How To Pump A Presta Valve

When it comes to cycle maintenance, one of the maintenance tasks that is most likely to arise is pumping up a bicycle tyre. This is down to the fact that regardless of how well you take care of your bike, with time and use, the pressure in your tyre goes down. This means at some point you will need to pump the tyres up. In this video we take a look at how to pump up a Presta valve.

Some tyres can be more difficult to pump than others, the Presta valve is commonly known for being a bit of a nuisance. Hopefully after watching our video you will know how to pump up a Presta valve minus the stress.

Thanks for watching. You can also read our guide on how to pump up a Presta valve which covers setting up your pump for a Presta valve and the steps involved in pumping your tyre up.

If you like what you see, head over to our blog to find out more about cycle maintenance:

[hermogino]

That's awesome! Several years ago I bought an inner tube and didn't realize it had a presta valve. I didn't even know how to pump it with air! I hated it. I just bought a used carbon gravel bike and it had a presta valve. I had to buy presta-to-schrader adapter and pumped up the tires. I really didn't have to buy that adapter because I didn't know two of my pumps had this feature where you reverse the rubber and fitting like you demonstrated in the video. THIS IS A LIFESAVER!!! THANK YOU!

[epzvbdg]

Dear YouTube Premium, after struggling for hours to pump my bike I’ve seen this video and then could use my bike in a second so it’s the first time i see a useful video on YouTube, please give this guy a lot of money like you do with useless influencers

[sebxlopez]

Spent more time than I’m willing to admit trying to figure out why my pump wasn’t working. I thought the tyres had green goo in them or that something was dead wrong with my bike, but it turned out I had to unscrew the miserable brass washers first to get the pump to work. Brilliant video, I can’t thank you enough.

[PizzaMakerNSW]

As a professional cyclist for 20 years, I can provide a couple of suggestions. In addition to this video. 1. Rotate the wheel so the valve is directly centre on the ground. Inflate the tube closet to the ground as opposite to what is shown in the video. It stresses the cord less and as gravity is working in your favour it doesn’t encourage air to escape as quick. 2. Inflate slightly over your desired PSI limit, when you disconnect the valve it releases some air and a few psi over compensates for this.

[AnthonyTonerMusic]

Invaluable... I don't like Presta valves, but I'm stuck with them for the meantime, and this has been REALLY useful.

[kerenkesterton]

This has just saved my day. I was nearly in tears being a complete cycling novice. I had my bike serviced and inner tube and valve replace. I didn’t even know these valves existed let alone how to use them. Thank you!

[mrtablesawful]

I only found that Presta valves exist after I bought my bike and eventually had to top off the tires for the first time, so it was frustrating to find out that way and that, additionally, I would have to buy (and keep track of) an adapter. This tutorial is very helpful. Thanks for making a quality instructional video about a topic that many cyclists probably think is a very basic one.

[bartholomewmba]

Thanks for this video. Others tutorials just skip past the pump setup. That was all I needed to get mine to work. Thanks!

[wilko]

Clear, concise and effective tutorial with no waffling.

Before this I didn't know you could switch the pump from shrader to presta, and didn't know about opening the valve on a presta and pressing it to loosen it. Now I know both.

Many thanks. Subscribed!

[FNHaole]

Your well-edited visuals, paired with the concise and calm narrative, kept THIS nervous novice to bicycle maintenance from pitching, a fit…AND its brand-new mini-pump (which had been promoted as having a head whose internals needed NO reversal to accept either type). I had broken three small, fragile teeth at the very center, which must have been the “universal” feature. EVERYTHING you illustrated matched with what I discovered about my pump when I followed your directions. Your observations and tips regarding the Presta valve, and the attachment/detachment of the pump were very much relevant and appreciated. I will definitely be exploring more of your content. I have ridden for decades, but never had the confidence to work on my bikes myself. Realistically, I won’t be… I will be using your channel’s guidance, and you can be sure I will recommend your channel to so many friends that share my ignorance. THANK you.

[ghjgjihjgjyrdrgydsgr]

Thanks for the video, it's such an important and basic thing to be able to do. I had to figure out how to pump up my Presta valve tyres through trial and error and it was a bit frustrating. It's genuinely difficult if someone hasn't shown you how because everyone is used to Schrader valves from cars, motorbikes, and the kind of bicycles we ride when we're kids.

[alainakaja]

i just bought a bike and it had the presta valve and i bought a pump and watched like 3 other videos that didn’t help because i didn’t know that you had to switch the rubber piece inside but once i got that i was able to do it! Thank you!!

[tacayey]

Awesome you saved me from buying another pump thinking I had gotten the wrong format or something. Real life savers and what youtube should be all about, people helping each other.

[FlyAmanita]

I am not a fan of presta. But Iam a fan of this wonderfully instructive video

[difidon]

This was extremely helpfu!
I'd never seen or heard of a Presta Valve. Your video saved me a trip to the bike shop.

[azashmuz]

I have to pump my bike today by myself for the first time .. thank you so much for this very detailed video ❤️❤️…

[sendinit]

This video is incredibly descriptive and slow enough that I didn't need to rewind or pause at anytime. Not that inflating the tire is difficult but there are a few steps like turning the internal adapter around. I ended up reading some article written by a third grade level thinker about how there's different valves but they didn't demonstrate how to actually inflate the presta valve. They actually made some really burnt out half a brain cell comment about how if you don't put the cap back on the Schrader valve that somehow your air is going to leak out after 300 yards. That's when I closed that browser and found your video which was a billion times better than that junk article

[TheGMan]

Very helpful. My wife's back tire was repaired and they installed a Presta. Wasn't quite sure how they worked. Makes sense now. Thank you.

[SuperAnimecity]

YOU SIR HAVE SAVED MY LIFE. THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES OVER. FINALLY AFTER WASTING MONEY ON BIKE ADAPTERS THAT DIDN'T ACCOMPLISH NOTHING! YOU SIR ARE AMAZING!

[rmprmp]

Exactly what i was missing. Didn't know the rubber and inside needed to be switched around was about to go back to bike shop tomorrow glad i watched this!