The Tni valve extender
At our shop, we've been trying to keep 20mm, 30mm, 40mm, and 60mm lengths in stock,
and since colors like red, gold, blue, and black came out in addition to silver,
we've also been stocking black,
but the most commonly used lengths and colors have been
out of stock at our wholesaler for over 2 years.
But recently, when I heard they were back in stock after so long,
I ordered some and found they'd been redesigned into a completely different product.
Minor detail, but the packaging went from a solid black background
to a purple/red linear gradient,
and the lesser-known origin of Tni—an acronym for Technology Needs Ideas—
has now been revealed.
The spec change is that it now has threads along the entire length.
It also has flat surfaces for gripping with a valve extender tool.
Back when there were only tubular and clincher tires,
if a clincher tube needed extension,
you could just buy a tube with a longer valve,
so the main use of valve extenders was
extending the valve on tubular tires, which had fixed valve lengths for each model.
But with the full-length threaded design,
it can now be used for
tubeless valve extension
under the condition that "the extension joint is hidden inside the rim
and only the extender portion of the valve protrudes from the rim."
For a tubeless valve that's just the right length for a 30mm-height rim,
using 20mm and 30mm extenders should allow you to match it perfectly to
50mm-height and 60mm-height rims,
so this spec change is an extremely useful update for the tubeless tire era.
One thing to note: colors like red, gold, blue,
and even silver or black in extremely long lengths like 70mm
likely remain in stock at wholesalers in the old non-threaded spec,
so it's possible you could order a "Tni valve extender"
and receive a non-threaded version instead!
If you're extending a tubeless valve, I'd recommend
confirming whether it has full-length threads before purchasing.
At our shop, we've been trying to keep 20mm, 30mm, 40mm, and 60mm lengths in stock,
and since colors like red, gold, blue, and black came out in addition to silver,
we've also been stocking black,
but the most commonly used lengths and colors have been
out of stock at our wholesaler for over 2 years.
But recently, when I heard they were back in stock after so long,
I ordered some and found they'd been redesigned into a completely different product.
Minor detail, but the packaging went from a solid black background
to a purple/red linear gradient,
and the lesser-known origin of Tni—an acronym for Technology Needs Ideas—
has now been revealed.
The spec change is that it now has threads along the entire length.
It also has flat surfaces for gripping with a valve extender tool.
Back when there were only tubular and clincher tires,
if a clincher tube needed extension,
you could just buy a tube with a longer valve,
so the main use of valve extenders was
extending the valve on tubular tires, which had fixed valve lengths for each model.
But with the full-length threaded design,
it can now be used for
tubeless valve extension
under the condition that "the extension joint is hidden inside the rim
and only the extender portion of the valve protrudes from the rim."
For a tubeless valve that's just the right length for a 30mm-height rim,
using 20mm and 30mm extenders should allow you to match it perfectly to
50mm-height and 60mm-height rims,
so this spec change is an extremely useful update for the tubeless tire era.
One thing to note: colors like red, gold, blue,
and even silver or black in extremely long lengths like 70mm
likely remain in stock at wholesalers in the old non-threaded spec,
so it's possible you could order a "Tni valve extender"
and receive a non-threaded version instead!
If you're extending a tubeless valve, I'd recommend
confirming whether it has full-length threads before purchasing.