Yeah, no. That sucks and is unreliable. I've tried it, unfortunately when I flatted out on the road and forgot to bring the tool. Kept losing air at the extender connection as I couldn't tighten it enough. Had to slow roll it back on a flat tire (luckily wasn't tooo far).

Just bring the tool - it's so easy to use, and tiny.

Did you have any Teflon tape on the valve's threads?

Nope. I've never needed it, and have been using extenders for years. That's like for the old-school not-good extenders - extenders nowadays are excellent with air seal - no teflon needed.

You said:

"Kept losing air at the extender connection as I couldn't tighten it enough".

If you had used Teflon tape, you wouldn't need a tool to tighten the extender.

And the old school valve extenders work great.

It's wayyy easier to both carry and tighten the extender without Teflon tape than to wrap teflon tape - especially when the tape's going to be sitting in a bag for most of a season unused, so who knows if it'll still be in place afterwards.

Teflon tape is totally obsolete with extenders today.

It's interesting to hear you say that because I have been using spare tubes with pre-wrapped Teflon tape and old school extenders for around 34 years without any problems.

If you go with the extenders that relocate the removable valve core, you can pre-install a core from a previously flatted tube on the extender so you only have to remove the core on the flatted tube, not install it on the extender as well during the race.

Personally I just use the "straw" extenders (no valve relocation). Been using them for 20 years with no issues.

---

ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

I've been using these Cyclami ones from Aliexpress for almost a year. No punctures, very light. Only drawback compared to butyl that I've noticed is slightly more air loss but I pump my tires before every ride or at least every couple days. They have 80, 60 and 45mm valves. They cost me ~ $5 / tube and that included patch kits.

Ultralight Bike Inner Tube 700c 18 25 28 32 Road MTB Bicycle TPU Material Tire 60mm 80mm Length French Valve Super Light CYCLami (aliexpress.com)

I run 28mm tubeless. I was carrying a spare tube in addition to plugs / CO2, but altered my approach late last year. I'm now running the Vittoria tubeless inserts, but still carrying plugs & CO2. I no longer carry the tube, tire tools, wrench to remove the wheel or extenders. Plan is to plug / reinflate any flats, with the insert as a "run-flat" back-up to get me home if the plug doesn't work. Have not had to use the inserts yet, but I did try a test ride on them and they seemed good enough to get me home.

I like this approach better, as my tubeless tires are really tight and tough to remove / reinstall. I hated the idea of having to do this on the side of the road, especially hours into a ride where I'm likely to be sweaty / cold / wet.