sdh02005

Hi,

Sorry to post this because part of me feels like this is already answered all over the place, but I haven't been able to answer my question yet. My wife has a great pump that pumps to Presta only, and I recently started biking on a bike with Schrader valves. I had been using a neighbors pump, but we moved, and now I need to figure out what to do next. I see dozens of adds to convert Schrader pumps to Presta valves, and even managed to buy myself an adapter that goes the wrong way of what I need. So, are there adapters that make a pump that pumps Presta valves work on Schrader tires? Alternatively, if that market is slim or only makes products that don't work well, should I just get a Schrader pump? Thanks.

Steven

FBinNY 

Yes there are PV to SV adaptors. or you can sometimes make one by cutting the SV head out of a hose, and pushing the barb up into your PV pump head. (not all DIY combinations work).

Of course, your 1st mistake was moving without checking out the pump availability first.

License2Ill

Every pump I've ever seen has a double sided end on it to work with both, you just unscrew the end, pop the little piece out and turn it the other direction. All bike pumps aren't like that? It seems to me Schrader-only would be more likely.

FBinNY 

All this proves is that you've lived a sheltered life as far as pumps go. Many top quality Presta Valve pumps are PV only, and use a simple push on head like this one.

License2Ill

Yeah, too sheltered, I guess. I'd still unscrew the end of that thing and check to make sure.

fietsbob

Dead presta tube , keep the valve,, , get a schrader thumb-lock pump head , on a hose..


hose clamp on the other end to secure the presta stem . in the hose..


thumb-lock S/V head will push the check valve open in the schrader stem,

check valve in PV stem will still keep the air in between strokes, from hand pumps.

Floor pumps have a check valve in them too..


In 2 nd example. , one thing the PV to SV adapter wont do is hold the spring valve core open ,
so you have to overcome the spring with every pump stroke .

so pressure gage reading, will be all over the place, not much meaning ..
save for what the air-pressure in the hose is.

ksisler

Steven -

Time to get with the program and convert the bike to presta. A pair of presta tubes and a couple of rim adapters would be well under USD10 total and make the bike easier to pump up...and it look a bit more modern also.

/K

dsbrantjr

You could also install a Schrader or combination Schrader/Presta head onto the hose of your current pump.

cyccommute 

I agree with you. The number of pumps that are presta only pales in comparison to the number of pumps that will do schrader and presta. The chuck that FBinNY linked to is an adapter that looks like it screws onto the schrader end of their pump. Here's the Lezyne link. The $10 price should have been a clue.

See if the pump head can be taken apart sdh02005.

PiLigand

Well, without exceeding $14, you could do a number of things.

1) You could certainly find an adapter for your tube valves.
2) You could get a couple of new presta tubes for your wheels
3) You could go to walmart and get a pump with a head with one hole for each valve. I've got one and it works plenty well enough.

I'd recommend switching to presta tubes because the valves are so much nicer to deal with - it seems like you already know that from your wife's bike. Still, I know it can be hard to dispose of something even so basic as a tube if there's nothing technically wrong with it. I'd say get a pump that suits both and switch to new tubes as you need them.

FBinNY 

While they aren't the most common these days, PV only pumps do exist, which I was simply pointing out in response to License2I11's query about the existence of PV only heads. I wasn't making specific reference to the OPs pump because I gave the him enough credit to assume that he knew how his own pump worked.

In any case, I posted a link to the first push-on head I found just to show the style. Here'a s link to a Silca push-on PV head that's been out there for 40+ years. Others use similar heads.

So the OP has choices--- he can see if his head is in fact convertible, buy the adapter he asked about in the first place (see my link in the first response), buy a new dual head with a barb and mount it onto his hose, or make an adaptor. Or buy a new pump, or find a new neighbor.

sdh02005

Thank you all so much for your help. First off, feel like a even bigger idiot from when I started, because as many of you have noted, with a simple opening of my wife's pump I found it works with Schrader, too, so my tired are pumped and ready to go.

Also, thanks for the tip on converting to Presta valves. I'll give that a shot just to see how they work. Certainly can't hurt.

Again, thank you all for the help.

cyccommute 

Give it up, FB. Presta only pumps are almost as rare as hen's teeth. You are far more likely to run across a switchable pump than you are to run across a pump that does only presta or only schrader. So likely, in fact, that the first response to sdh02005's problem should have been the one that License2I11 gave. If that didn't fix the problem, then you go to checking for presta only pumps. In all things, it's best to apply Occam's razor.

Your way only confused the poor guy.

License2Ill

Yeah, well that's only if you're sheltered, like somewhere north of the Bronx, as far as pumps go.

FBinNY 

Nothing to give up, I don't have a dog in the fight.

The OP asked about a PV to SV adapter and in post #2 , I put up a link to one a link to one. The only "mistake" was in taking the OP's request at face value and giving s simple straightforward answer.

Later License2I11 posted that in his experience all pumps were dual head, followed by "All bike pumps aren't like that?" Since he followed with the question, I answered it saying that PV only pumps exist, which they do.

You and License are trying to make a fight out of nothing, so feel free to do so. I'm out.

BTW- the OP did solve his problem (without my help) but that's what this forum should be about.

Andrew R Stewart 

Back in the day we "in the know guys" would carry a "damsel in distress device" in out tool kit. It was a SV air chuck from a floor pump with a PV valve hose clamped into the hose. Small (but not as small as the Silca that FB linked to) and effective. As all us cool guys used presta valves (on our sew ups) and all the gals used SV on their 70lbs/sq/inch 27" gum walls we used our devices any time we could get away with it. The longer one's device was the more impressive the gal got... Andy (who still carries a DIDD in his bag and won't say how long it is)

cyccommute 

There's a whole lot of barking going on for someone without a dog in the fight No, you shouldn't have taken sdh02005's first post at face value. License2I11 and I both got that his problem was one of not understanding what he was asking. Again, Occam's razor serves quite nicely. His problem had a simple solution, i.e. check the pump first, before you go looking for something more complicated.