How to Pump Up a Bicycle Tire

Pumping up your bicycle's tires is the easiest and most important part of bike maintenance. A properly inflated tire is easier to ride on and more resilient to flats and other damage.
Tire tubes use two types of valve stems: Schrader and Presta. Schrader are most common on mountain and recreational bikes. Presta valves are found on road and racing bikes, are thinner than Schrader valves and have a locking nut on the valve stem.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Tire pump with head matching the tube's valve

1. Unscrew the cap covering the tire's valve stem. If the valve is a Presta style, unscrew the locking nut to the top of the stem and press the stem down to loosen the valve.

2. Press the pump's head onto the valve stem and secure its clamp lever. If there is air in the tire, you should hear it escape before you clamp the pump head. If you did not, or if air still escapes after the head is clamped, remove it and repeat this step.

3. Lift the pump handle and push it down one time. You'll hear air being forced into the tire, and the pump's pressure gauge will rise. If the pump handle is very hard to push down, remove the pump head and repeat Step 2. If air moves into the tire, continue pumping until the pressure gauge reaches the desired level.

4. Unclamp the pump head and quickly pull it off the tire valve. The faster you get the head off, the less air will escape the tire.

5. Replace the valve stem cap. If you have a Presta valve, tighten the stem nut before replacing the cap.

Tips & Warnings

• Rotate your wheel so the valve stem is on the lower half. This gives you leverage when applying and releasing the pump head. A small amount of saliva helps to improve a poor seal around the valve stem.
• Do not try to force air into a tire. If the pump will not move air, remove and replace the pump head. Do not over-inflate a tire.

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