Mystery yellow tube

garrath

Does anyone know for what use the yellow tube in a puncture repair kit is? No one I spoke to seems to know, and its bugging me.

carbsy

Isn't it a chalk like substance to mark the tyre where the puncture is?

garrath

No, it doesn't leave a mark. Its made of rubber. Have a look at the weldite puncture repair kit; it has a chalk, rubber tube (in the middle) and a crayon:

Lucutus

It's for repairing a Woods valve. They used to be on most bikes in the UK and Ireland.

garrath

Oh, cool. Had no idea that valve existed. Thanks.

From Sheldon Brown:

"There is a third type of valve, very rarely seen in the U.S., which has a bottom similar to a Schrader and necks down to about the size of a Presta. This is a Woods valve, also known as a "Dunlop" valve. Woods valves were formerly popular in the British Isles and Asia. You can pump them up with a Presta pump.



Older versions work with rubber tubing and spit. If they don't hold air, you can unscrew the knurled ring that holds the valve core (the "Presta-sized" part) in place. You should see a short length of rubber tubing covering the inner part of the core. If the rubber tubing it old and perished, the valve won't work. Some patch kits include short lengths of replacement rubber tubing for this purpose. When installing new tubing, lubricate the valve core with spit before slipping the tubing in place.

Newer versions use a modern spring-loaded valve mechanism."

carbsy

Ah I see.

ciaranr

I smell a flickr group coming on... the cult of puncture repair kit images