E*THIRTEEN QUICK FILL PLASMA VALVE REVIEW

Review by Robert Johnston

Most tubeless valves are built similarly (save for the Reserve Fillmore), and do the trick just fine. But that’s not to say there’s no improvement to be made, so e*thirteen developed their tubeless valve to make filling the tire with sealant easier with a unique multi-part design. We’ve been enjoying their ease of operation and think you might too, so we’ll quickly give you the low down.

THE LAB

On the face of it, the e*thirteen Quick Fill Plasma valves serve the same purpose as your standard tubeless valve – they plug the hole in the rim, and let you add in air through a Presta valve. But they have a serious party trick up their sleeve – they’re made with a two-piece body that threads together. Removing the lower half, which contains a standard valve core for easy replacement, you’re left with a considerably wider bore and an opening that will allow for sealant to be added from a bottle without risk of spilling. This means you can fit the tire fully prior to adding sealant, reducing the chance of mess. The general design should resist clogging, ensuring the air flow is retained in the long run.

On the inside of the rim is an insert-friendly head and tapered rubber grommet designed to work nicely with most rim wells. The Quick Fill Plasma Valve is offered in two lengths to work with different depths of rim – 16-24mm or 23-31mm – and a choice of 4 anodized colors, with a price tag of €24.95/$24.95.

THE DIRT

The e*thirteen Quick Fill Plasma valves work well. I’m not going to suggest they’ll change your ride, but they certainly make dealing with sealant easier, both on the initial tubeless setup and when topping up down the road. Being able to take most bottles of sealant – both large 1 liter sizes and smaller single-shot bottles – and add sealant directly into the valve without dealing with the extra step of a syringe or having to mess with a valve core tool is bliss. They mount up nicely, with large, knurled portions to get a good grip to cinch them up and good sealing thanks to the large o-rings even at lower torques. The set I tested was longer than I ideally required for my shallow carbon rims, but the smaller size option would have fixed this, and it didn’t create any issues. They played nicely with multiple different inserts and have resisted clogging better than a standard valve though not completely but are easier to clean when there’s any problem. At under 25 bucks I really don’t think you can go wrong by pulling the trigger on a set next time you’re replacing your valves, but I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to spend that cash unless you really want to switch to a colored option.

The Wolf’s Last Word

I’m a big fan of anything that’ll reduce the amount of time spent on bike maintenance, and the e*thirteen Quick Fill Plasma valves do exactly that.

Price: $24.95 /€24.95
Website: Ethirteen.com

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