How can I avoid tearing the valve loose from an inner tube with a wheel lock?

Question

The problem

It sounds foolish, but I have too often torn the valve loose from the inner tube by rotating the wheel so that the valve is pressed against a closed wheel lock. Wheel locks are common in the Netherlands and Germany, and I live just near the border. The rotation of the wheel is usually caused by pushing the bike while still locked, but also by gravity while removing the bike from the upper level of a double decker bike rack.

Are there any precautions I can take to reduce the likelihood of this happening? I would prefer solutions that work well with Presta valves at about 6 bar / 85 psi.

If you forget to check, the probability of locking between the spokes is 1/N, where N is number of spokes (~30), but the chance of pushing against the valve is more like 1/2N, as you probably stop as soon as you feel a resistance, which is roughly equally likely to be a spoke or the valve. The chance of ruining the tube is less again, as you may be lucky enough not to press hard enough; although that is hard to estimate, I know from experience that it is annoyingly high. Losing a tube every 600 (30×2×10) times you locked it would be bad enough.

Possible solutions

The following occur to me:

Do not close the wheel lock between a spoke and the valve — but if you are absent-minded, as I am, (or in a hurry) you will still be at risk of doing it now and then.
Open the wheel lock before moving the bike — also a problem if you are absent-minded, and barely practical with the double decker rack.
Do not use wheel locks — but round here you encounter them a lot.
Somehow reinforce or pad the area round the valve — sounds implausible to me.

Who can suggest more or identify the best?

(Somewhat) related questions

Bicycle's inner-tube got puncture right next to the valve, How to patch it there? — But I want to avoid the puncture.
How To Prevent Holes Around The Inner-tube Valve? — But that is about punctures caused by the hole in the rim – the answers might reduce the vulnerability, but do not consider extra force from the lock.
Presta Valve Keeps Ripping From Tube — This is about how valves can tear rather than avoiding this particular cause, which could just possibly be their problem, though the most popular answer (as I write) covers more likely reasons.

PJTraill · Accepted Answer

In the end, what has worked for me has been, as suggested by David Richerby, to take more care not to close the lock between a spoke and the valve — but since I am absent-minded, that was easier said than done.
“Take care” in itself is unhelpful advice, because you still have to remember to take care, and if you can remember that you can remember to check.

What I did was to establish a mental trigger analogous to “About to shut front door ⇒ check keys in pocket first”, strong enough to break through whatever else one is thinking.
Locking yourself out of your house is perhaps sufficiently drastic to make it relatively easy to establish a trigger, because of the associated emotions
(or maybe it was not, but in any case it is now long-established!);
for the case of the bike lock I needed to work on it.
One must, of course, associate the trigger with the initial situation – the later misfortune is too late!

The point is to ensure that the physical movements and/or the more or less automatic thought processes of parking the bike and bending over towards the lock
trigger an association strong enough to break through whatever else one is doing if one is deep in thought or conversation.
What seemed to do it was practising the association (with the intent and the view and feel of the lock) a few times:
bending towards the lock, rehearsing the thoughts and actions while maintaining awareness of the context.
At first it was not altogether reliable, but each time it did work it reinforced itself (with a little help from me)
— and that worked fast enough that the risk of damage in that period was pretty low.

I did try making the valve more obvious as suggested by Chris H (just with some paper masking tape), but that does not help much if one’s thoughts are elsewhere;
it does however make it easier to see if you are in the danger zone once you have remembered to check, even though I have since removed most of it.
It may also have been consciousness-raising enough to reinforce the association; a bright colour (as per rclocher3) would have probably done that even better.
I did also try to arrange it so that it would physically obstruct the lock, but that did not work that well, though I forget why.

I have not established a trigger for opening the lock, nor tried fortifying the valve area or using a different lock.

Chris H · Answer

A bike I sometimes borrow has one of these locks, and I can't say it's ever been a problem. You've given the answer in your question: Do not close the wheel lock between a spoke and the valve. If you're prone to forgetting this, what you need is a way to make the valve more obvious. I've had automatically illuminated valve caps before. That would do the trick, even in darkness, but the cheap ones I've used haven't been very waterproof. Alternatively putting a spoke-mounted reflector in that range of spokes might help. If even those don't stop you, something like tape between the spokes either side of the valve should prevent you locking up on the bit of the wheel, but might get in the way of the valve and will almost certainly end up making a mess.

Answered by Chris H on April 30, 2021

rclocher3 · Answer

As an absent-minded person myself, I sympathize. How about spray-painting your valve a bright color, like fluorescent orange? If the valve is much more obvious, then maybe you'll remember to look for it when you lock the wheel.

Answered by rclocher3 on April 30, 2021

Michael · Answer

I haven’t had a wheel lock in my hands for some years, so I’m not sure if this is really possible, but: How about mounting the wheel lock as far downwards as possible and using the shortest valves available? Would this allow the valve to move underneath the locking bar?

Answered by Michael on April 30, 2021

gschenk · Answer

Place a safety reflector (dutch Kattenoog) between the spokes next to the valve. It may prevent you from locking it there, or at least remind you of the valve.

nIsotropy · Answer

Recently, a new wheel lock has hit the german bike lock market. Its locking mechanism is being surveilled electronically. This features an automatic test whether spokes would interfere or not.

In theory, this should also be able to test for a valve to interfere. (Yet, I personally don't like the lock for other reasons. Plus, the test is adjusted way too sensitive). Anyways, this is the bike lock I'm referring at.

Otherwise, I can but see the options of 'prevent locking at the bad spot' (by usage of a Kattenoog) or 'enhancing noticeability' (by giving the valve an unusual color and/or shape).

jungads · Answer

Proper tire inflation should also be checked because even if your tire lock is placed somewhere not in between a spoke and the valve,the tire can rotate from the rim when the bike is pushed with a tire lock on. The inner tube will go with the tire since it has a greater surface contact with it than with the rim prompting the valve to be left with the rim as the tire turns. This can happen several times before you will have your valve cut. You can have an earlier cut by the you inflate your tire with a tilting valve as a result of the improper inflation.(hernia effect)

Answered by jungads on April 30, 2021

How can I avoid tearing the valve loose from an inner tube with a wheel lock?

The problem

Possible solutions

(Somewhat) related questions

7 Answers

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question