Since it has been almost two months since the last update, I thought I would give you all another look at how the Clik Valve cores are doing in my Honeman Flyer's wheels. Since the last update a couple of thoughts have crossed my mind which I think might be valuable to anyone looking to try this out on their own bicycles.
The last update can be seen HERE in case you want a refresher or in case you missed it.
Okay, so since I pumped up the tires to 40psi in February I have not touched them with a pump since then. Honestly, a quick bounce and pinch of the tires made me feel pretty confident they were okay every ride I went on, and so I never felt the need to pump them up, or check them...... Oh! Yeah, about that....
Clik Valve pressure gauge. Ah.... I do not have one! So, I had to rely on my old Topeak Joe Blow with the Clik Valve converted head to see where I was at after almost two months. The result? My Topeak pump said I was something on the plus side of 20. But.....this didn't seem right. The tires felt far firmer than 20psi. So, all I have to share now is this: I have a hunch the tires hold air better than before, but again - I don't know for sure. Time to order up the Clik Valve pressure gauge.
This is another reason swapping to Clik Valve is a bit of a pain. You are outside of the normal valve standards, so not much of your old stuff is going to work here. And as well, you now have dedicated Clik Valve stuff, Presta valve stuff, and Schrader valve stuff? Gah! Seems to be a complication, and nothing to be looked at for many folks since bicycle standards barely exist in so many places. Why make wheels, gauges, and pumps more complicated when it comes to having all the various tools and components necessary to run all three standards.
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| I have to make sure I have THIS pump when I ride my Clik Valve wheels. |
I suppose you could go "whole-hog" and go 100% Clik Valve on your fleet, and for some folks with only one bike, or a few, this makes sense. However; if you are like me and have a horde of bicycles, this doesn't seem to be a likely solution.
So, there is that to consider. However; every time I use the Clik Valve pump and valve it is apparent that it is so much easier to use it seems silly we have to put up with Schrader and Presta valves anymore. It literally could not be easier to use this system. So, from this standpoint, I still am a fan of Clik Valve.
Maybe my intuition that Clik Valve holds air better than the old Presta valves did is not right, but I will have to get the Clik Valve gauge and then perhaps I'll have some definitive data to back up my feelings on this matter. Or I'll be way off and wrong. We will see later
One thing I do know and that is the valves have not clogged up with sealant, nor are they harder to get air through them than at the beginning, so I feel they are a good tubeless system choice. I'll get on that gauge and in the next update I'll try to verify the air retention qualities. Another thing to consider: Can I re-up sealant by pulling the Clik Valve core and replace it like I can with a Presta valve? My gut feeling is the answer is "yes", but I'll see to proving this out as well.
Stay tuned....
4 comments:
After reading that bit about not clogging up with sealant and not being any harder to air up at than at the beginning made me think of the Reserve Fillmore valves. I now have them on two bikes and can say over long term use that they have never clogged or lost any airflow. They also work with any presta pump or gauge. The $50 price tag is quite high but over the last two years on my gravel bike they have been steadfast. No bent heads and consistently strong airflow for the duration. This article reminded me that I have put literally no thought into my valves over the last two years and have started to take it for granted that they just always work and never break.
It’s going to take something truly special to come along for me to have the desire to switch over each of my 10 bikes’ valves. Even though Clik valve has some advantages, it seems, the squeeze just isn’t worth the juice for me.
The reason the pump gave read so low (assuming it’s not broken) is that the air that came out of the tire into the pump was just a very small burst of air into a big volume, which caused the pressure in the big volume to drop.
All bicycle valves have a one-way valve in them so that all the air doesn’t rush out while you attach/detach the pump. To get the one-way valve to open, you have to either push the little plunger down by contact (which is what a tire pressure gage does) or you have to get the pressure in the pump slightly higher than the pressure in the tire (which happens when you pump up the tire). On a presta valve when we “open” the valve we aren’t actually opening it, just unlocking and allowing the plunger to move.
You can get the pump gage to read correctly by pumping just a partial stroke of air into the tire. You want to go slow and stop as soon as the needle on the gage jumps down a bit instead of smoothly increasing. That means air pressure that built up in the pump got slightly higher than the air pressure in the tire. You can often hear it too. Then the pressure on the gage is correct and you’ve added a trivial amount of air.
@Nooge - Quote: "You can get the pump gage to read correctly by pumping just a partial stroke of air into the tire"
Yes. I am aware of this and this is why I was able to determine the pressure was reading so low on this particular gauge. In fact, I pumped up the tire ten more psi just to verify things were working, but I did not feel the need to report this in my post.
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