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VeloChampion Tubeless 3 in 1 Presta Valve

4
£29.95

VERDICT:

4
10
Functional but expensive for what it is – there are cheaper, more colourful options
Integrated valve core tool in the cap
Good rubber seals
Incompatible with MilKit or other syringe systems
£29.95 is quite a lot for two valves
Weight: 
14g
Contact: 
www.velochampion.cc/products/3in1-tubeless-presta-valve-set

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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The VeloChampion 3 In 1 Presta Valve is a decent enough set of tubeless valves, with a nifty integrated valve core tool in the caps. Coming in 40 and 60mm lengths, it should suit most wheels.

Tubeless valves are pretty hard to get excited about – until they stop working, when they take on importance out of all proportion to their size, weight and cost.

The main issue people face out in the wild is when air is needed, but the valve is blocked with sealant. If you're lucky it's the valve core itself that's blocked, and unscrewing it to pinch the cloggage out should sort things. If you're really unlucky, the valve body itself is clogged, in which case you'll need to remove the core and also clear out the body with something long and of appropriate diameter (top tip: always carry a zip-tie you know is narrow enough to pass through).

Removing a long-in-place valve core in the cold/wet, with bare fingers, can prove an impossible task – trust me, I know. Increasingly, multi-tools are including valve core removal functionality, but what VeloChampion has done is include one in the valve cap itself. It's a simple slot that the core is passed through and then pulled into a narrower end that fits either side of the valve core's flattened sides, allowing the cap to be used to twist it undone.

In its documentation VeloChampion mentions a second wider indentation to be used to undo a valve extender section – but there's nothing provided in the 60mm version box.

There's nothing particularly special about the valves themselves apart from that they have decent rubber seals either side of the rim, to minimise any possible leakage.

> Tubeless tyres: 14 hidden pitfalls you should try to avoid

The price is rather steep for the luxury of a nifty cap tool. The Muc-Off Presta Tubeless Valve Kit is five quid cheaper for the 60mm version, comes in various cool colours, and features additional tech such as spanner flats and hex inserts to aid in removing the hardware if stuck.

UK brand Peaty's has collaborated with Chris King and offers tubeless valves with not only a valve core tool but a 3.4mm spoke key tool as well, in a huge range of colours, and is also £5 less than the VeloChampion set.

You can also find decent tubeless valves with good rubber seals and valve tools for a tenner online. No, the tools aren't built into the cap the way VeloChampion or Muc-Off have, but if you're like me and normally run with no valve cap anyway that's not an issue – you'll need to stash the cap someplace.

A final downside is that the internal diameter of the valve body won't fit a syringe tube down into the tyre – so you can't use the rather good MilKit system with these valves to check sealant levels.

If your heart is set on having the tool in the valve cap, the VeloChampion offering is functional, if expensive for what it is and does (though it is currently reduced to £19.95), and is only available in black.

Verdict

Functional but expensive for what it is – there are cheaper, more colourful options

road.cc test report

Make and model: Velochampion Tubeless 3 in 1 Presta Valve

Size tested: 60mm

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

They are for tubeless users who don't want to be stuck with a stuck valve.

VeloChampion says:

VeloChampion Tubeless Valves with Integrated Valve Core Removal Cap. Made from lightweight CNC machined anodised aluminium alloy. These valves are universal and fit most Presta tubeless rims. The large rubber grommet creates a strong airtight seal allowing for high pressures through the valve without any air leakage. Innovatively designed, the valve core removal cap allows for easy removal of valve core to conveniently top up with tubeless sealant.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

FEATURES:

Rubber washers to prevent rim scratches

Available in 40mm & 60mm valve lengths. The 40mm option is more commonly used on the rims of Mountain Bike Wheels. The 60mm option is widely used on deeper section rims of Road Bike Wheels.

Multi-functional Tubeless Presta Valve:

Use the cap to keep out dust and debris from the valve

Use the first hole in the cap to remove the Presta valve core

Use the second hole in the cap to remove the valve extender

Extendable 40mm valve

Presta setup

What you will receive:

Tubeless valve x 2

Valve core remover cap x 2

Rubber cap washers x 2

Sustainable recyclable packaging

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
7/10

They are well enough made.

Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10

They went in and stayed up, and the cap works as a removal tool.

Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10

They are still working fine a few months on.

Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
6/10

They are within a few grams of the competition – not an issue.

Rate the product for value:
 
3/10

More expensive and with fewer features than others, value is not a strong point.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Well enough.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The cap.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

The price. And the fact it doesn't work with MilKit syringes.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

Expensive at rrp (though it's currently reduced to £19.95) – the Muc-Off version is £5 cheaper, as is the more functional Peaty's version.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes-ish.

Would you consider buying the product? No

Would you recommend the product to a friend? No

Use this box to explain your overall score

VeloChampion is charging a premium here for less functionality and no colour choice. While the valves work fine, they lose marks for price, and lack of colour choice and features.

Overall rating: 4/10

About the tester

Age: 47  Height: 183cm  Weight: 77kg

I usually ride: Sonder Camino Gravelaxe  My best bike is: Nah bro that's it

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: A few times a week  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, general fitness riding, mtb, G-R-A-V-E-L

Living in the Highlands, Mike is constantly finding innovative and usually cold/wet ways to accelerate the degradation of cycling kit. At his happiest in a warm workshop holding an anodised tool of high repute, Mike's been taking bikes apart and (mostly) putting them back together for forty years. With a day job in global IT (he's not completely sure what that means either) and having run a boutique cycle service business on the side for a decade, bikes are his escape into the practical and life-changing for his customers.

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1 comments

Avatar
Mathemagician | 3 years ago
0 likes

£30 seems like a lot for a pair of valves. Either way, a couple of things:

The valve cap looks like it's wide enough at the top to slip over a valve extender, at which point you'd slide the cap in to fit across the flat sections of your valve extender to unscrew? 

Are these valves narrower internally than any other? It seems hard to imagine they would be, in which case why would the Milkit system not work? 

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