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/”/]
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The new cuff links are looking good!
@ScottyCycles62 Damn. I didn't mean to post that under this article. How can I delete it?
@sthilzy
That's a beautiful photo but I have to admit a dark secret: my childhood is scarred by trying to hold the damn head on with one hand while pumping with the other.
@Beers I ride Fulcrum 3s. Even with the computer magnet placed quite close to the rim on the spoke next to the valve stem, the wheel stops spinning with counterweight at the bottom. OTOH, I have never 'felt' anything out of balance.
I have been using a Silca floor pump for decades, as well. Here's a tip that will make the rubber parts last forever and make it unnecessary to hold a worn chuck on the valve while pumping. To do this, you have to have the reversible Silca head (like the one pictured in frank's recent post), and not the bell-shaped head. Take apart the chuck head and flip the washer around for Schraeder valves, and close it up. With pliers, screw a presta valve adapter into the Silca pump head nice and tight. Now just thread the entire chuck onto your presta valves in order to pump them up, and then unthread when done. It can't blow of at any pressure, and the rubber parts will never wear. Just leave the presta valve adapter in the Silca head permanently.
Sorry, frank. I see sthilzy posted that pic...
@frank
There's my problem right there.
@ScottyCycles62
Indeed they are. Is it just me, or is it twisted ever so slightly to the left? A small detail to be sure, but just enough to niggle one's sense of order. Unlike having valve stems that might be a few millimetres too long . . . cough, cough.
I posted the inner core coming out frustration last year, not a good day or walk home. I don' use tape just give the core a small turn to lock it in now. So far so good.
I find myself in search of enlightenment because of this principle. I appreciate the point of the article, but I also think that @Puffy has a point about the desirable length. Or seen another way, that Frank's definition of optimal length may be different for me than for him.
I have a perfectly functional floor pump, which sadly does not have a nifty head such as those on a Lezyne or Silca pump. In order to properly engage the head requires some downward pressure on the valve before locking it on. In order to keep the valve stem as short as possible whilst still providing enough length to be functional (See @Frank above), I require the use of the little threaded nut (gasp!) to keep the valve stem from burrowing into my rim like a whack-a-mole critter. Alternatively, I could abandon the nut (laudable) which would require an excessively long stem (Violator!) be employed to keep enough length of stem protruding for pump engagement.
Being the Velominatus Budgetatus that I am, I am loth to discard a perfectly decent pump in order to part with funds that could be better spent on my quest to n+1. So here is my dilemma: excessively long stem which permits proper pump fuction, but looks like I'm a tri-hard, or proper stem length, with an unsightly lock nut in place?
And no, I won't remove the lock nut after inflation, as that time would be better spent ON the bike. It may be only a small amount of time, but like's Frank's claim of fractions of hundredths of grams, its still time I'd rather be riding.