Schrader valves vs. Presta style

What's the difference between Schrader and Presta style valves? Any
difference at all? Or just a matter of personal preference.

I have nothing but trouble with Presta valves, even with an expensive
floor pump. The tires go flat ever week or so.

I'm just a recreational rider, maybe 100 miles a week, and never
racing. At my age (64), all I want is for the valve to work
consistently.

Dave

"DC1999" wrote:

What's the difference between Schrader and Presta style valves? Any
difference at all? Or just a matter of personal preference.

I have nothing but trouble with Presta valves, even with an expensive
floor pump. The tires go flat ever week or so.

You may want to review this link:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/presta-schrader.html

Losing air is quite normal. The tubes are somewhat porous. If you're
losing 80-100psi in the course of a week, however, you likely have a
problem, either with a tiny hole in the tubes, or defective valves, or
....?
--
Live simply so that others may simply live

What's the difference between Schrader and Presta style valves? Any difference at all?

Certainly they're different. Most experienced roadies prefer presta
because they are easier to pump, and fit narrow rims better.

I have nothing but trouble with Presta valves, even with an expensive floor pump.

Might be your technique. Try a Silca brass head:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/tools/tire.html

http://sheldonbrown.com/brandt/presta-schrader.html

Be sure to open and tap the stopper before pumping.


The tires go flat ever week or so.

Are these sew-ups with latex tubes? Otherwise, you must have a slow
leak.

Art Harris

Thanks for your help. That's a great site with lots of info.

Dave

DC1999 wrote:
What's the difference between Schrader and Presta style valves? Any
difference at all? Or just a matter of personal preference.

I have nothing but trouble with Presta valves, even with an expensive
floor pump. The tires go flat ever week or so.

I'm just a recreational rider, maybe 100 miles a week, and never
racing. At my age (64), all I want is for the valve to work
consistently.

Dave



100 miles a week would be 5200 miles per year which would not be too
shabby. I am not able to ride nearly that much, but I ride almost every
day and still top my (presta tube) tires off before leaving the house.
I would not expect to be able to ride a week without topping off the
tires, regardless of the valves I used.

Dave,

There's no contest. Presta is better, and it's the only way to go with
higher pressure road tires. With schrader valves, you lose a lot of air as
you remove the pump head from the valve. With prestas, whatever air is in
the tire stays in the tire. The air you hear when you remove the pump is the
air under pressure in the hose of the pump.

You are losing air from your tubes, not your presta valves (unless they
happen to be broken or defective). As another poster said, higher pressure
road tubes inherently lose air pressure over a period of days - not all of
it, but a significant amount. Even if you had high pressure tires with
schrader valves, this would still happen. The reason it doesn't with tires
say on hybrids is that these aren't under as high a pressure to begin with.
If you have problems using them, you might not be using the right technique
with them.

Pierre

"DC1999" wrote in message
ups.com...
What's the difference between Schrader and Presta style valves? Any
difference at all? Or just a matter of personal preference.

I have nothing but trouble with Presta valves, even with an expensive
floor pump. The tires go flat ever week or so.

I'm just a recreational rider, maybe 100 miles a week, and never
racing. At my age (64), all I want is for the valve to work
consistently.

Dave

Pierre wrote:
:: Dave,
::
:: There's no contest. Presta is better, and it's the only way to go
:: with higher pressure road tires. With schrader valves, you lose a
:: lot of air as you remove the pump head from the valve. With prestas,
:: whatever air is in the tire stays in the tire. The air you hear when
:: you remove the pump is the air under pressure in the hose of the
:: pump.
::

Thanks for posting this info....I didn't realize this.

"Roger Zoul" wrote in message
...
Pierre wrote:
:: Dave,
::
:: There's no contest. Presta is better, and it's the only way to go
:: with higher pressure road tires. With schrader valves, you lose a
:: lot of air as you remove the pump head from the valve. With prestas,
:: whatever air is in the tire stays in the tire. The air you hear when
:: you remove the pump is the air under pressure in the hose of the
:: pump.
::

Thanks for posting this info....I didn't realize this.

You may also want to try a touring tube. The butyl Vredsteins I installed
seem to lose a lot less air.

Pierre wrote:

There's no contest. Presta is better, and it's the only way to go with
higher pressure road tires. With schrader valves, you lose a lot of air as
you remove the pump head from the valve.

I don't lose hardly any air when removing the pump head from my schrader
valves. And that's with a 10 year old pump.


You are losing air from your tubes, not your presta valves (unless they
happen to be broken or defective).

Thicker tubes would decrease that substantially. I can go several weeks
if not months without putting air in my MTB tires. Thick tubes and
relatively low pressure are probably why.

Rich

Pierre wrote:

There's no contest. Presta is better, and it's the only way to go with
higher pressure road tires. With schrader valves, you lose a lot of air
as you remove the pump head from the valve.

You are losing air from your tubes, not your presta valves (unless they
happen to be broken or defective).


"Rich" wrote in message
...

I don't lose hardly any air when removing the pump head from my schrader
valves. And that's with a 10 year old pump.

Thicker tubes would decrease that substantially. I can go several weeks
if not months without putting air in my MTB tires. Thick tubes and
relatively low pressure are probably why.

Rich

This is what I said. Lower pressure tires won't lose air as much and if they
do, it doesn't matter as much because they have a large volume of air in
them. Heavier butyl tubes won't loose air as quickly as lighter butyl or
latex tubes, but then, they ARE heavier. It's a trade-off some people might
want and others not.
Pierre