Can I drill a wheel?

[hiro]

Another dumb newbie question I'm afraid. I'm not getting much chance to be at home to ride my new bike and the last time I rode it just over a week ago I got a flat. Went to pump it up and came across a presta valve for the first time and no pump I had fitted. Ordered a little adapter off ebay and when it arrived it didn't seal very well, but well enough to see that the inner tube had ruptured too large for a patch.
So this time I decided to buy a new tube and as it's easier for me to get over the net and delivered to work I ordered two slime filled tubes with Schrader valves as I prefer them and have pumps that will fit already.

So tonight I got back with my new tubes (plus a Brand X dropper also to be fitted) and wanted to start getting on with it as I have some spare time tomorrow and am keen to get out. Trouble is when I came to fit the tube, the valve hole is too small to fit the Schrader valve through. So after all that waffle the question is as the title, can I drill it out so the valve will fit through or is that a no-no?

I will convert to tubeless later in the year when I get more time, and have got some tubeless Schrader valves to do it but for now I just want to get this done and get out on it tomorrow.

 

[Rani]

I'm very happy with the tubeless "Butchers" on my Turbo Levo....

 

[MattyB]

Assuming it’s an alloy wheel I’m sure you can do that if you’re very, very careful, but you’ll be kissing goodbye to any warranty and if it did cause a wheel failure you could end up receiving some significant injuries. Personally I would just buy a decent quality pump or adaptor and use Presta - they are not perfect but are far more popular as soon as you get to decent quality wheels (especially in MTB where tubeless is pretty much standard) and more readily available too.

 

[hiro]

Assuming it’s an alloy wheel I’m sure you can do that if you’re very, very careful, but you’ll be kissing goodbye to any warranty and if it did cause a wheel failure you could end up receiving some significant injuries. Personally I would just buy a decent quality pump or adaptor and use Presta - they are not perfect but are far more popular as soon as you get to decent quality wheels (especially in MTB where tubeless is pretty much standard) and more readily available too.

I’ve thought it over and you’re right, I’m not going to do it and have ordered the same tubes with presto valves on instead. Just disappointed I hadn’t realised this before when I ordered the tubes as I was looking forward to having a ride today and it could be a couple of weeks before I get another chance. Oh well, at least I can get the dropper fitted. Thanks for the words of wisdom

 

[Russell]

I drilled out the rims on my bike. Presto valves are an unnecessary pita. Also you can't put slime in them, even if they are the type that screw together it still gums up the presta valve bit and they end up leaking.

 

[steve_sordy]

I believe that Presta valves were developed for narrow wheel rims for road bikes and the high pressures that they use. There is no doubt that a small hole reduces the strength of the rim by much less than a bigger hole would do. With the wider rims of mtbs and the lower tyre pressures there is a reduced need for Presta valves. But they continue to be used and I am unaware of a convincing explanation of why, other than that the valve is available and it does enable a stronger rim. I'm not against Presta valves as I prefer the look of them.

@hiro I would suggest that it will be cheaper and better for you in the long run to ditch the Schrader valved tubes and fit some Presta ones. You really ought to seize the moment and go tubeless right now, but later will suffice. Can anyone tell me whether the tubeless valves that are on sale will seal a Schrader valve sized hole in the rim? If not, then that's another reason not to drill out the rim because that will stop you going tubeless.
Presta valves have never stopped me doing any conversion to tubeless and have never caused any problems. All I do is make sure that the valves are at the bottom of the wheel when I park the bike up overnight so that the sealant can't settle in the valve entrance.

PS: Early on in my bike riding experience, I drilled out the rims to take a Schrader valve. Despite using a new drill and securely mounting the rim, I didn't get a round hole! The drill chattered and I got a hole that had seven sides. Everything still worked OK, but I was concerned about it for a while. I then forgot about it, until now!

 

[Benson]

Buy a new track pump and problem solved? ?

 

[hiro]

I believe that Presta valves were developed for narrow wheel rims for road bikes and the high pressures that they use. There is no doubt that a small hole reduces the strength of the rim by much less than a bigger hole would do. With the wider rims of mtbs and the lower tyre pressures there is a reduced need for Presta valves. But they continue to be used and I am unaware of a convincing explanation of why, other than that the valve is available and it does enable a stronger rim. I'm not against Presta valves as I prefer the look of them.

@hiro I would suggest that it will be cheaper and better for you in the long run to ditch the Schrader valved tubes and fit some Presta ones. You really ought to seize the moment and go tubeless right now, but later will suffice. Can anyone tell me whether the tubeless valves that are on sale will seal a Schrader valve sized hole in the rim? If not, then that's another reason not to drill out the rim because that will stop you going tubeless.
Presta valves have never stopped me doing any conversion to tubeless and have never caused any problems. All I do is make sure that the valves are at the bottom of the wheel when I park the bike up overnight so that the sealant can't settle in the valve entrance.

PS: Early on in my bike riding experience, I drilled out the rims to take a Schrader valve. Despite using a new drill and securely mounting the rim, I didn't get a round hole! The drill chattered and I got a hole that had seven sides. Everything still worked OK, but I was concerned about it for a while. I then forgot about it, until now!

Thanks, yes as I mentioned above I have ordered some new tubes with Presta valves and ditched the other ones. I also have some tubeless Schrader valves but I'll order some Presta ones when I come to convert to tubeless. At the moment I'm just so short of time and was hoping to spend a couple of hours on the bike today but it wasn't to be. Also screwed up fitting my dropper as I didn't have anything that would cut the inner cleanly and ended up making it unusable. So that's another thing ordered, as well as a track pump to fit the Presta valves. So spent another £40+, achieved nothing, didn't get to go out on the bike at all on an untypical sunny day, and on top of that got two lots of bad news. What a sh*t day.

 

[hiro]

Buy a new track pump and problem solved? ?

Yeah I've given in and done that.

 

[ULEWZ]

Since discovering stepped drill bits, I no longer suffer from oblong holes, mostly in larger holes. This is what I have been using with great success:Stepped Drill Linky