So, I have this (for me) expensive bike I want to offload. Cost me about $400-$500 last year. It’s a Trek hybrid.
Thing is, either the valves are busted or I’m a moron, because when I try to fill them they just slide into the tire. They’re those funny valves, and yes I get that you need to use the other thing on the pump. I can’t fill the tires, either because I don’t get it despite reading every website on it or because I broke the valves.
To get the best money for it on Craigslist, should I take it by the bike store and have the valves/tires fixed? Or will that not be worth it? How much would that run me? Surely anybody buying a bike would want to ride it first, I suppose.
What you have are Presta valves. The reason they’re sliding into the rim is because a little lock nut that is supposed to hold them outside the rim isn’t doing its job. My guess is that you never put it where it was supposed to go and that it is inside the rim and not outside of it where it is supposed to be.
My parents almost “sold*” a used reasonably high-quality mountain bike without having it ridden by the intended rider–except that this struck my parents as so phenomenally silly they encouraged the intended rider to test it out.
But my gut instinct is to say that you should take the bike to the bike shop and find out whether the valves are busted or you are a moron. Then find out how expensive a repair is. If it’s $20 or less, get the repair done. If it’s more, consider selling the bike as is, because I doubt you’ll get much return on your investment either way.
But listen to true bike experts or Craigslist experts if they disagree with me.
*I thought about responding to your thread extolling the virtues of your new bike the other day. Because of this “sale” which my parents made–they handed over a well-loved but perfectly rideable bike, new owners agreed to make a donation to a local charity. The new owners also have a bike they paid $20 at a garage sale for, brand new, never ridden, much less pleasant to ride than the one my parents were happy to get rid of.
Also, to fill the valves you have to unscrew a small cap on the end of them. It is a captive cap, and will allow the air into the tube.
There is a protective cap that goes over this whole assembly.
An adaptor for your regular bicycle pump is available at any bike ship for around two bucks. But check first - most good pumps now handle Presta valves fine.
Like others said you need that silver locking nut on the bottom to hold the valve in place. They are universal and a bike shop will probably give you a couple if not sell them for 25 cents. And like someone else said you need to loosen the captive cap (small silver nut on the tip) to get air in the tube and retighten it afterward.
Here’s another view with it missing the locking nut and the captive cap wide open.
This is hard for me to explain, but you don’t even need the locking nut. I throw mine away whenever I get a new tube. Just push the valve pack out with a thumb coming in from the tire side until you have it firmly in the pump head. Lock the pump onto the valve with the lever on the pump head. Inflate away. In the future, air pressure ought to keep the valve from being pushed into the tire.
Just push on it with one hand (or your thumb) “through” the tire, and then push the head of the pump on with the other hand.
Also, make sure the that cap is wide open (like in Hampshire’s picture).
Also, make sure that you have the “pump flip” oriented correctly. Some have you push it onto the cap in the down position and flip it up. Some have you push it onto the cap in the up position and flip it down. If it doesn’t work one way for you, try it the other.
You don’t need to bring the bike to a shop to get the tires pumped up.
I was thinking maybe the valve tried to go to war with the tide.
I did find out that my pump goes the “wrong” way - in other words, that you “open” the lever to lock it on. And I had it locked on. But I still heard air hissing. Maybe it wasn’t on well enough because I wasn’t pushing from the tire side?