Chuckles1

I put adapters on my presta valves and pump with a schraeder head floor pump. Then when I release the lever on the pump head and pull the head of the adapter, air leaks out before the pump head fully disengages. Seems every pump iv'e tried does this. Aggravating! I use the pump for auto and tractor tires, and it seems silly switching the head from presta to schraeder and back over and over. Just saying...

79pmooney

Yes. And it always will. Each pump stroke, you compress the air in the pump and the hose. Most of that air goes through the presta valve but some stays behind n the hose. When you stop pumping, you have roughly equal pressure in the tire and hose and it doesn't matter if the presta valve is open or closed but as soon as you detach the hose, the valve instantly closes - no air loss in the tube - and all the compressed air in the hose is now free to leave which it promptly does. Now you could place a second presta valve in the hose before the chuck and keep the compressed air in the pump until you top off next week.

Olefeller77 

I think it has been pretty well established that most all the escaping air you hear is from the pump hose. My 30+ yr old Nashbar floor pump has been working that way since I got it. It has a duel valve on the hose to serve both presta and Schrader.

BCDrums

I feel your pain. Maybe find another pump with a presta chuck and use that? Or get one of these two-way heads, sold by Panet Bike and Park:

Sorry for the oversized picture. I have one of these on a 1970's Rampar/Medai pump, works fine, $6. But I'd rather have two pumps, one in each flavor. I have a Hirame chuck on my Presta pump, it's supreme.

rumrunn6

move on w/ your life. just sayin'

Iride01 

You use a floor pump for tractor tires? Geezus, how long do you have to pump to inflate them? Or are you talking about a powered air compressor?

I'd consider getting a chuck that has both presta and shrader ports on it. Or a quick connect on the end of the hose and have one of each type chucks if you don't like the combo chucks.

Moe Zhoost

First thought of mine as well. I can see using a floor pump if you only need to top up the pressure (1-2 psi) but any more than that it's way too much of a workout. Yesterday, I used my floor pump to make up about 5 psi in my 8" boat trailer tires and it took a long time.

I have a pump head that is reversible. I just unscrew the business end, flip it, and screw it back in. It takes less than 5 seconds. Seems easier to me than using adapters. You have to unscrew each adapter to untighten each Presta valve and then remove again to retighten. That's what I would call aggravating.

Chuckles1

Yes, my John Deere 130 front tires, which are quite small, need topping off to 9 psi due to slow leaks. Not worth the noise of starting the compressor when a dozen pump strokes does the job.

Good idea that leakage may be mostly from pump hose. I had assumed it was from tire valve. Now i won't get peaved when it happens. Glad i started the thread.

I was just about to order a Jaco presta valve chuck a couple months back, but found they were discontinued/ no longer available. None of the other presta chucks I've looked at impress me; I refuse to pay $30 for one that gets lukewarm ratings from users. I'd rather just screw on the adapters and use the floor pump.

My pump head reverses, but it takes way more than 5 sec. First I have to find my reading glasses... Quicker for me to screw on the adapters, though a bit aggravating

Iride01 

My previous floor pump had just a schrader chuck but had a adapter clipped onto it that you had to screw onto the presta valve. When I got a bike that used presta valves I realized how terrible that solution was. I went out and bought another ten dollar floor pump that had a chuck which you unscrewed, flipped and screwed back in. Maybe similar to the one that agravates you. However I now have two floor pumps, one for presta and one for schrader. My total lifetime investment in them so far can't be more than fifteen dollars between the two and that includes getting a replacement hose and chuck for the newer one.

79pmooney

{QUOTE=Chuckles1;21374041]Yes, my John Deere 130 front tires, which are quite small, need topping off to 9 psi due to slow leaks. Not worth the noise of starting the compressor when a dozen pump strokes does the job.

Good idea that leakage may be mostly from pump hose. I had assumed it was from tire valve. Now i won't get peaved when it happens. Glad i started the thread.

I was just about to order a Jaco presta valve chuck a couple months back, but found they were discontinued/ no longer available. None of the other presta chucks I've looked at impress me; I refuse to pay $30 for one that gets lukewarm ratings from users. I'd rather just screw on the adapters and use the floor pump.

My pump head reverses, but it takes way more than 5 sec. First I have to find my reading glasses... Quicker for me to screw on the adapters, though a bit aggravating[/QUOTE]

Consider making an adopter consisting of a Presta chuck and the Presta to Shraeder you already have. Then you can just slip the chuck on, couple the pump to the fitting like you already do and pump. Pull chuck off and go. Back in some long lost century we used to carry homemade "Damsel in distress" adopters so we could help (usually and hopefully) women with tire issues riding Shraeder valved bikes with our Presta only frame pumps. I haven't made one in decades and don't remember what I used. The Zephal HPX pumps made the devices obsolete.

I don't know if this trick came from Sheldon Brown but I heard it from our shop mechanic. Sheldon used to come over after hours and hang. I learned a lot from the two. (This was long, long before Sheldon was famous.)

Ben

cyccommute 

While that could be true for a “normal” Presta valve and chuck, I’m reading that Chuckles1 is using an adapter like the red part on the valve cover in this picture

Untitled by Stuart Black, on Flickr

with a regular Schrader pump chuck. That kind of pump chuck has a pin to hold the valve open which it would also do with the adapter. It defeats the check valve nature of the Presta valve so leakage would come from the tube.

Chuckles1: The best way to use your pump would be to get a different adapter. Not a different chuck head but a different adapter. The SKS pump head adaptor is relatively cheap and easy to use.



Just slide it onto the valve and attach the head. Easy peasy.