This morning I suffered a partial deflation of my rear tyre as I was most of the way to work. I have inflated the tyre again and don’t believe it’s losing pressure. However I have noticed that the screw in the Presta valve is bent:
Sorry for the crappy focus in the photo.
My questions:
Should I be able to make it home if I haven’t in fact punctured, and just bent the screw?
If the answer to the above is yes, should I still replace the tube when I’m home anyway?
The most likely scenario is that I have bent it when pumping the tyres last week. Does anybody have any ideas on what else may have caused it? I had the valve cap on, so I believe it would be well protected from any unlikely knocks while on the road.
The only thing that matters is that the rubber seal at the bottom of the core is seated to hold pressure. You could snap the top off and it could hold, but you’d be screwed after you poked something in there to deflate it. A severe bend may be able to misalign it. Check pressure before you depart tonight and if it’s dropped, change the tube then or when you get home.
As long as you’re carrying a spare like usual, I wouldn’t be concerned. Could only have occurred during de/inflation, just pull the pump head off more vertically in future.
Thanks for the tips and helpful diagrams as always! I consciously run the gauntlet in not carrying spares, as I am near train stations for most of my commute. However I am fully aware that one day I will receive my comeuppance…
Meanwhile I will be more careful when inflating, may just chuck some valve cores into my next bike gear order.
check your current tube, not all have removable cores.
You would be better served carrying a spare tube (that can solve a puncture as well as a broken valve) than a valve core (and a core remover, and then you need a pump to reinflate…)
