Velo 2025 Innovation of the Year: Schwalbe Clik Valve

My choice for Velo 2025 Innovation of the year is the Schwalbe Clik Valve. For those of you who are converts already, you’ll know I’m late on this but I’m doing it anyway. The technology so perfectly captures what innovation truly means that it sits head and shoulders ahead of our other Velo best innovations of 2025 nominations. Clik Valve had to win.

The problem with a presta valve

As technology has marched forward there’s been a hard look at the simple presta valve. The first that springs to mind was the Reserve Fillmore but since then I’ve also seen options from Muc Off and Trek. In each case the idea was to take something cyclists don’t think about and make it better. That very premise makes it a difficult task because most people don’t see a problem that needs fixing.

Let’s start with how a presta valve works. Actually what we are talking about is how a presta valve core works. This is a key piece of the story but we’ll get to that in a moment. For now what’s important is that a presta valve has the valve body, which is already quite thin, then there’s a valve core that fits inside that valve and houses another tube filled with a metal cylinder. Notice that there’s a lot of stuff in the way of air.

It gets worse too. That cylinder connects an internal stopper with an external stopper. When there’s pressure inside the tire it pushes the internal stopper out and keeps air in. When you put a pump on the valve and pump that pressure forces the stopper the opposite direction leaving two small “windows” that allow air through the space between the cylinder and the outer walls of the valve core.

The space where air is actually able to flow is tiny. With a standard presta valve core most of the space that exists inside the valve is filled with the mechanism. This causes an issue with tubeless where sealant has an easy time clogging the space and you need all the airflow you can get. The valve itself has plenty of flow but that core causes problems.

How does Clik Valve solve problems?

All the other options on the market look at those problems and they find ways to do away with the valve core completely. The Fillmore valves essentially use the entire valve body to do what a normal valve core does. The problem there is that adding sealant or checking sealant is a hassle because there’s no way to get rid of the pieces inside the valve body. The Trek solution is to move the valve core from the inside of the valve to the outside but it requires a valve stem that’s fully threaded. It’s also $27 per bike.

Muc Off might be the best solution as it uses an external valve that rotates open and closed. When open it’s a straight shot through the valve stem. Using it means absolutely no restriction when it’s open but it’s an investment of $50 per bike. That might work once but if you’ve got a few bikes expect to spend some serious money.

Then there’s Clik Valve. The Clik Valve system threads into a standard presta valve stem but everything is a bit bigger above the valve stem and the air flows through the center rather than through the small “windows” that remain open on a presta valve core. Rather than relying on air pressure the system has a spring that holds it closed. If you use a Clik Valve pump head it will press against the center to force it open.

Like the other options, the Click Valve system solves the challenge of flowing enough air, and resisting clogs, for tubeless situations. Click Valve isn’t only about those problems though. The system was initially invented not so much to solve tubeless challenges but as a way to make connecting a pump easier. Instead of needing to lock a pump head to the valve the head “Cliks” onto the core. It doesn’t require the space of a traditional presta valve and it’s impossible to damage the valve while doing it. You can also hand thread the Clik Valve core onto the valve stem.

Why is Clik Valve such a great innovation?

Now that we’ve gone through how everything works and the solutions it solves, so what? There’s already other options and they work. You could also just use a standard Presta valve and never think more about it.

The reason I’m so in love with the Clik Valve isn’t because it solves a problem that desperately needs solved. Instead it takes a system that works fine and makes it moderately better and a little bit more convenient. What really seals the deal is that Clik Valve is cheap and it’s an easy switch.

All you need to get started with Click Valve is a pair of Clik Valve cores. Your investment is $12.99 per bike and you won’t be regularly replacing presta cores.

Now you might have noticed that I mentioned a Clik Valve pump head above and gotten nervous. Don’t worry. There are specific pumps on the market if you want to buy them but I’d actually advise against that route. If you have a Clik Valve specific pump it will not work for a presta valve. If that was the only option this would not even get a nomination.

Instead you can use your regular pump with a Clik Valve system. The only downside is that your pump will need to overcome the spring pressure and your pressure sensor will no longer be accurate. It doesn’t become random though. Josh Poertner from Silca did the testing and when you use a standard pump it will measure consistently 6-7 psi low. Just add an extra 6-7psi above what you are seeing and you are set. If you are using the Zipp 303 SW, that pressure reading will remain accurate.

On the other hand if you want things completely accurate, plus you want the nice click on experience, just get the Clik Valve conversion with pump adapter. Your investment is now $17 for the first bike and you can easily jump back and forth between Clik Valve and not.

Clik Valve wins this award because it’s fundamentally better, it doesn’t lock you into the system, and it’s cheap. Pretty hard to argue with that.