The Goldilocks Principle is under assault, balance is lost. Without balance, we are reduced to savages. Steerectile dysfunction is spreading like wildfire; socks are quickly becoming knee-highs and the line between shorts and knickers continues to blur.
We spend considerable time making everything on our loyal steed fit and look perfect. Bar tape and tire color are carefully coordinated to frame and decals; the tape is wrapped and finished expertly. Saddles are positioned with a spirit level. Cables are cut to the shortest length possible to allow for smooth and friction-free braking and shifting. Cable ends are trimmed to the shortest sensible length. Tires are mounted with labels mounted directly above the valve. And yet the valve stems themselves have recklessly been allowed to grow ever longer.
The Prophet and De Vlaeminck didn’t ride around with 5cm of valve stem sticking out of their rims. Granted, they only had one length to choose from, but that one length stems were made in was obvious: as short as possible. Valve stems need to be managed just like everything else on our bikes. They need to protrude from the rim enough to allow for a pump head to be securely attached to it; anything more is ugly and dead weight. (Incidentally, if you are using a pump with a screw-on head like a Lezyne or Silca, then this means all you need is the threads of the valve core plus a few millimeters to allow for the head to securely thread on.)
For those among us riding deep section rims, forget the long-stem inner tubes. Buy tubes with 32mm stems with removable cores and use the shortest valve extender possible. Under no circumstances should one use an inner tube without removable cores. It is important, however, that upon removing the tube from its package and before installing it or placing it in your kit, that the core be removed and reinstalled using a small wrap of plumber’s tape; this will ensure that the core does not unthread with your pump head, causing a disappointing deflation of both spirit and tire.
Bring back the balance. Stop this long valve madness and get thee to your local bike shop for some fresh, short-stemmed tubes.
We are not savages, my children. We are the Velominati. Vive la Vie Velominatus.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/Goldilocks Stems/”/]
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
No, no, no!
If you are running deep rims, just get the right size valve stem for your rims. Or spend your whole life pumping. This will look exactly as pretty as the solution above, but will save you a tubelifetime of slow leaks from a weak point that doesn't need to be there. You wouldn't splice in pointless chunks of chain, or tie in loops of cable, why would you stick on a valve extender?
@Kevin Morice
I concur, valve extenders are the devil's work!
@frank You've just thrown down the gauntlet. Various wheel sets with little uniformity in my collection at the moment. One to deal with over the coming months. I could just say "screw it" but you already know that would leave me feeling disrespectful. Curse you!
Where was this article before?
Most of those stems are a wee bit too short to get a Silca pumphead onto.
It's called Teflon tape, you plebs.
@TBONE
May be but Teflon smile doesn't have the same ring to it.
Finally, someone has spoken the unspoken. Rejoice.
It's actually called PTFE tape
@Kevin Morice, @Michael Brown
Have some self respect for Merckx sake. Get a descent valve extender and the pumber's tape and there will be no leaking. Problem Solvers makes a great one. Claiming your incompetence in being able to make a seal is hardly a reason to avoid a sensible product.
Among the advantages, they are lighter, you can use one standard tube in your kit and just move your extender across from the punctured tire to the spare regardless of if you're riding deep or shallow section rims, they look better, and they are way lighter.
Put that in your tub glue pail and sniff it.