Help needed regarding inner tube valves

[Crickey7]

Admittedly, the largest reason for having two bikes is that I do most of my bike repair myself, and as a mechanic I am more enthusiastic than skilled. My effort to replace my internally routed cables alone sidelined one bike for a month.

[cvcalhoun]

Admittedly, the largest reason for having two bikes is that I do most of my bike repair myself, and as a mechanic I am more enthusiastic than skilled. My effort to replace my internally routed cables alone sidelined one bike for a month.

Being neither enthusiastic nor skilled, I'm perfectly happy to leave this to my local bike shop. Particularly since I've had several experiences of paying more to do something myself than a mechanic would have charged, due to incorrectly diagnosing the problem and repairing several things that didn't help before the thing that did.

[huskerdont]

Admittedly, the largest reason for having two bikes is that I do most of my bike repair myself, and as a mechanic I am more enthusiastic than skilled. My effort to replace my internally routed cables alone sidelined one bike for a month.

Me too. Although I've fallen into the trap of "after this bike, and the other bike, there's only one bike left."

So now there are six.

[cvcalhoun]

Me too. Although I've fallen into the trap of "after this bike, and the other bike, there's only one bike left."

So now there are six.

Whereas I fall into the category of, "after this bike, there is no more room in the shed."

[TwoWheelsDC]

Being neither enthusiastic nor skilled, I'm perfectly happy to leave this to my local bike shop. Particularly since I've had several experiences of paying more to do something myself than a mechanic would have charged, due to incorrectly diagnosing the problem and repairing several things that didn't help before the thing that did.

I would be the same way if I only had one bike. Having multiple has been nice in the sense that I can tinker without too much fear, which has been really good for learning new skills. So somewhat ironically, spending money to buy multiple bikes has allowed me to save probably a similar amount of money in maintenance and parts (buying parts online is cheaper...sorry not sorry LBSs). Having the space for that is definitely a luxury though, and you gotta do what works best for you.

[Vicegrip]

Whereas I fall into the category of, "after this bike, there is no more room in the shed."

But there is room for another shed.

[n18]

I ran into the same problem and I was able to fix it without getting new tubes or drilling wheels. I was only able to get the top part in, part of the rubber around the valve was sticking out microscopically. I tried again and pushed hard, while trying to rotate the valve around, and it worked. Here is something for you to try: get an electric tape or a piece of paper or sheet of plastic, and wrap it around the valve, essentially making a cone like the following picture:



This should get the rubber part through the hole.

[Rod Smith]

By preference? Or because that's the wheels available?

Wheels available. My trailer wheels prefer Schrader. My pump has dual head. Carrying a 26in Presta spare and a 16in Schrader. Oh and running 26in tube in the front, 700c in the rear. Really should change that rear tube. Bound to fail at a bad time.

[Rod Smith]

Ive widened valve holes with a flat head screwdriver. One that is narrow enough to get part way in but not all the way. Insert and twist. Necessary to clean rough edges afterwards (de-burr).

[vvill]

So apparently I am still riding with Presta tubes in Schrader drilled rims. Re-discovered it today when I swapped in a different tire on my 26" bike which I never flat on. I've been using the Wheels Mfg adapter thingy, but I can understand why you may not want to have to remember that for a trailside flat - it just dropped out when I pulled the tube, having totally forgotten about it.