I am simply... Thick

[[Philip]]

I have a new bike, and the tyre needs a bit of air. So I have a new pump but the valve is not like anything I've had on a bike before.

It's kinda thin and, well just not like my old bike.

I've now spent about 3 hours solidly trying to pump it up, but only succeeded in emptying the tyre of any air that was still in it.

What the F am I doing????

I need to cycle to work in the morning

 

[sleaver]

If it's a presta valve, you need to loosen the top bit of the valve as far as it will go. Then once you've inflated the tyre, gently tighten it back up.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJFfH3kT7tc

Until a couple of weeks ago, I was doing exactly the same thing

 

[Hip Priest]

What sort of pump do you have? Are you getting any air into the tyre at all, or are you just struggling to get it up to the desired pressure?

 

[slowmotion]

I've done that! Don't feel too bad about it. If you have a double head pump, use the hole with the smallest rubber washer. BTW, YouTube is fantastic for bike advice.

 

[ColinJ]

And make sure that you press the end of the valve in once you have unscrewed it - they often get stuck and prevent air getting in.

 

[[Philip]]

Thank you! I got it in the end but it was a bit of a battle.

 

[ColinJ]

To show that you are not the only one ...

A young boy stopped me as I was returning from a ride this afternoon and asked if I had a pump to use on his BMX tyres which were going soft. I said yes, but then noticed that he had Schrader valves. No problem, I would just flip the widget in the end of the pump, and that would be that.

So, after accidentally letting all of the remaining air out of his tyre, I struggled, and struggled and ... couldn't get my pump to work!

A mountain biker stopped and offered his Mountain Morph pump, which did the trick. Meanwhile, a 3rd cyclist had stopped and was staring at the end of my pump. He pointed out that the reason it didn't work was that I had forgotten to screw the end back on after flipping the widget round ... Oops!

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Another tip: don't unscrew the Presta valve's tip as far as it will go, as you're more likely to bend this tip when pumping up the tube. Unfortunately, these Presta valve tips can be a bit fragile. Instead, just unscrew it until pressing it in causes a hissing noise of air escaping. It will then be unscrewed enough for you to pump up the tube. Then be sure to completely tighten the valve tip after you've finished pumping.

 

[Rouge79]

Been there and worn the t-shirt

Presta's take some getting used to

 

[ColinJ]

Another tip: don't unscrew the Presta valve's tip as far as it will go, as you're more likely to bend this tip when pumping up the tube. Unfortunately, these Presta valve tips can be a bit fragile. Instead, just unscrew it until pressing it in causes a hissing noise of air escaping. It will then be unscrewed enough for you to pump up the tube. Then be sure to completely tighten the valve tip after you've finished pumping.

I used that approach today. It makes perfect sense!

I used to fully unscrew the ends of the valves, without giving any thought to why I was doing it. It wasn't so much a problem with damaging the valves, as catching the ends as I was pulling the pump off, and letting loads of air back out!

 

[biggs682]

as long as you learnt from the experiance