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Question about valve length for Zipp disc

MattAaronsonMattAaronson
in General Training Discussions

I have a Zipp clincher and I'm using a tube with a 32mm valve. I can hardly get the "crack pipe" in there to fill it up, and have to crank the valve way to the side to get the crack pipe off without losing a lot of air. I'm worried that bending the valve off to the side is stressing the tube around where the valve connects (I know it is reinforced there but the first time I used the disc I got a flat right at that spot, I suspect because I stressed it a whole bunch when filling it).

Do others use a 32mm valve? Do you have the same problem? Can you find tubes with shorter valves, and if so, where?

I saw someone with an HED disc at the race this weekend and the cutout in the wheel was a lot deeper...I was envious of how easy a time that person had filling their tire!!

Comments

  • manconamancona
    I have used both 32 and 36mm stems on a Zipp 900 clincher, it's a PIA but they both work. I used to slightl bend the valve insted the cutout in the same direction as the disc (instead of trying to bend it out the cutout to the side). This gave just a tiny bit more clearance and was just enough for it to work.
  • MattAaronsonMattAaronson
    Hey Matt thanks for the quick input. Sounds like a great solution...except I don't understand...you bend the presta valve itself? With some tools I guess? Or you mean that you physically push the valve in the direction of the way the wheel rolls, vs. perpendicularly to the wheel to poke it out of the cutout (which is what I'm doing now). I think you meant the second thing now that I'm writing this....
  • manconamancona
    I couldn't really figure out how to explain it.... but you did better than I did. I phyisically pushed the value the direction the way rolls when first installing the tube and before putting air in. This makes it so that it is at a slight angle and gives just a few more mm of room, just enough to make it easiler to get the crack pipe in and out. The trick is to do it with no air in the tube as it will slide just a litle bit and then stay in the position after inflated. If you inflate it first with the valve centered (straight) then it is not as easy to push it to the side.
  • MattAaronsonMattAaronson
    Man, what a pain in the ass. I need to find a tube with a shorter presta. Of course then I'd need to carry a badass externder on my spare so it'll work with the 808. Does anyone make a crack pipe with a really thin profile? I think I know the answer...
  • manconamancona
    Totally again about the PIA. I switched to racing 808 front and 808 rear with a wheel cover this year, for that reason among others. What I used to do is have a spare tube with a 32mm valve in with me with teflon tape already on it and the valve extender unattached. If the front flatter I could quickly screw the extender on, if the rear flatted I could just put the tube in without the extender. Not ideal but it worked. As far as crack pipes i jsut used the brass one that came with the wheel from Zipp. The inovations nano inflater fits in there just fine as well for CO2.
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