Are bicycle tire valve caps necessary?

I googled this and some say yes and some say no. I dislike airing up my tires (I have three of them), and the caps for me are an annoying waste of time. I have ridden for a year with one tire with the cap on and one tire with the cap off. No difference.

The argument for caps on is that it keeps mud and stuff out of the valve stem. I do not see much mud or other dirt on the inside of my rim, so I do not understand how it would get inside the valve stem. If muck does get in there, what harm will it do?

So, what is the opinion of my fellow Chainlinkers?

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Permalink Reply by Anthony on July 22, 2016 at 5:54am

Yes, of course, valve caps are important. They are what you stand for, who you are as a rider, your identity. Some like dice, or gem stones, or little lights. I have the Standard Oil Company Red Crown valve caps that were offered free at gas stations throughout the city in the 1950s. As a pre-teenage biker, I traveled miles at times to get these caps when I heard a certain station had them. Often these caps were stolen off parked cars and other bikes. They were also offered in gold, Gold Crown, but the gold covering soon wore off. The Red Crowns are the coolest and because I have them on my bike, I'm cool.

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