Using a bike pump

[MommyBird]

I did the same thing to one of my tubes. Bent and broke off the inner part of the stem. Rode the bike after I did it but my husband replaced the tube when I told him.

For some reason the pump head tends to shoot off the stem when my husband fills tires and he uses a special hand position to keep from getting his fingers smacked against the spokes. When I fill tires this shoot-off thing does not happen so I have not had to learn his special trick. Too bad, because it sounds like you would benefit from it if I could pass it on.

What I do to remove the head is wiggle it slightly from side to side and it gradually loses its hold and just falls off with a whoosh. Maybe that would work for you since the same pump that explodes off for my husband falls off gently for me.

To put the pump on I put my left forefinger and thumb around the tire and steady the head of the pump on the stem. With my right hand I press against my left for stability as I flip the lever with my thumb. This seems to help as I have not bent a stem since adopting this technique.

I am sure you will get better and easier to understand info from some of the more experienced riders. I am just a newbie who has finally made friends with the pump.

[OakLeaf]

Put the valve stem at 12:00 so you can pull the pump head straight up onto it from underneath.

Tap the valve stem until you hear a little air come out, to break the seal on a Presta valve, before attaching the pump head.

As far as the pump head lock, what kind of pump is it (brand and model - or can you link to a picture)?

Presta valve cores are technically replaceable, but they may be hard to find. They just screw in. If the outer stem itself is bent, the tube is toast, unfortunately, and you also want to make sure the tube didn't get cut by the rim when it went crooked - that's a fairly common failure area for tubes.

[WindingRoad]

Put a little grease on the head of your pump. I had a pump that was ridiculous to get on and off like that so I put a little vaseline on the head of it and it was much easier after that. I've accidentally broken the tips off presta valves and continued to use them, didn't seem to bother anything, they still held air just fine so i just used it.