Do ebikes get more flats ?

[Rexlion]

If you're going with tubes, I'd recommend FlatOut Sportsman formula.

It provides more robust puncture protection than Slime, costs less (though there's a markup on it lately) and will last 10+ years before needing to be changed out, probably due to the automotive nature of its origins.

Until recently, the company didn't even target the cycling communtiy, but it's worth looking into for a tubed setup.

Does the FlatOut bottle have a tip that inserts into the opened valve (once core is removed), or is additional hardware necessary?

 

[antboy]

Does the FlatOut bottle have a tip that inserts into the opened valve (once core is removed), or is additional hardware necessary?

It comes with a tube in the bottle that fits over the valve.

The cap also has a plastic valve core remover, so in THEORY you don't need anything else.

I personally wouldn't trust the plastic core remover though, especially since an aluminum valve core remover is pretty cheap ($5-$10 bucks)

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I'll never understand the hate on Presta valves.

Oh, and I have valve core removers as caps, with my tire levers, and on my multi-tool. And I have a dedicated one in my toolbox at home.

 

[AHicks]

Very interesting! These appear to be metal of some sort, am I correct? So they should be sturdy. And best of all, the tool is stored on the valve as a cap.

Yup, safe bet they're metal of some sort.

 

[AHicks]

I'll never understand the hate on Presta valves.

Oh, and I have valve core removers as caps, with my tire levers, and on my multi-tool. And I have a dedicated one in my toolbox at home.

Old school here I guess. The schrader valves I've been using for the last hundred years or so have never given me a good reason to consider a change - or invest in the proper tools to service a Presta valve. KISS!!!

 

[antboy]

I'll never understand the hate on Presta valves.

Oh, and I have valve core removers as caps, with my tire levers, and on my multi-tool. And I have a dedicated one in my toolbox at home.

As someone who rides in the city, the idea of hitting up the gas station for air just makes Schrader marginally more convenient in rare circumstances, especially in the cold.

Not that it's a deeply held belief.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

As someone who rides in the city, the idea of hitting up the gas station for air just makes Schrader marginally more convenient in rare circumstances, especially in the cold.

A lot of people use these as valve caps for the marginal convenience of paying 75 cents to put air in your tires, rather than doing so with honest labor with your floor pump in the comfy warmth of your garage. While I carry one in the patch kit, I haven't used it in years.

Basically pretty much any decent bike pump built since the Etruscans will work with both Presta and Schrader valves, both of them work, so I am just numbly incomprehending of the hatred. Certainly it couldn't be worth drilling out a rim.

 

[Gordon71]

It comes with a tube in the bottle that fits over the valve.

The cap also has a plastic valve core remover, so in THEORY you don't need anything else.

I personally wouldn't trust the plastic core remover though, especially since an aluminum valve core remover is pretty cheap ($5-$10 bucks)

I guess although I've used the plastic cap that was on my first slime bottle several times both unscrewing and screwing schrader valves.

 

[Rexlion]

Basically pretty much any decent bike pump built since the Etruscans will work with both Presta and Schrader valves, both of them work, so I am just numbly incomprehending of the hatred. Certainly it couldn't be worth drilling out a rim.

I think Schrader versus Presta is a bit like English system versus metric system. What ya like depends on where ya live.

Honestly, where I live I have yet to encounter a Presta valve on anything I've ever owned. When I bought a new hand pump (which handles both types), I regarded the Presta fitting as a useless, confusing addition (for the first dozen or so uses of the pump I kept trying to remember which end I was supposed to use... try one, nope it doesn't fit, turn it around and use the other one). So, yeah, I have a moderate dislike and disdain for Presta, because I have had nothing but (mild) negative feedback from the experience. I feel like Presta valves don't belong on this side of the pond, and I hope I never have one.

Metric irritates me, too, but there are enough things here that use metric that I've developed a coping mechanism.... and bought the extra tools.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Nearly all of the higher-end bikes I see (road or mountain) use Presta valves. You see Schrader valves on kids bikes and bikes with smaller diameter wheels. I don't think there is any good technical reason for that but it just is that way.

Presta valve tubes for 27.5" wheels seem to be widely available in these parts, I've even seen them at Fred Meyer and Walmart.

 

[AHicks]

A lot of people use these as valve caps for the marginal convenience of paying 75 cents to put air in your tires, rather than doing so with honest labor with your floor pump in the comfy warmth of your garage. While I carry one in the patch kit, I haven't used it in years.

Basically pretty much any decent bike pump built since the Etruscans will work with both Presta and Schrader valves, both of them work, so I am just numbly incomprehending of the hatred. Certainly it couldn't be worth drilling out a rim.

Clearly, that's a matter of 'druthers? It took me longer to figure out what size drill bit to use than it did to drill the holes.

What's that Presta advantage again? The reason(s?) I should track down/invest in the equipment to deal with them properly, because I've never had to deal with them before (50+ years of doing ALL of my own service work). Because they come on more expensive bikes can't be the only reason you like them....

 

[Jtac15]

Not a fan of the presta valve myself.in 50+ years of riding i only had 2. One on a lemond road bike and one currently that i purchased accidently for my e bike. Dont like it and always have to have the adapter available. Friend of mine says the reason for them is for use on narrow rims and that the wider hole on a schrader makes the rim more structurally weaker. Ive never had a rim fail at that point but just throwing it out there

 

[teskow]

I expect if the Schrader valve is OK for our home air conditioning systems
it should be just fine on our autos, bicycles and nearly every other tire valve in the USA.

 

[m@Robertson]

First of all, there is never any reason to change from what you are used to. If all of your pumps and air gauges are Schraeder, then there is no reason to change. Me personally, having bikes dating back since I was in high school, they've all been Presta. As @Mr. Coffee noted above, quality bikes tend to have Presta and cheapo bikes have Schraeders. The reason for Presta goes back to the use of narrow rims on road bikes. The thin Presta valve needs a smaller hole drilled into a rim that is maybe 2 cm wide externally, tops. Plus the Presta valve screws into the rim, and its metal. So much less loss of structural strength on a lightweight, skinny rim.

Not the biggest benefit on most of the bikes people ride here, I bet. Not too many people ride an ebike with 700x20c tires with pressures at 100 psi.

I do very much like the fact that the presta valve screws down onto the rim. As such you never have to worry about the valve slipping from one side to the other over time, or attaching a pump to it roadside after a flat makes it drop down almost inside of the rim. You can work around all of this but still with presta its a non issue the valve is always right there. Also I have presta tire gauges and the adapters that make them work with gas station air are dirt cheap and plentiful. Nowadays I always have a small battery-driven pump so I would never need to go to the gas station.

As for Slime vs. Flatout, everyone I knew in the local community doubled the recommended Slime dose. So, there was never THAT much difference in the goo quantity. the biggest deal was that Slime hardens over time (2 years is what the bottle says) and Flatout lasts forever. Everything - Stans, Orange Seal ... everyone - hardens over time and needs refilling. Flatout is fill-and-forget. And it definitely works better than Slime. Slime is rated for 1/4" holes. Flatout is rated for 1/2". I've had the unfortunate experience of testing that and Flatout is better not because there is more of it but because when the hole is really big, Flatout binds better across a larger gap.

 

[Rexlion]

Nearly all of the higher-end bikes I see (road or mountain) use Presta valves. You see Schrader valves on kids bikes and bikes with smaller diameter wheels. I don't think there is any good technical reason for that but it just is that way.

Presta valve tubes for 27.5" wheels seem to be widely available in these parts, I've even seen them at Fred Meyer and Walmart.

Clearly, I am just a kid at heart.

Speaking of valves and air and suchlike, has anyone else seen this?

I hope this guy explained to his gal that he has "low PSI" and this device helps him get his numbers up.

 

[Dorkyman]

Schrader versus Presta I think is just a cultural thing, like having a steering wheel on the left or the right.

My wife puts ketchup on her hot dog; she would be accosted doing such a thing on the streets of Manhattan.

 

[AHicks]

Skinny rim theory makes sense, works for me. In my case, these were some pretty wide rims I drilled.

 

[Gordon71]

Skinny rim theory makes sense, works for me. In my case, these were some pretty wide rims I drilled.

Hope you still have a place to go this winter.

 

[AHicks]

Hope you still have a place to go this winter.

Oh, we're good!! It was looking a little dicey early on, but when the storm hooked a right and was lining up on Tampa, we were clear. Then it took another right, moving further south.

Lawn maintenance said it was no big deal. An inch of rain, and a little wind. Very lucky! Heart goes out to those south of Tampa....

 

[Rexlion]

Oh, we're good!! It was looking a little dicey early on, but when the storm hooked a right and was lining up on Tampa, we were clear. Then it took another right, moving further south.

Lawn maintenance said it was no big deal. An inch of rain, and a little wind. Very lucky! Heart goes out to those south of Tampa....

Yeah, gotta wonder about the sensationalism of the CBS Evening News report I saw yesterday evening. To see their pics and hear their story, you'd think practically the entire state was totally decimated.