OK, so I bought a Flo 60 for the front and a 90 for the back. But, I need to get tubes. What valve length do I get? If I get a 60mm valve, is that 60 mm long, so for my front rim, the end would be just visible (in other words, it would be too short)?
Do I get extensions for both or what?
60mm valves are long long enough for 60mm deep rims. You probably need around 80mm for the front and 110mm for the rear. So easier if you just use whatever tube you want to race on (ideally latex), then finding the appropriate extender to get you to the desired length.
I like the bontrager extenders myself.
Front tube 80 mm presta valve tube, rear 60mm presta valve with 40mm valve extender. That would leave 20mm of exposed valve on each wheel.
Good advice in the thread already, I go with extenders that are 10-15mm less than the rim depth and use them on tubes with 37 or 42mm aluminum valve stems. I’m not sure on all tubes, but many of the 60 and 80mm valve tubes I’ve come across use a brass valve, so you can really imbalance the wheel if you say buy a 60mm stem tube for a 60mm wheel and then still need a valve extension for it…and this is a common mistake as the whole valve stem naming convention is confusing at best.
Most importantly, though, is to pre-apply the extension to your spare tube/tubes and use the longest extension required by any wheel you own. Over the years running race support and many, many events and races, I cannot count the number of people I’ve found on the side of the road unable to air up a wheel due to an extension that’s too short, nonexistent, corroded in place, extension wasn’t sufficiently airtight and half the CO2 was lost, swapped to deeper wheel at the last moment but had the wrong tube, etc…
So to be specific, I’d buy at least 3 nice aluminum valve stem tubes with 37 or 42mm valves, Zipp or Conti make good butyl ones, Vittoria or Bontrager latex are optimal if you want latex. Then buy 2 extension kits, one ~50mm and one ~80mm and put the second 80mm extension on your spare.
Best
Josh
Good advice in the thread already, I go with extenders that are 10-15mm less than the rim depth and use them on tubes with 37 or 42mm aluminum valve stems. I’m not sure on all tubes, but many of the 60 and 80mm valve tubes I’ve come across use a brass valve, so you can really imbalance the wheel if you say buy a 60mm stem tube for a 60mm wheel and then still need a valve extension for it…and this is a common mistake as the whole valve stem naming convention is confusing at best.
Most importantly, though, is to pre-apply the extension to your spare tube/tubes and use the longest extension required by any wheel you own. Over the years running race support and many, many events and races, I cannot count the number of people I’ve found on the side of the road unable to air up a wheel due to an extension that’s too short, nonexistent, corroded in place, extension wasn’t sufficiently airtight and half the CO2 was lost, swapped to deeper wheel at the last moment but had the wrong tube, etc…
So to be specific, I’d buy at least 3 nice aluminum valve stem tubes with 37 or 42mm valves, Zipp or Conti make good butyl ones, Vittoria or Bontrager latex are optimal if you want latex. Then buy 2 extension kits, one ~50mm and one ~80mm and put the second 80mm extension on your spare.
Best
Josh
^^^^^Great advice here from a guy who knows.
One other reason to use regular extensions is in case you need to borrow a tube on a group ride.
Same setup. Like others have said, a 60mm tube on the front, a 60mm tube with a medium extender on the back, and a spare 60mm tube with extender installed as a spare.
I also carry a long extender in my kit just in case I need to borrow a shorter tube. With the long extender you can put a 42mm tube on the back and still air it up.