Can I use a gas station air pump on a bike tire?
The answer, in short is: Can you? In some cases, yes. Should you? In most cases, no.

The long answer: The reason you can sometimes use an automotive air-pump on a bicycle tire/tube is because they share an identical valve. (See: Schrader valve/Schrader tube in the Terminology Index). If you have this type, you will definitely be able to get air into your tubes in a pinch. However, air hoses from gas stations are usually unregulated, high-pressure &amp; high-volume, and lack a pressure gauge. Therefore, it is much easier to over-inflate and even blow out your bicycle tire, if you were to use one.

An investment in a bicycle pump is one of the best you can make as a cyclist. Not only will it get you out of situations like this, but it will make it easier to keep your tires at the recommended pressure rating, which in turn will make it easier for you to be a more efficient (read: faster) bicyclist.