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Comment by ruiseal | Hacker News Reader

The caps on presta valves aren't necessary as there's no way for dirt to get into the valve stem (unlike Schrader valves which can get clogged). The caps are useful for transporting the tube though to prevent the valve from puncturing anything.

Wheel reflectors are also pretty useless so you can remove those too. Plus you save some weight.

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> Wheel reflectors are also pretty useless

Never understood that. More visibility = potentially slightly less likely to get hit by a distracted driver so why remove the shiny reflectors spinning on your wheels?

And what’s a 20g saving per wheel when we carry so much more extra weight on our bodies.

Weight on the outside of a wheel matters more than weight on the rest of the bike for racing types - it increases the rotational inertia of the wheel, slowing acceleration & braking on top of any actual weight increase.

Personally I just buy tyres with reflective tape on the sidewalls. These are mandatory in some EU countries & are pretty effective in my experience.

Doesn't the reflective tape weight just about same? :)

The weight comment was facetious (obviously, I thought). That said, some cyclists might actually consider it seriously.

Interesting. Though I'd argue that if the valve gets dirt on it, then eventually, when you unscrew it, some of that dirt will get deeper (particularly if you're completely flat and there's no pressure to push it out), and perhaps stop if from sealing perfectly. But I try to keep gear running for a very long time; this approach might be from cyclist who replace things a lot more often?

And yes, wheel reflectors are utterly useless.

They are pretty robust, I have been riding the same presta valves on my mountain bike for maybe 5 years which I ride a few times a week, immense amounts of dry silica, muddy dirt, rain, cold, heat.

They are serviceable too. If you find it isn't sealing you can disassemble and clean the sealing surfaces, replace the locking oring or nut etc.

These...

https://reflectivesupplies.co.uk/products/salzmann-3m-scotch...

are better than plastic plate reflectors in every way.

Somewhere I picked up the idea to place reflective tape on the inside of the rim between the spoke holes. Not really for side visibility, but for front/rear off-angle visibility I like it. You can alternate (say every 3) to produce a flashier pattern when you're moving.

Assuming it has air left, always let out some air to blow out the gunk before adding air.

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