Bicycle Mechanics - Shock pump able to read tire pressures?

I was getting desperate and had to check the tire pressures on my rig during a trail ride because it felt really sluggish when turning, I usually carry my tire pump with me but the only thing that I had in my camelbak was my shock pump, well being desperate i plugged it in and pumped some air into it (took longer than usual as expected) and it solved my problem. Now my question is, did i ruin anything on my shock pump? I know it takes forever to get a bike tire up to a certain psi using a shock pump due to the low volume of air it can carry but is there really anything that can get ruined?

I was getting desperate and had to check the tire pressures on my rig during a trail ride because it felt really sluggish when turning, I usually carry my tire pump with me but the only thing that I had in my camelbak was my shock pump, well being desperate i plugged it in and pumped some air into it (took longer than usual as expected) and it solved my problem. Now my question is, did i ruin anything on my shock pump? I know it takes forever to get a bike tire up to a certain psi using a shock pump due to the low volume of air it can carry but is there really anything that can get ruined?

If the pump was rated to the PSI you were pumping to (which it sounds like it was), no harm done. Sort of like cleaning toilets with a toothbrush though <g>

Your shock pump is probably rated to a much higher PSI threshold than your MTB tires could possibly handle (some pumps are rated as high as 300 PSI). I would suspect you would blow a knobbie long before you'd do any damage to the shock pump.

"Blow a knobbie" - that sounded really funny in my teeny, tiny little head.

did i ruin anything on my shock pump? I know it takes forever to get a bike tire up to a certain psi using a shock pump due to the low volume of air it can carry but is there really anything that can get ruined?

You did no harm to the shock pump. The relatively low pressure (say 45 psi) of a tire is nothing compared to the relatively high pressures of a shock (greater than 100 psi).

Air is air. The gauge feels air, and it doesn know (or care) if the air is from a tire or shock pump.

I guess, if anything, one can say you've accelerated wear in the seals in the shock pump, since a shock pump is not expected to deliver high volumes.

Overall, don't worry about it.

thanks guys