Zephyr11

Decided to clean out the garage today. In this case, that means seeing if anyone who reads Craigslist wants to buy Huffys for cheap. One of the bikes hasn't been ridden in YEARS. I went to fill up the tires to see if they still held air, and I couldn't get my pump attached. At first I thought maybe I was being stupid, so I went and checked it on a (non-Walmart) schraeder bike, but that one was fine. Tried again...nothing. I fought with it for about ten minutes before finally giving up. It was like it didn't fit right...it got over the threaded part, but not far enough on to actually fill the tire. It's a Joe Blow Sport without a smart head, AND it worked on the other bike, so it's not like it got stuck in Presta or anything like that. And it wasn't a matter of the valve slipping into the rim. I didn't check the other tire because that one's tube was all dry rotted and falling apart. A schraeder valve is a schraeder valve, right? It shouldn't matter that it was on a cheap bike? Any idea what's going on here? I hate to go and buy two tubes for it, since the price of that is practically all I'll get for the bike. Thanks in advance.

HillRider

Try pushing down on the center valve pin of the "defective" tube with a thin punch or whatever will fit. Maybe the valve is corroded shut and the pump head can't push it down.