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I can't seem to fit my bike pump onto my son's bike. The tires are too small, and there isn't enough of a gap to put the head of a bike pump on the valve.

Are there any valve extenders (not permanent) that I can use when I need to inflate his bike tires?

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  • Might not be practical, but I had a similar problem on a pram with plastic wheels and drilled new valve holes at an angle.
    – alex
    Oct 5, 2014 at 1:31
  • @alex: Clever solution. I will try that out if I can't find an affordable option. Thanks for letting me know.
    – Marwan مروان
    Oct 5, 2014 at 1:35
  • You'll need to fill the old hole with something too, or it'll pop the tires when you try and pump them up.
    – alex
    Oct 5, 2014 at 1:36
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    I'd probably avoid drilling out a new valve hole. For one, theres the rim integrity you have to worry about along with tube damage and other factors. Not to mention the abundance of pumps and adapters available.
    – Batman
    Oct 5, 2014 at 1:57
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    I've drilled a lot of holes in a lot of rims, and very rarely had problems. That being said, it isn't something I'd recommend to someone without a drill press and a good idea of what forces are exerted where on a bicycle rim. "Bendy" adapters or a pump with a flexible head are a much better answer.
    – Deleted User
    Oct 7, 2014 at 19:36

2 Answers 2

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Yes. Slime makes some valve extenders for Schrader valves enter image description here , and if you have a Presta valve you can use a Presta to Schrader valve adapter (and if you really want, you can attach a Schrader valve extender to that, since you can buy the Schrader valve extenders at Walmart or whatever)

enter image description here.

Some companies (like Topeak) make Presta valve extenders as well: topeakpresta

That being said, you can also use a little hose attached to the pump to better access the valve like the ones offered with some Lezyne hand pumps if the chuck is too big.

An example of a bendy extension hose is enter image description here.

There are also 90 degree extenders which you screw on:

enter image description here

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  • I don't think these'll work, they're usually not bendy.
    – alex
    Oct 5, 2014 at 1:35
  • @Batman That looks like a good option. Are they permanent? Easy on, easy off? Do you know, roughly, how much they are?
    – Marwan مروان
    Oct 5, 2014 at 1:38
  • @alex: updated with some bendy options
    – Batman
    Oct 5, 2014 at 1:39
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    @Batman: The bendy option looks like exactly what I had in mind. Thanks!!!
    – Marwan مروان
    Oct 5, 2014 at 1:41
  • @Marwan: Maybe 2-3 bucks for the ones from the car parts department (schrader valve). If you go to a bike shop and ask them for some, it will probably be 4-5 bucks. At that point, id get the little blue foot pump that everyone had for pumping up soccer balls or something since the chuck is small enough on those (the double sided nature of a lot of track pumps like my Topeak Joe Blow Sport II might be the cause of the problem, so you could possibly just try a different chuck as well).
    – Batman
    Oct 5, 2014 at 1:42
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You could always buy some new tubes with the valve set at a 45 degree angle. Schwalbe sell them for £5/6 depending on the size you need. Easiest way I'd say and saves you faffing about drilling holes or screwing valve extenders on and off.

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