Wheels & Tyres

Best Valve Caps Buying Guide

Many riders may not pay much attention to their valve caps, but as well as protecting your tyre valves from damage they can also be a neat spot to add a little trick customization to your bike.

If you want to add the finishing touches to your colour scheme or turn heads at the bike park, there are a range of stylish valve caps to choose from, with lightweight aluminium alloy models of a comparable weight to the standard plastic caps (if you were worried about how much extra grams they were!).

Some valve caps may feature nice touches such as CNC-machined knurling and laser-etched logos, while rockabilly-inspired designs such as dice, eyeballs and eight-balls are scientifically proven to make you go faster*.

Meanwhile, if you’re Rihanna, there’s always the old ‘bullet’ valve caps…

The main thing to be aware of when buying valve caps is your valve type – normally either Presta or Schrader.

• Schrader valves – also sometimes known as ‘car-type’ valves – are the larger-diameter ones of the same type as used on motor vehicle tyres (if you have a BMX, chances are it’s using tyres with Schrader valves)

• Presta valves – as typically found on road bikes and some higher-end mountain bikes, are the narrower-diameter ones which feature a threaded exterior and circular locknut.

Once you know which type of valve is used on your tyres, pick the valve cap that matches your colour scheme and/or desired self-expression sentiment (we’re fans of the classic eight-ball ourselves) and away you go!

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