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!
