Tubular Tyre valve length

charlie_potatoes

Looking at tubular tyres to go on 50mm rims. No valve lengths are mentioned.
Do I need to buy valve extenders?

drlodge

Almost certainly.

drlodge

Check which type of extender you need
- on some tubs the valves unscrew completely, so you need a pure valve extender, much like a straw with threads in the ends
- on other tubs like my Vittorias, the central valve core unscrews so you need an extender that screws into the core hole, then the core goes into the extender.

charlie_potatoes

Thanks drlodge

foggymike

The newer Vittoria ones have a third variation where the whole valve stem (including a fixed valve core) unscrews right from the bottom where it goes into the tyre. With these you need to buy new stem and valve combo's in the length you need.

It's a minefield out there!

sloppyschleckonds

Good luck on getting it 'right first time'

Just order a selection of what you want and send back what you don't need. Or just go to your LBS,

jordan_217

Best thing to do is try and get extenders made by the manufactures of the tyres. IME Conti extenders work flawlessly with Conti tubs. Don't forget to wrap the overall valve in some electricians tape to stop the valve knocking on the rims. I've recently sleeved the valve in a drinking straw and then taped, worked a treat.

dgstewart

foggymike wrote:

The newer Vittoria ones have a third variation where the whole valve stem (including a fixed valve core) unscrews right from the bottom where it goes into the tyre. With these you need to buy new stem and valve combo's in the length you need.

It's a minefield out there!

That's what I thought when I bought some Vittoria CX III tubs recently. I bought the extra long replacement vales (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vittoria-removable-valve), as these were described as matching the "new" Vittoria tubulars.

Turns out that's not the case as the "newest" Vittoria tubs (late 2013 onwards I think) have the removable valve cores, as described above by drlodge. For these you need these extenders (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vittoria-pair-o ... extensions), and you take the valve core out of our tubs, put the extender on and then put the core onto the end of the extender.

Either method is easy enough, you just need to make sure you've got the right bits!

sloppyschleckonds

^ Except the new Paves which don't unscrew and require a clip over extender.

term1te

I've just fitted some "new" Vittoria tubs, and used the same Planet X valve extenders I was using on the old Tufo tubs. Remove the existing valve at the base, almost under the tape, then attach the extender, but the other way around to normal, then re-attach the original valve to that. Only the Vittoria valve is visible with my 50mm rims, nicer shade of red to the PX ones. Probably a lot cheaper than buying the extra long Vittoria valve.

dgstewart

That's my point, the "new" CX IIIs that I bought don't have completely removable valves like yours - the valve is well and truly fixed on the tub, but the valve core is removable. From a lot of searching online I discovered that my tub type is a very new change, but also the same as the original CX tubs, and the fully removable valve (like yours) was a change from the original that has now been reversed... I think...

Bottom line is it's not always clear :-).

charlie_potatoes

Probably go for the CX III. Wheels not arriving for a couple of weeks yet so I think I'll wait for the tyres to arrive and see what I need.

Thanks for the replies.

term1te

dgstewart wrote:

That's my point, the "new" CX IIIs that I bought don't have completely removable valves like yours - the valve is well and truly fixed on the tub, but the valve core is removable. From a lot of searching online I discovered that my tub type is a very new change, but also the same as the original CX tubs, and the fully removable valve (like yours) was a change from the original that has now been reversed... I think...

Bottom line is it's not always clear :-).

Then remove the valve core, using the same extender as mentioned before attach it to the valve stem, (the other way around this time) and fit the core to the extender. As far as I can see, the same extender would work in both situations?

dgstewart

Term1te wrote:

Then remove the valve core, using the same extender as mentioned before attach it to the valve stem, (the other way around this time) and fit the core to the extender. As far as I can see, the same extender would work in both situations?

One of us is possibly getting confused now, and I don't know which .

I don't know what your tubs/extenders are like, but for mine the only way is removing the core, putting the valve extender on (can only go on one way) then putting the core into the extender.

For your tubs with the removable complete valve (i.e. near the tub base tape) I did read about this method of turning the extender the other way round, so presumably that is an alternative to the replacement Vittoria long red valves. I guess if you already had extenders you would do this, and if not, just get the long valves?

term1te

You've got me worried now. There is a possibility that I've bodged it too far and the tubular will burst or the valve leak. I'll try to take some photos this evening, if I remember.

term1te

Took some photos with my phone last night. First is the tubular with the valve fully removed, then with the PX extender and original valve stem and core fitted. Seems to hold pressure OK, is there any reason why the Vittoria extended valve would work better? The valve core can't be removed from the Vittoria stem, but if it could I'd remove the core and fit the extender into the original stem and the core into the extender.

dgstewart

That looks fine for your type of tub, and if it holds pressure then stick with it. I guess the benefit of the extra long replacement valves (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vittoria-removable-valve) is that it is one piece instead of two, i.e. take your original red Vittoria valve off and replace it with the longer one. (Technically that would be two pieces instead of three I suppose).

For my type of tub I can't remove the original valve at all, only the core, so it's the approach you mention in your last sentence.

neeb

This seems like as good a place as any to moan about a pet gripe of mine. Manufacturers being inconsistent or ambiguous about lengths of valves and valve extenders! They never say whether the length includes the screw-down part of the valve (in the case of valves) and with extenders never say if the length is the total length of the extender or the length it extends by...

drlodge

neeb wrote:

This seems like as good a place as any to moan about a pet gripe of mine. Manufacturers being inconsistent or ambiguous about lengths of valves and valve extenders! They never say whether the length includes the screw-down part of the valve (in the case of valves) and with extenders never say if the length is the total length of the extender or the length it extends by...

With you there. It took me ages to find out what type of extenders I needed, what length, find some in stock of the right type and length, and at a reasonable cost.

rc856

Ah...it's becoming clearer!
I've just bought some 'new' CX III's as my first tubular tyre and it appears I can't remove the main stem.
It's brass coloured if that helps? Obviously I'm a bit cautious about trying to turn the whole stem in case I've got the other kind!

Cheers

charlie_potatoes

With CXIII it is just the core that is removable.

rc856

Cheers