Well guys and gals:
Now your talking bling.
If you wish a show bike then by all means pimp it out.
If you wish to recreate or have a working bike then throw them in your
unused stolen hotel ashtray.
When you flat and have remove the tire in a hurry, there is no time to waste
removing valve caps, unless your team car is there with a new wheel.
Even out on a training or plain ol' ride, who wants to bother undoing caps
and putting them back on, spares and /or original, especially if it's cool
and you have stiff fingers.
About the only way a cap comes in handy is if the tire/tube is in a holder
and the cap would keep the valve point from putting a hole in the
casing/tube.
But a cap could rub thru too.
Of course, the caps come in handy if you wedge them into your hand pump
valve grommet and then shoot it out at someone across the room. Carefule
tho, don't hit anyones eyes.
The same goes for the little outside valve nut.
When air goes out of the tube it draws the valve into the casing and that
nut titens up. Often it is so tite that it can't be easily be undone with
fingers.
Naturally, the next vehicle will come along and stop to offer you their
toolkit. NOT.
Back in the 50's thru '70's most everyone in the know tossed the QR springs
away also.
They could jam in the dropouts ore between the axle hole and skewer rod
When you pulled the wheel into position you would have the QR lever in hand
and move it right into center. The springs' centering effect was useless.
This was common knowledge among all the coaches, trainers, mechanics, and
riders I knew and it wasn't even discussed, just done.
With the neocon invasion, much lore and sound practices were forgotten/lost.
So as nice as these things are, consider your machine's purpose and equip
accordingly. If you ride it then you know and can educate your colleagues,
If the machine is being shown, then a little card on the display identifying
these areas wll enlighten the spectators, make the bike more accurate for
judging, and give you the satisfaction of having a real bike true to it's
purpose in your classic stable.
Ted Ernst
Palos Verdes Estates
CA USA
Sorry, my computer is acting up. I meant to say:
Robert, take that pair of red caps, they are rare! I had one red and one green, don't know where I got them from, but I used them on my Merckx 7-11 frame - perfect match to the frame.
Orange I've never seen. Someone must make these in all the basic colors. Time to search the net!
Ray Dobbins
Miami Florida USA
From: Raymond Dobbins <raydobbins2003@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [CR] Presta Plastic Valve Caps ?? To: "Robert Clair" <r.clair@cox.net>, "Wayne Bingham" <blkmktbks@gmail.com> Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 11:16 PM
Robert, take that red
From: Wayne Bingham <blkmktbks@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [CR] Presta Plastic Valve Caps ?? To: "Robert Clair" <r.clair@cox.net> Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 11:03 PM
I can't believe I really responding to this at the late hour, and with so much cirque stuff still pending, but I'm crazy for the right color presta valve caps. I have a little jar of them. You'll see orange ones on my De Rosa this year. Have to admit though, I don't recall seeing blue ones.
Robert, I've got a red pair with your name on them!
-- Wayne Bingham Lovettsville, Virginia USA
On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 7:24 PM, Robert Clair <r.clair@cox.net> wrote:
> ... i seem to have yen for some coloured ones these days, eg yellow,
> green,
> blues especially. anyone out there deal in these things. i recall the
> black ones were the first to get tossed ... and then went the campy crank
> arm dust cap covers. alas ...
>
> robert clair
> alexandria, va 22308
> usa
> _______________________________________________
>
--
Wayne Bingham
Lovettsville, Virginia USA