idk. noob here but the air intake stem thingy on my kids bike keeps sinking down when i try to add air (photo attached is just to show the stem thingy, its not the actual bike). its like its just moving down into the tubing. the back tire does not have that issue. so to inflate the front tire, i have to hold onto the stem with a pair of pliers and then inflate. do i need a new tire or tube or is this a common thing that can be fixed.
by Wooden_Amphibian_442
11 Comments
The stem is held up by the pressure. Most likely your rear wheel has enough pressure when you try to inflate it so that the valve doesn’t get pushed in.
The solution, usually, is just to push the stem through tyre from the outside so you can keep the stem firm while you attach the pump. Or at least that’s how I do it.
Push it out from the back of the tire, it will be firm once there is air pressure in the tube.
Sounds like you need a tube with a longer stem.
sounds normal, if the pliers method works for you and the tire holds air, then rock on
most bikes will have a little nut to hold the stem in place, but yeah probably not so much with a huffy kids bike
Push the valve sideways against the valve hole of the rim and put the chuck of the pump/compressor onto the valve.
I usually just push in on the tire on the opposite side of the air stem to try to hold the stem out out until I get the pump attached. It happens on these bikes because there is no lock nut holding the stem in place.
I assume the tube is completely flat, that’s why the valve gets in the tyre when you push it with your air pump. Just grab the wheel on the opposite side of the valve, like fingers on the rim and palm on the tyre, and push with your palm as you plug the air pump nozzle on the valve.
What I do is press the tire in with my knee to keep the valve accessible as i attach my pump head to it, as my pump is a two hand ordeal.
Some brands such as Continental sell tubes that have valve stem nuts that make pumping flat tires much easier and the build quality is great.
Put a zip tie in the middle
That’s called a valve stem. It’s probably missing the little nut (lock ring). I have ridden about 100km on a spare tube without one and it was ok, I would wager it’s fine.
does your kid have deep aero wheels lol. maybe need a tube with a longer valve?