best I could.

All this has led me to a new strategy for these wheels. I'll continue to use 60mm tubes and the extender when working from home, but will carry 80mm tubes as spares when using these wheels out on the road.