How to pump this bicycle tire with this pump?

Question

In general, what are some good material to read to become well knowledgable about bicycle pumps?

Thats a presta valve and you have a presta->shrader adapter (gray thing). See this video. — Batman, Commented Nov 22, 2016 at 20:33
Also, in a pinch, if you don't have an adapter, you can cut the closed tip off of the presta cap, and use that as an adapter. Essentially it just makes the top of the valve body large enough for the pump to seal around. Adapters are better but if you ever find yourself stranded and someone has a Schrader pump you can use this trick! Also regarding your thirst for knowledge, sheldonbrown.com is your best friend and one of the largest bicycle info databases. — Nate W, Commented Nov 22, 2016 at 22:55
@qazwsx - A link only answer would be bad; I was hoping someone else would come by and expand it to a proper answer (and someone did). =) — Batman, Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 1:49
One problem I have found is that some presta adapters are too short, and some pump chucks will not latch onto them. It's better to have a pump with an adaptable chuck. — Daniel R Hicks, Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 12:38

David Sainez · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-23 05:08:43Z

1

I can't comment, so I edited Penguino's answer to be completely explicit:

Remove valve cap from the step. (Its the (usually) black, plastic piece that completely removes from the valve and serves to protect it from dirt/damage)
Unscrew the small knurled knob at the end of the Presta valve (the bit sticking out of the tire) as far as it will go.
Press down on the end of the knob a couple of times (momentarily - for less than a second), to loosen the valve in its stem - you should hear air escaping.
Screw on the (Presta to Shrader valve) adapter (as you have done in your third photo).
If you have a nut on the base of the valve (as shown in the third photo), make sure it is screwed in a decent amount. This will keep the valve from giving way when you are forcing the pump head on.
Push the lever on the pump head flush with the body of the pump head (as in your first photo).
Push the hole in the pump head firmly down over the adapter and flick the lever out 90 degrees (as shown in your second photo).
Pump
Flick lever in, remove pump-head, unscrew adaptor, screw in knurled knob. Screw valve cap back on.
Ride

answered Nov 23, 2016 at 5:08

David Sainez

1262 bronze badges

1

You're right - this should be an edit to the other answer.
– Criggie ♦
Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 7:20
@Criggie I disagree with both of you. If he edited Penguino's answer I would reject as conflicts with author's intent. This post was served to me on the low quality queue, and I've said looks Ok. David has credited the other answer, so I think it's fine as is. David - check out the privileges in the help center to see when you get to do what. Cheers
– andy256
Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 8:17
Throw away the valve cap. ;-) It's merely for decoration purposes and for when new inner tubes are folded up in a box to prevent the end of the valve piercing the new tube. They serve no real purpose, some people think that they keep dirt away but even cyclocrossers don't use them.
– Carel
Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 14:17
@andy256 What part of the difference between the two answers conflicts with the original author's intent? The changes seem very minor to me and it seems, frankly, ridiculous to assert that the correct procedure is to have two answers which are 90% identical, just because the original author missed one small step.
– David Richerby
Commented Nov 24, 2016 at 0:37
I created a new post because I could neither comment nor edit the original post. However, I don't believe the changes are as minor as they may appear to some because things which seem obvious to people with experience may not be so obvious to newbies.
– David Sainez
Commented Nov 24, 2016 at 1:22

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Penguino · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-23 20:19:33Z

5

Do it like this:

Remove (unscrew) the plastic (?) cap over the Presta valve - if it is there (sometimes it may have already been removed).
Unscrew the small knurled knob at the end of the Presta valve (the bit sticking out of the tire) as far as it will go.
Press down on the end of the knob a couple of times (momentarily - for less than a second), to loosen the valve in its stem - you should hear air escaping.
Screw on the adapter (as you have done in your third photo).
Push the lever on the pump head flush with the body of the pump head (as in your first photo).
Push the hole in the pump head firmly down over the adapter and flick the lever out 90 degrees (as shown in your second photo).
Pump.......
Flick lever in, remove pump-head, unscrew adaptor, screw in knurled knob.
Ride.......

answered Nov 22, 2016 at 22:10

Penguino

7611 gold badge6 silver badges15 bronze badges

Sorry, David - we must have edited at the same time.
– andy256
Commented Nov 22, 2016 at 22:38
I found that at least for my valve, I needed a critical step 2.5: rotate counter-clockwise a top part (don't know the term) on the valve until it no longer goes. If I didn't do it, like I originally tried to figure it out by just intuition, pumping air will not go into the tire. All the other steps were intuitively clear to me just by laying out all the parts in front of my eyes. See evernote.com/l/ACEF-YfMG_VPS5mbNOTDtuq14tHB0r6yUQsB/image.png. I insist the answer is incomplete without this step.
– qazwsx
Commented Nov 22, 2016 at 23:57
3

i think that may be what he meant in step 1.
– Nate W
Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 0:17
For my valve, on top of this knurl, there is another cap that needs to be unscrewed and taken off. I mistook that for his step 1.
– qazwsx
Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 0:52

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