The last thing you want when faced with a flat tire on your bike is to not be able to get the pump onto the valve. Bicycle tire valves come in two main styles--Schrader and Presta. Schrader valves look like car-tire valves. Presta valves are thinner. Some bike pumps have dual valves that you can use with both types, while more advanced pumps have valves that automatically adjust to fit your bike. Many have a multipart head that you manually rearrange.
Step 1
Hold the end of the pump so the valve opening is facing up. Inside the valve are two adjustable parts. These are often already connected to each other, so it may look like you have only one. The adjustable parts, even if attached to each other, are usually loose inside the valve and can fall out if you hold the pump the wrong way.
Step 2
Unscrew the end cap on the valve portion of the pump. Place it on a table where it won't roll.
Step 3
Rotate the valve slowly so the adjustable parts fall into your palm. Do this slowly so you can see which half comes out first. Put down the pump.
Step 4
Place the halves, still attached to each other, next to the valve end cap.
Step 5
Position the halves so that the half that came out first--the one that would be closest to the valve end cap--rests next to the end cap on the table. This will make placing the adjusted parts back into the valve simpler because you'll know which end goes in last.
Step 6
Look at the end of the half closest to the end cap. If the opening takes up most of the end of the piece, it means the part is set to work with Schrader valves. If the opening takes up only about half the end, the part is set to work with Presta valves.
Step 7
Inspect your bike tire to see which type of valve you have. If your tire valve matches what the pump valve is already set to, slide the two connected halves back into the pump valve, and reconnect the end cap. If the tire valve does not match, or if you have additional bikes with different valves, continue.
Step 8
Pull the two halves apart and turn both of them, so the sides that had been adjacent to each other are now facing out.
Step 9
Press the two halves back together. The ends of the half that sits farthest from the end cap fit inside the openings of the other half. The thin spindle on one half fits inside the narrow opening in the other. This leaves the wider, Schrader-type opening available for use. If you turn the parts around and insert the larger connector on the first half into the wider opening in the second, the Presta end is available for use.
Step 10
Slide the halves back into the valve. Even though you've rotated the individual halves, their order within the valve remains the same.
Step 11
Reconnect the end cap.
Tips and Warnings
- If you have an older, nonadjustable pump for a Schrader valve, but your bike has Presta valves, you don't have to buy a new pump. Use an adapter on the Presta valve. Unscrew the valve cap and raise the nut you see toward the top of the valve. Turn the nut to raise it all the way to the end of the valve. Screw the adapter onto the valve. Bicycle Tutor and Bloom Bike Shop note that any bike pump should work with Schrader valves.
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