The Presta valve was invented by a guy called Etienne Sclaverand over a hundred years ago, and it’s a testament to his design that we’re still using it today. The reason it came about was to reduce the size of the hole in the rim, so manufacturers could actually use narrower and lighter rims.

These days rims are huge, so that’s no longer important, but the narrower valve still doesn’t allow that much air flow into the tire when seating it and the core can also clog with sealant.

Reserve’s new Fillmore valve aims to eliminate these issues by using a Direct-Inject or coreless design.

Running through the valve is a simple push rod or plunger with a small seal on the end. There’s no little nut that you lock down, which means you have to run the dust caps all the time, but they actually pull the rods up slightly to seal the system. According to Reserve, the big plus with the design is the increased airflow during inflation, which can really help with stubborn tubeless tyres, and since it’s sealed at the bottom, there’s less chance of the valve getting junked up with sealant.

I used these valves for a bike tyre test recently, and I must admit most tyres seated first time. I could actually feel how much extra air was going through the valve – it was almost like inflating a regular valve without a core, which incidentally, is the last resort when inflating a particularly obstinate tyre.

So far, I’ve not had any clogging around the valve or plunger and it’s really easy to clean. One of the issues with the system is you do need to run the caps full time to stop air loss. There’s also no way to use a dipstick to check the sealant level. And they don’t work particularly well with some pressure gauges, like the Topeak Smarthead.

Currently the Fillmore valves are available in 50, 70 and 90mm lengths, so will fit deep section rims but the 90mm are actually twice the price of the 50mm.

I like that this is a new take on the Presta valve, but I just wonder why Reserve didn’t go bigger and offer a wide rim option for enduro and e-bikes. These valves came fitted to some Reserve MX wheels with the 30mm rims, so there is definitely space for a fat valve with even more air flow.