76 Projects Hi Flow No Clog Tubeless Valves

The 76 Projects Hi Flow 'No Clog' tubeless valves are excellent, and a gamechanger in tubeless setups. Just be sure to buy the adaptor if you use a screw-on pump...

Although these are different to install than standard tubeless valves, they're not much more difficult. Rather than inserting the valve through the rim from inside, as you would a standard tubeless valve, with these Hi Flow valves it's the opposite: you unscrew the base of the valve, push the body up through the rim, and screw the base back onto the body of the valve in the bed of the rim, then tighten the valve nut. (There's a video on 76 Projects' website, if this is hard to picture.)

When it comes to adding sealant, there are two methods, as shown in our video below. You can either seat the tyre without sealant and then pump sealant through the valve, or seat the tyre with sealant in.

I prefer the first option, and always seat a tyre without sealant in it first to prevent having to deal with the mess that can cause if the tyre doesn't seat easily. I then pump sealant through the valve. I do have to unclog the valves quite frequently, though, so I was very keen to test the 76 Projects valves, and as I squeezed the bottle of sealant I noticed straight away how quickly and easily the sealant flowed through the valve.

An added bonus of the Hi Flow design is that airflow through the valve increases significantly, making pumping up your tyres more efficient; this was noticeably easier even when using a standard hand pump.

My test pack of valves didn't come with the screw-on pump adaptor, which was a bit annoying as my tubeless seating chamber uses a screw-on head, so be prepared to add the adapter for £4.50 when placing your order if you're going to need it. Fortunately, because of the increased airflow and tighter fit of my tyres, I managed to pump them up just using a floor pump with a lever style head.

Although the valve core is not removable, this is not an issue as the Hi Flow design means you can push tubeless sealant through the valve without it getting blocked at all; there's no need to carry a valve core remover or spare valve cores for when a typical Presta tubeless valve core gets bent or clogged up. (You can replace it, but it's not 'removable' in the usual sense, because of the way it has to be pushed through the valve and out of the outside of the rim – it can't be removed while the tyre is seated.)

Since fitting the valves, I've not had any issues with pumping the tyres – a typical sign of valves being bunged up with sealant. Just be sure to keep the provided valve cap on during your rides to prevent the head of the valve core from falling off, as it does unthread all the way, whereas a typical Presta valve core head stops at the end of the thread and can't come off. This valve cap also prevents any dirt or water from corroding the threads of the valve core.

The valve cap, valve core and brass valve nut are available as spares for £1 each if you do end up losing or damaging them.

While not cheap, at £24.50 they are pretty good value. Muc-Off's new standard tubeless valves cost £27 and the Juice Lubes Tubeless Valves that Steve tested recently are £29.99, neither of which are 'high flow'; the Reserve Fillmore tubeless valves, another high-flow design, are £10.50 more.

Conclusion

If you're forever finding yourself stuck with clogged-up tubeless valves, or you're just looking into setting up your bike with tubeless tyres, these valves are ideal. They improve pumping efficiency and they don't clog up, exactly what's needed in a pair of tubeless valves.

Verdict

Innovative and effective way to combat clogged valves, though you might need to buy a pump adaptor too