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I first remember hearing hate for presta valve caps in the video where Lance Armstrong changes a bike tire. He says:

See that little black thing? Don't put that back on when you're done... ever.

I thought it was just a joke, until someone commented on a thread of mine (on a bike forum) and said that the valve caps are super lame.

Personally, I always leave my valve caps on because it keeps dirt off of the valve, and in turn out of my pumps. Now, when I made that argument on the forum the other member commented saying

I totally get the keeping dirt out. Coolness [of taking them off] far outweighs the logic of those little bastards. They have gone the way of wheel reflectors and dork discs. Any bling will be negated by presta valve caps installed.

Can someone please describe to me why there is so much hatred for these little things? I get that they kind of resemble a guy's genitalia, but I feel like it's not really that big of a deal.

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Sponge Bob
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    Voting to close due to being completely opinion based. But is that a lock-nut I see on that valve? – andy256 Nov 10 '14 at 07:31
  • @andy256 It's just a really beefy nut. It came with the wheel. I guess Easton thought it would be nice to include a beefy nut with their $500 wheel. xD – Sponge Bob Nov 10 '14 at 07:38
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    @andy256 no convinced - I think there might be factual answers to "does the dirt really get in?" – Móż Nov 10 '14 at 07:59
  • @Mσᶎ Yes, that could be the case. The question "why so much hate?" is different to that. My suggestion for the OP would be to reword the question to the one you have put. – andy256 Nov 10 '14 at 08:21
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    Cycing snobs, i.e. the one who have a rather romantic than logical approach to cycling dismiss vavle caps for 2 reasons: 1) they add weight (I know it's totaly insignificant, but still), and 2) they are bulky and look awful. (see Rule #60 http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/ ) I personally don't use caps on my mountain bike because I don't like how they look like. And i've never had a problem with dirty valves (which actually surprises me a bit. – Slovakov Nov 10 '14 at 09:28
  • That big lockring is because these are tubeless rims. There should be a rubber o-ring under it. – alex Nov 10 '14 at 11:24
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    Also, after quite a while without caps, I've never had any issues with dirt. I always blow some air out without the pump to clear & free up the valve as prestas sometimes like being loosened up first (even if you always use the cap). – alex Nov 10 '14 at 11:26
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    I have seen Presta valves where the end of the inner piece got bent over -- wouldn't have happened with a cap. And the cap helps prevent the lock nut from working loose. I see no reason to NOT use the caps, and I think the look neater than without. At the very least the caps can do no harm. – Daniel R Hicks Nov 10 '14 at 12:33
  • As others have said, they're not fashionable. I do find they prevent some crud in winter commuting and stuff from affecting the valve though. – Batman Nov 10 '14 at 12:39
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    AS an MTB rider who happens to love muddy rides: When mud is deep enough to get to your valves and by chance you suffer a puncture, not having to clean the valve before pumping is good enough reason for me to prefer leaving the caps on. – Jahaziel Nov 10 '14 at 15:16
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    If you don't like the way they look you can get aftermarket valve covers that look much nicer than the black plastic ones that come with the tubes. The only real advantage, is that along with the retaining nut, they slow down the process of changing a flat. If you are in a race condition, then precious seconds can matter. However, in the case of Lance Armstrong and other professional racers, they swap out the entire wheel or bike when they get a flat, so I really can't see that being much of a good reason. – Kibbee Nov 10 '14 at 16:09
  • @alex, there's no o-ring because there's two layers to the rim, and they are completely sealed from each other. The outside has all the spokes, so it's not air tight anyway. – Sponge Bob Nov 10 '14 at 17:32
  • @kjmccarx, I'm still pretty sure there's an o-ring, might be an Easton thing not a tubeless thing though. --edit -- Although, they're your wheels, you should know I suppose. – alex Nov 10 '14 at 23:53
  • All this commenting over a comment from someone referring to "dork discs" - that in itself is THE answer. – mattnz Nov 11 '14 at 21:25

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As far as I've heard the reason for not having the cap on is because without it changing the tube is somewhat faster.

Kotte
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  • Why? You need the nut there anyway, to keep the stem from disappearing when you press the chuck on (especially roadside, with a frame pump). The cap is just a little more effort. – Daniel R Hicks Nov 11 '14 at 11:55
  • I think the same rule apply to the nut as well. – Kotte Nov 11 '14 at 11:59
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    What good is changing the tube if you can't inflate it? – Daniel R Hicks Nov 11 '14 at 12:11
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    I usually just press the stem from the tire side using my thumb. Never had any trouble with the stem disappearing myself. And just to point out, this is just what I've read/been told. Also, the rules state that you should not use the cap nor the nut: http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/#60 – Kotte Nov 11 '14 at 12:29
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    Forget those stupid rules -- they're half tongue-in-cheek anyway. – Daniel R Hicks Nov 11 '14 at 12:32
  • That is true, but the rules (jokingly) reflect the opinion of many bikers. The reference I made was partly meant as a joke. – Kotte Nov 11 '14 at 12:38
  • Presta valve stems get bent by bad pumping technique due to using a mini pump incorrectly. What people do when using a mini pump is that they "saw" the stem back and forth trying to get air into the tire at the upper end of the pressure, that is due to the physical effort they are putting into the mini pump to get that air in and that puts pressure on the stem core. The valve stems core itself doesn't take a lot of pressure for that thing to bend when it's screwed out to take air in, once it's screwed back in it's pretty tough to bend. – froze Jan 03 '22 at 03:59