BBB Corecap tubeless valves look great!

In the news this week has been the announcement of the Corecap valve system from BBB, a replacement for traditional Presta valves.

Just over a year ago I wrote an article detailing the tyre valve war, in which various manufacturers have not only recognised the short comings of the venerable Presta valve, but attempted to replace it with ‘something else’.

For a while, that ‘something else’ looked likely to be the Schwalbe Clik valve, and in many ways that might still be true. But BBB have just launched the Corecap system and it looks sufficiently cheap and sufficiently painless to use that I think I might try it.

What is the Corecap system?

Basically, the idea is very simple. The Schwalbe Clik valve works by replacing the Presta valve core with a different valve head and the BBB Corecap valve uses a similar approach. You just unscrew the Presta valve and then screw on the Corecap.

The Corecap has a large sprung valve that enables a higher air flow than Presta with no risk of bending or snapping off the valve while pumping. So far, so similar to the Clik valve except the Corecap system works with Schrader pump heads – the same system that we use for car tyres and the same system that the majority of bike pumps are also compatible with.

This Schrader compatibility immediately ensures the new system requires no change in your existing pump tools, unlike Clik valve which needs a special adaptor. Functionally, we’ll have to wait and see how one system works over the other in real world conditions but I’m going to give them a go.

The Corecaps are intended to work with tubeless systems to limit the risk of clogged valves and help with inflation. What’s interesting is they can be used on any valve or tube that has a removable Presta valve, opening up the road and commuter market too even if you use inner tubes.

Any drawbacks?

There are two obvious criticisms here that are worth making but I’ll deal with the weaker one first.

I’ve seen people complain that this idea is unlikely to catch on because BBB are an after market component brand without the reach of a company like Schwalbe. But this is far from true.

BBB are actually owned by PON holdings; they are not small fry. These people import SEAT and Skoda into the Netherlands and own Santa Cruz, Cervelo, Gazelle and other bike brands.

If you look on their website, the Corecaps are shown on Reserve wheels which are the component sister-brand of Santa Cruz. Interestingly, Reserve have their own Filmore valves that the Corecap system is competing against.

The second criticism is cost. Presta valves, by dint of their ubiquity, can be had for pence. I think the last pack of ten I bought cost me £2.00!

In contrast, the Corecaps can be had in one of two versions.

A pair of tubeless valves using the Corecap system is around £25 upwards (depending on valve length), or you can opt to keep your existing valves and buy the Corecap upgrade kit for £15. You get a choice of anodised colours of course and I’m pleased to see one of them is purple!

Both these kits are clearly aimed at the after market rather than OEMs and that’s the main issue. Until the cost of replacing Presta valves with Corecaps (or Clik valves for that matter) is closer to pennies rather than pounds these are destined to remain rather niche.

But watch this space. I’d say the Corecaps have some key advantages over other systems and look forward to trying them for myself.