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What’s Up with Presta Valves?

December 11, 2018 by NTX Trails 3 Comments

What's Up with Presta Valves?
If you’re relatively new to mountain biking and either recently purchased a new bike—or are considering a purchase—you’ve probably noticed that some bikes use a strange-looking, skinny valve on the tires. These are called Presta valves, and in many ways they are far superior to the old-style valves you probably remember from your childhood bike.

Presta vs Schrader

What's Up with Presta Valves? Schrader valves are the type you see on automobile tires. A Schrader valve is wider than a Presta valve and is wrapped in rubber all the way up to the threaded end. There’s a pin in the center that must be depressed to open the valve to add or release air. A spring in the valve’s core keeps it all sealed up tight. You may still find these types of valves on lower-end mountain bikes—especially those that are not tubeless-ready.

What's Up with Presta Valves? Presta valves are long and thin, tapering at the top. The valve is made almost completely of metal and not wrapped in rubber. These valves are threaded up and down their entire length and are secured to the bike wheel by ring-shaped nut. There is also a knurled nut at the top end of the valve that must be unscrewed to open the valve in order to add or release air. These valves are always found on road and high-performance bikes because they can hold much higher air pressures than Schrader valves. Presta valves are also common on mid to high-end mountain bikes—especially if those bikes are either tubeless-ready or set up tubeless by the factory.

Why Presta for Mountain Bikes?

So you’re probably asking yourself, “If Presta valves are made to hold higher pressures, but tubeless mountain bike tires can run lower pressures, why use a Presta valve at all?”

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That’s actually a great question, and the answers are not obvious to those unfamiliar with the intricacies of Presta valves. Here’s a quick rundown of why Presta valves are great for mountain bikes:

  • Easier Inflation: Unlike Schrader valves, Presta valves have no valve spring to overcome. This makes inflation with a floor or hand pump a cinch.
  • Stronger Wheels: Because the Presta valve has a smaller diameter than a Schrader valve, the hole drilled into the wheel is smaller. This allows for narrow wheels to maintain sufficient strength.
  • What's Up with Presta Valves?
    Presta Valve Core Removal Tool
    Easy Maintenance: Almost all Presta valves on today’s tubeless setups have removable valve cores. This means when the core goes bad you can just swap out a new one. Additionally, if the entire valve goes bad, you can simply unscrew the nut on the valve shaft and replace the whole thing in minutes.
  • Sealant Refresh: To refresh the sealant in a tubeless tire—without needing to unseat the tire from the bead—you can simply remove the valve core and inject new sealant.
  • Fewer Sticky Valves: Because of the Presta valve’s design not including a valve spring, there’s less for your sealant to gum up.
  • Multiple Stem Lengths: If you need or want a longer valve stem, Presta valves come in lengths from 32mm up to 60mm.

Not everyone out there loves Presta valves. One writer at Bike Radar thinks manufacturers should all move back to Schrader valves due to several factors—from the fragile nature of the thinner valves to the need for a different type of pump head.

What do you think about the advantages and disadvantages of Presta valves for mountain biking? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

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Have fun, ride smart, and keep shredding!

Image by Peter.shaman – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Related posts:

What are the Parts of a Mountain Bike?
Should I Pay for a Bike Fit?
What Does it Mean to Trust My Bike?
How Do I Clean My Mountain Bike?

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Filed Under: Bikes & Equipment

About NTX Trails

Our mission is to strengthen the sport of mountain biking in greater North Texas by building the most comprehensive database of information about area trails through public information and on-the-ground crowdsourcing. We also work to help you get the most out the sport by helping you buy, set up, and maintain your bike, find the best trails for your skill level, and show you how to take those skills to the next level.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lorenzo Crosatti says

    September 24, 2020 at 1:17 pm

    The benefits of a Presta valve for mountain biking are really debatable. They don’t seem easier to inflate since the barrel that has to be unscrewed tends to close the air path as pressure is applied. In a Schrader valve the orifice will always open more when pressure is applied. Also the Presta pin/barrel can be easily bent or broken.
    With nowadays larger rims (25-35 mm IW) the argument regarding rim strength is also weak. In fact, as a mechanical engineer I can say that perhaps a smaller hole may cause a higher peak stress, depending on the rim design.
    The maintenance issue is also nonexistent, since the Schrader core has always been removable, and since the shaft is larger it’s easier to clean and refill with sealant for tubeless systems.
    I personally use metal threaded Schrader valves on my high-end bikes with tubeless system.

    Reply
    • NTX Trails says

      September 28, 2020 at 11:36 am

      As with anything like this, your experience may be different. I personally find Presta valves much easier to use, are more reliable, and provide quick and easy maintenance. Thanks!

      Reply
  2. Trent W Malone says

    May 23, 2021 at 2:34 am

    Presta all the way ….the pros out way the cons imo. The old way doesn’t always have to mean the better way.

    Reply

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