Can a service station pump be used to pump presta valve tyres

k123456

Can a service station pump be used to pump presta valve tyres (an adapter etc ?)

Ya you can get a special adapter that screws onto the presta valve and you just push the petrol station air line onto that.

serendip

But be careful!! Bike tires contain only a small volume of air (compared to car tires). So it's all too easy to over inflate them.

Captain Havoc

I use an adapter, can be damn handy if you've a slow puncture. I've used it a couple of times with no problems.

blorg

Any bike shop should have the adapter. Do it in short bursts and you will be fine. I think you would really need to be holding down the lever for many seconds to cause a problem. The pressure gauge tends not to be reliable in these circumstances so you really need to go on feel (difficult with road bike tyres.)

SubLuminal

You can do it, look for a woods valve adapter, it'll screw on and should work - but I'd advise ONLY to do it to 'get you home' whereupon you can set the tyre pressure correctly using a bicycle pump - eg put enough air in the tyre to not damage your rim, but don't try to get it to 100psi or you may find yourself in a pickle..

Run_to_da_hills

You can hold a rag between the pump connection and valve, works with me.

Highway_To_Hell

make sure you only use a garage pump that allows you start/stop the air. Last week when I had a slow puncture and too lazy to change the tube on the side of the road I used one of the automatic type pumps and was left with a completely flat tyre, had to get my hand pump out to pump it up.

biko

Bit of a bump here, sorry.
Does bike tyres have a certain pressure? I usually just put my hand on it and estimate when it's "full". Bringing it down to a garage for the first time today and don't want to overpressure it - usually use a standard bike pump but lost it somewhere.
Bog standard mountain bike btw.

I saw this somewhere else:
When riding offroad, Inflate as follows;
Rear: 45PSI
Front: 35PSI

When riding on-road;
Rear: 60PSI
Front: 45PSI

Timmah!

The recommended pressure is usually (always?) written on the wall of the tyre.