I have been experiencing ongoing problems with inflating my tubes inside of my HED Alps. This is becoming a real pain in the a–. I cannot get air into the tubes. I have tried the following remedies: tried 2 different pumps, swapped out tubes, used plumber’s teflon tape wrapped around valve stem of tubes. Seems like the air is leaking out somewhere. And yes, made sure the valve stems were in opened position. Do I need to buy different valve extenders? Any other suggestions?
More information to my dilemma. I can inflate the tube using a CO2 cartridge but as you know, the CO2 dissipates in a day or so, so this is only a temporary fix. Any tips would be appreciated.
Ok, I am going to ask a really silly question. You have tested your pump on a different (call them a control set) of wheels to see if you can inflate them, right?
My first assumption, provided it is not the pump, is that it is combination of your valve extenders and the valve cores themselves. I had this problem once when I screwed the valve extenders onto the valve the rotation “closed” the valve. I know you have already tried this but I would use teflon tape to seal the threads. I might also try a new set of tubes or tires if they are tubulars.
Hope that helps.
I used to have a similar problem on an old set of Campy Zonda wheels. I solved the problem by only using tubes with long valve stems so that I didn’t have to use extenders.
My guess is that it's the fit between the extender and the pump head. Have someone hold the pump head in place while you pump. See if that works.
i had the same problem last summer. could inflate the tubes with c02 or a hand pump but not my floor pump. i took the floor pump into my lbs and they said it leaks and i needed a new one. so i got a new one and it works! they also said some of the cheaper floor pumps have a pretty pathetic shelf life, fwiw.