Note: Guitar Ted received a suite of products from Clik Valve for test and review at no charge. Guitar Ted is not being bribed nor paid for this review. All opinions are Guitar Ted's.
Last time I posted on the Clik Valve products I introduced all the range and parts I was sent to test/review. You can check that out HERE in case you missed that or want a refresher. In this post I will cover the installation of the pump head parts, the installation of the valve cores, and then how that all worked in practice when used.
Of course, if I was going to use Clik Valve cores I needed a pump to use with them. I chose my SILCA Pista Plus floor pump and it was an easy swap to use the screw-in Clik Valve pump head converter. However; when I went to use this I discovered that my SILCA pump's gauge was not working. So.... Plan B!
This meant I needed to convert my old Topeak Joe Blow pump. I noted that this pump utilized the press-in barbed nozzle and hose fitment which happened to be what the complete Clik Valve pump head uses. So, I actually got to use both heads from Clik Valve in this operation.
Then, obviously, I had to swap out valve cores on one of my bikes. With Winter being nearly over and, quite frankly, non-existent with the exception of sub-zero temperatures now and again, I decided that it looked like gravel season might start early. Now wait..... I probably just jinxed it. We'll have three weeks of snow!
Anyway, I chose the Honeman Flyer I had made by King Fabrications. The single speed gravel bike will see a lot of use in the upcoming early parts of gravel riding for the year. The swap of valve cores was pretty simple, but I did notice one detail that I hadn't considered before.
While the Clik Valve cores have flats so you can use a tool to tighten them, most "over-the-core" tools will not slip over the lipped opening of a Clik Valve. I was happy that Clik Valve did decide to utilize knurling on the valve core's body so I could get enough purchase on the valve core to tighten it by hand. I am thinking a small, spanner-like wrench would be what you'd need here if you wanted a tool, but I am not aware of such a tool off the top of my head. In the end, I didn't need a tool, but if I had a problem in the field, and I needed to install a tube? I might wish for that spanner-like core removal tool.
Maybe.
Since catastrophic tire failures are not a big thing, at least around here, I am not too worried about this detail, but I know that for some folks it is a concern, so you may want to look for an appropriate tool.
Airing up the tires with Clik Valve parts on my pump and valve stem is definitely easier than using Presta or Schrader valves. Pushing on the pump head couldn't be any easier, and the pump head stayed put on the valve as I pumped up my tires to 40psi, which was done to account for the cold air of January outside. Now, of course, this isn't a big deal for low pressure tires, perhaps. So, I would like to try this on a road bike. I do have one, but I need to check to see if I have any tubes with removable cores to do that test. Once I get that lined up, I'll report back with a finding on how this Clik Valve pump head does going up to 100psi.
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| You can see here how the pump head adapter screws into this SILCA fitting. |
So Far... A ride or two, and sitting around for a bit shows me that the cores do not leak. That's a good sign. The only thing to do now is to complete many cycles of inflation and do a bunch of riding to determine if these cores are doing a good job.
I am looking for any clogging of the valve that may cause difficulty with inflation. I will also be inspecting the seals on the cores after some time to see how they hold up against sealant. I'll be looking at the pump head to determine if there is any degradation in use over time. And I'll get around to that high pressure test as well.
Meanwhile I do have the full valves from Clik Valve to evaluate, I just need to figure out which wheels I am going to use with those. Hopefully that will be the next update on the Clik Valve products. So far, I am impressed with the ease of operation.
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