76 Projects Hi Flow Tubeless Valves Review
I have been riding bikes for a while. Since the days when a ‘heavy duty’ tube was the only solution for hard-charging riders- weight be damned! Then one day people started ‘gorilla taping’ their rims, pouring in some strange white fluid and tubeless was born.
Tubeless has come a long way since then. Rim profiles have changed, tyres are tubeless compatible and don’t burp the moment you hit a corner hard, and we have a plethora of tyre inserts available to allow lower pressures. Things are pretty sweet in tubeless land. In fact, I cannot ever see myself using a tube again.
I think it’s fair to say, we are at the point of looking at ways of improving the tubeless system. There seems to be a new product, with bold claims, coming out every other week. A magic formula of sealant, a new insert to lock in your tyre beads, a new rim profile for easier seating. The list goes on.
Our biggest tubeless headache is usually seating a tyre. Some rim and tyre combinations are simple, others are incredibly annoying and involve a lot of swearing and usually a trip to the service station to use their compressor. Cue Project 76 Hi-Flow No Clog Tubeless Valves.
Tubeless bike tyres and rims were introduced 20 years ago yet tubeless systems still use the Presta valve standard. The clearances in a Presta valve are smaller than the holes that sealant is supposed to be able to block so it’s no surprise that the valves get clogged.
Features
The 76 Projects HI FLOW valves immediately appear different from your standard valve. The wide collar near the top of the valve is the key giveaway that these are not your normal valves, and this is where the increased airflow does its magic.
The HI FLOW valves claim they push through 4x the air throughput of a standard valve, plus a redesigned core which helps prevent sealant build-up. This is music to our ears and we’re stumped as to why it’s taken someone so long to come up with a design like this.
The valves themselves are quality bits of kit and come in a classic 90’s era purple or a standard black. We’d love to see more colour options for us matchy, matchy types.
In the box is the unique premium CNC’d valve, a press on rubber valve cap, various spacers for different rim heights, a rubber bung to seal the valve from the inside and a screw-on port that attaches to the bung to allow the air to flow horizontally from the port which reduces the clogging.
Tech Specs
- ”No Clog’ internals – Greatly increased clearances prevent sealant build up.
- 300% increase in volume of air over presta. Fill the tyre faster and help seat and seal the bead.
- Inject sealant directly through the valve centre.
- Compatible with rims drilled for presta valves.
- Lightweight at just 9 grams a pair.
- Manufactured using high precision CNC machined aluminium.
- Come supplied with spacers to allow fitting to different rim heights.
- Removeable ‘core’
- Compatible with rim inserts.
# SOLD AS A PAIR
- USE WITH PUSH ON PUMP ONLY. Screw on adapter coming soon
- Size 1 – MTB 15-35mm rim depth
- Size 2 – 30-50mm rim depth
- Size 3 – 45mm – 65mm rim depth
Installation
The process is fairly straightforward: determine the number of spacers you will need, remove the air port and rubber bung from the bottom, slide through from the top of your rim, reattach the bung and screw the air port back on. Tension everything down so that it is airtight and you’re good to inflate.
Is it more difficult than a normal valve, maybe? There are certainly more moving pieces, but if it lives up to its claims then it’s got to be worth it.
The first surprise came when we inflated the tyre. Our test rims are carbon and have proven to be pretty annoying to seat in the past due to tyre inserts and the ability to get air in quick enough.
We plugged in the trusty 12v camping compressor, turned it on and BANG! The bead snapped into place almost instantly. We really did not expect such a dramatic result. We always use a small amount of soapy water to assist seating, but used very little this time and can only attribute this to the much higher flow rate of the valves.
It usually takes a lot longer to ‘pop the bead’ and sometimes requires some wrangling to get the bead to pop but this was a very different experience from anything before. We wanted to test using a floor pump as we know this is the norm for most riders garage set up, and yes, it was definitely much easier than usual. The combination of the increased airflow chamber and the anti-clog valve makes a huge difference.
[easy-image-collage id=15216]Conclusions
A tubeless setup has become the norm for most riders these days but seating a new tyre can sometimes be a tricky affair that can end up in pure frustration. The 76 Projects Hi-Flow Tubeless Valves are here to help you become more zen with this procedure.
Inflating the tyre is now super-quick with a track pump, thanks to the increased airflow chamber in the valve which in turn seats the tyre much more efficiently, reducing frustration, arm pump and general throwing of things around like a big child in a tantrum, giving you back precious time you can spend on riding your bike or congratulating yourself after seating a new tyre in record time.
Price / Where to buy?
- 76 Projects Hi-Flow Tubeless Valves $56.95
- Available from Full Beam Australia, or ask for them at your local bike shop.
