I recently bought a pair of Zipp 808’s (new) from ebay. They were new as advertised, and I just recently got some Michelin Pro race 3’s and tubes to put in them. I have to questions:
I’m having issues with the valve stems supplied by Zipp. While the front is holding air fine, I had issues with a couple of tubes where the valve would not seal quite completely. I followed the instructions that came with the extensions, and I think I was doing everything correctly, but the info was not very detailed. Does anyone have a more thorough set of instructions or tips for Zipp extenders?
Meanwhile, I ordered a couple of Vittoria 30mm valve extensions that work with removable cores. Is that a good option?
My main issue is that the rear wheel makes a LOUD rattling noise when shaken. There is obviously some small part rattling around inside. From the sound, it seems to move around, but I have had no luck getting it to fall out as there is only the one small hole for the valve. I am not sure what the internal construction of an 808 is. Would it be worthwhile to get a magnet, or some sort of small sticky probe to try and get the piece out, or should I just send the wheel back to Zipp?
As to your first question are you using teflon tape between the extension and the valve? If so it should seal perfect. My only issue with the zipp extensions has been a couple times where I hit something really hard and the valve inside let some air out. As for those extensions I have not found any tubes with removable valve cores and unless you do they wont work.
Do some research to confirm the Latex tubes have removeable cores. I’m pretty sure they do. That said, they aren’t cheap. Maybe their butyl tubes do too.
… I had issues with a couple of tubes where the valve would not seal quite completely. …
I presume that it does not hold air when filling it up? If you are using Zipp extenders, their role ends after you fill them with air. The only time I had trouble is when I do not position the air pump valve correctly and the air hose loosens up the extender. The is easily remedied by placing the air hose on the opposite side.
I am using teflon tape on the valve extenders. I have one where it worked fine. I also had a couple where leak was clearly from the valve head itself, not where the extender joins. I am assuming here that the air pressure is supposed to hold the valve shut, since you can no use the small nut on the top of the presta valve to force it to seal. The problem appeared to be that air was leaking from the valve.
Continental Race 700 has a removable core. I buy them at my LBS.
As far as other valve extenders, I have been using one by Bontrager. It is the best. All it is with the Bontrager valve extenders is to remove the core from the new tube, put that part on the new extender, and then screw the extender/core portion onto the stem part of the new tube. It is incredibly easy.
I will NEVER use those stupid Zipp extenders again but I do keep one with me at all times. During IMWA, I used both my spare tubes and had to wait for bike support. The only tubes they had were the ones where the core could not come out. Because of that, I could not use my Bontrager extenders and was lucky to have a Zipp extender on hand to be used.
the bontrager, conti, campagnolo, vittoria valve extenders are all the same length at 40mm. They all look remarkably similar and i suspect they are all made in the same factory. Vittoria seem to have come up with a slightly longer 70mm-ish version for 09 though.
Just a shot in the dark as to what’s making the noise. Is it possible that a spoke broke on the previous owner and the nipple broke off in the rim? Very annoying but not going to cause damage. I had a used 404 that had the same thing happen. I tried and tried to get it out but I could not get a hold of it. I did not care for the rattle it was causing so what I did was I put just small amount of glue inside the rim and, presto, the nipple got stuck to the glue and the rattle was gone. Before I did that I used a flash light to find the offending nipple so that I did not just arbitrarily put glue in the rim.
My Bontrager valve extenders are 60mm. My wife has a set of 303s and I hot her the 40mm (though I don’t use them much because we purchased tubes with nice long stems).
I paid $19.95 + tax at my LBS. Very much worth it to not have to deal with the Zipp extenders and teflon/plumbers tape crap.
As far as the rattle, I had the same issue with a front 1080 this past year and come to find out it was a small glue weight they use to balance the wheel. It had come loose and sounded like the wheel of fortune when it got to a slow spin. You should try contacting Zipp and have them fix it for you. They are pretty good about that kind of stuff.
So,
I recently bought a pair of Zipp 808’s (new) from ebay. They were new as advertised, and I just recently got some Michelin Pro race 3’s and tubes to put in them. I have to questions:
I’m having issues with the valve stems supplied by Zipp. While the front is holding air fine, I had issues with a couple of tubes where the valve would not seal quite completely. I followed the instructions that came with the extensions, and I think I was doing everything correctly, but the info was not very detailed. Does anyone have a more thorough set of instructions or tips for Zipp extenders?
Meanwhile, I ordered a couple of Vittoria 30mm valve extensions that work with removable cores. Is that a good option?
My main issue is that the rear wheel makes a LOUD rattling noise when shaken. There is obviously some small part rattling around inside. From the sound, it seems to move around, but I have had no luck getting it to fall out as there is only the one small hole for the valve. I am not sure what the internal construction of an 808 is. Would it be worthwhile to get a magnet, or some sort of small sticky probe to try and get the piece out, or should I just send the wheel back to Zipp?