Jim’s Tech Talk
By Jim Langley
One of the most basic bike maintenance tasks is inflating tires so that they’re at your “favorite pressure” (keep reading). This is necessary on most bikes (solid rubber tires do not lose air) because all tires and tubes slowly lose air due to pores in the rubber. Some tires and tubes lose it extremely slowly, others a lot faster.
How frequently you have to inflate tires depends on your setup. A good rule of thumb for most bikes is to check tire pressure by hand before every ride. If you can’t feel the difference by squeezing your tires, another test is to walk your bike next to something like a curb or rock and put some weight on the tires (one at a time) to push it into the obstacle. If the tire yields a lot it probably needs more air.
A more accurate way is to use a pump with a gauge or just a tire pressure gauge. Here’s our editor Stan Purdum’s review of a nice gauge made by Topeak:
https://www.roadbikerider.com/topeak-smartgauge-d2x-review/. Either way, once you check a few times you will learn how often your tires need topping off for the rubber you ride and how often you ride too.
By the way, if you don’t have a favorite pressure to set your tires to when topping them off, you might like to use a tire pressure calculator to find out what’s recommended for your weight, riding conditions and the specific tires on your bike. I like Silca’s:
Not Always Easy
At the start I said that airing up tires is “basic maintenance” and it is. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy.
There are two common bike valve types and a couple of odd ones you don’t see very often but might run into.
That means having to have a pump that fits the valves that you have or an adapter that allows your pump to work on that valve. Without these things you won’t be able to add air to tires.
Even if you have a pump, you might not understand how to attach your pump to the valve or how to open the valve in order to pump up the tire. Or how to use the adapter on the valve.
To make it even more difficult, if you’re trying to inflate tubeless tires, which usually have sealant inside, it’s possible that the sealant inside the tire has travelled to the valve and clogged it. When this happens, you usually can’t let any air out or put any in until you remove the valve core, poke something into the valve to penetrate the clog and reinstall the valve core.
Looking for a solution
Experienced riders know about all these issues and the solutions so tire inflation is a basic and easy task for them.
But new riders are puzzled and frustrated when they can’t air up tires, since it’s logical to think something as simple and essential as this should be easy. When the valve or pump won’t work it could mean they don’t want to ride or even can’t ride because fiddling with the valve they might have let most of the air out.
For these reasons, we’re starting to see new products attempting to provide a solution. I said “attempting” because I haven’t tested these products. But I want to introduce you to them since I think they’re interesting, they might be the solution for your tire-inflation issues and I bet we’ll see more designs.
Schwalbe’s Clik Valve
Here’s how Schwalbe pitches their “better” valve:
“The principle of the SCHWALBE CLIK VALVE, winner of the Eurobike Award 2024, is very simple: it works intuitively with a click. What does it need? The valve and the corresponding pump head or pump head adapter. With the Clik Valve, this can be clicked onto the bike valve with minimal force and removed again very easily after successful inflation.
It doesn’t matter which valve and pump you currently have – thanks to conversion kits for all existing bicycle valves and most pumps. To change the bicycle valve, simply replace the valve insert (Schrader, Presta, Dunlop, tubeless valve), for the car valve there is an adapter that is screwed over the valve (and can be easily unscrewed again to be able to use petrol station pumps).
The pump head adapter can be integrated into the pump head of current pumps (by clamping or screwing in), even with hand pumps. The Schwalbe Clik Valve can also be inflated with normal SV (Presta) pumps – thanks to this reverse compatibility, you are never at a loss in any situation. And SKS will already be offering its own CLIK VALVE pump at Eurobike.”
Here’s Schwalbe’s Clik Valve how-it-works video
I haven’t seen a Clik Valve to see how it works in person. From their online materials it looks to me like those quick connectors for hoses or air compressor fittings. Those work well in those applications. So maybe it’s a better mouse trap? I do worry about running in to one these out in the field and not having the adapter. But just like any new tool, it’s just a matter and buying the adapters and keeping them on hand I guess.
Muc-Off’s Big Bore valves
The “better” valves by Muc-Off are made to prevent issues with sealant clogs by providing larger diameter holes through the valves. Muc-Off does this by using no cores inside the valves and by oversizing the valves to the diameter of Schrader valves (larger than Presta valves).
This means that to inflate Big Bore valves you need a Schrader pump head. No adapters are required.
Then built in to the Big Bore valves there are what look like standard ball valves. Little levers on the sides of the valves let you rotate the ball valves inside. Turned one way the valve is completely closed. The other way they’re wide open. And because there are no cores inside the valve, the entire valve is open with no obstructions to trap and encourage sealant plugs.
Here’s a quick video of mine on Muc-Off’s Big Bore valves
I just received the Muc-Off Big Bores and have looked at them pretty closely. They feel well made and it’s easy to open and close them. Different tubeless bases are provided for use with different shape tubeless rims.
A small spanner comes with the valves too in case you ever need it to open and close the valve. I assume that’s because it might get a little sticky from the sealant. But if the design works as promised it shouldn’t clog.
What do you think?
I find these new valves interesting and clever. But I don’t really have a lot of problems with airing up my tires – even when I do have a sealant clog in my mountain and gravel tubeless tires (I’m using TPU tubes in my road tires).
So part of me thinks they may make it more difficult for beginners to get air into their tires rather than easier because it’s another complication.
What do you think? Are you looking for something like this to help with your tires? Or do you see this as a solution looking for a problem? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Thanks!
Jim Langley is RBR’s Technical Editor. A pro mechanic & cycling writer for more than 40 years, he’s the author of Your Home Bicycle Workshop in the RBR eBookstore. Tune in to Jim’s popular YouTube channel for wheel building & bike repair how-to’s. Jim’s also known for his cycling streak that ended in February 2022 with a total of 10,269 consecutive daily rides (28 years, 1 month and 11 days of never missing a ride). Click to read Jim’s full bio.
Not to sound too much like a retro-grouch, but yeah, just what we need is another set of “standards’ for something as simple as tire valves. With years of on-line discussions about pumping tires under my belt, I think I can safety say that when people have trouble pumping up their tires, it is nearly always operator error.
You took the words right out of my mouth!
I was hoping these were valves that eliminated the need for a separate pressure gauge, as in you could set a desired pressure and the valve would click when you reached that pressure. That would be worth buying! Invariably checking the pressure causes loss of pressure for me (I have presets valves). The ones you’re reviewing seem to me to be a solution in search of a problem.
That’s “presta” not “presets”!
@Kerry
Was basically going to say the same thing. Agree 100%
Why???
Maybe this would help those who have never pumped up a tire. Otherwise, I am not sure what problem this solves.
I like the idea that less air is lost when disconnecting. Which brings up a question I have always had – how much air is lost with a typical presta valve and floor pump set up during the disconnect? It seems like there is a big air release – but is most of that from the pump? Or are you losing a few psi during the disconnect? When filling a schrader valve the loss seems less due I suppose to the spring loaded valve.
I’ve never had a presta pressure gauge – so never checked. But doing so would lose some more air.
Almost all of the pressure lost is from inside the pump and hose, not the tube and/or tire.
Please don’t turn a simple task into a complicated one. All anyone needs to do is to become familiar with their tire valve and their pump. Practice a few times and you’ve got it mastered.
For tubeless tires with sealant the Fillmore Reserve valve are the way to go. No more clogged stems. They are more expensive but for me running tubeless with sealant in my mtn, and gravel bikes where the sealant clogs the stem these are a god send. Check them out. https://reservewheels.com/products/fillmore-tubeless-valves?variant=42095785509045
I have used the Reserve valves for 2-3 years and with sealant they are much better as they never clog. They are also much easier to use than Presta valves. I use them for both gravel and road tubeless setups.
We need more valve options like we need more bottom bracket options.
Purchase and install a HIRAME pump head, and never look back.
What brand of TPU? How about a review?
Two thoughts – 1] I have never met a rider at any level of experience or lack of who has had difficulty inflating a tire (no so true of changing a tire!!). 2] The designs seems more complex, mechanically, so that increases the risks of failure of breaking.
Sounds like two solutions looking for a problem, except for beginners, perhaps.
A HIRAME pump head for $67; Fillmore valves f0r $70? Dang, that’s nuts.
I’ve been running road tubeless for 10 years and they’re a challenge to mount, but to me worth it. I don’t fuss with a hand-pump to get them seated the first time, instead I use a compressor, or on the road, CO2. I’ve never experience clogged valves but if I did and you have decent tubeless wheels, deflate the tire which should remain seated, thus sealed to the rim, remove the stem, run a pipe cleaner, or the equivalent through the stem and replace the valve. The tires should stay seated making easy to hand-pump the tires from there.
Give me a cheap, small footprint device such as a BLE RF tag that measures tire pressure real-time and then you’ll have my interest.