Your bike will carry you hundreds of miles without fail if you take care of it. This doesn’t mean you need to be a bike mechanic to keep it in good working order. The best approach for most people is a simple weekly or bi-weekly basic bike maintenance self-checkup. Then once or twice a year let your local bike shop (LBS) give it a complete checkup.
Full-fledged Cyclists – with a capital “C” – enjoy doing their own bike maintenance. Here’s a quick sequence of simple tasks you need to know. Make them your life-long habits for keeping a smooth running bike.
The simple drop test
This will tell you if anything has come loose. Remove your seat bag and water bottles first.
Pick your bike up about 6 inches, and let it drop to its wheels. Nothing should rattle. Your bike will have a signature sounds when it drops. Over time you’ll remember this sound. If it begins sounding different with this little drop, look closer. Something might have come loose.
Learn about torque
Torque is how tight a bolt is turned into place. Loose bolts are dangerous. Over-torqued bolts are also dangerous, especially in carbon fibre. Too much torque risks cracking the carbon fibre. And carbon fibre usually breaks catastrophically when cracked. Not something you want happening while riding.
Buy a good quality torque wrench set and learn to use it. Mine came with a convenient storage case to keep the whole set organized.
Most bolts have specific torque specs etched right nearby. Do not over-torque a bolt.
Bolts to pay extra attention to are around your stem, your seat rails and your seat post clamp. The mechanic who built your bike should have gotten these correct to begin with. But as they are near key contact points between you and your machine, they see the most daily stress.
Keeping your headset happy
Stand over your frame and lock-up the front brake. Then gently press the bike forward into the brake’s resistance. There should be no front-to-back play.
If you feel even the slightest bit of slop, your headset is loose. Inexperienced mechanics should take it to their LBS to get it properly adjusted. Experienced riders can go WATCH this short Global Cycling Network video to do it themselves.
Inspect tires for early problems
Next is a check of your tires for small nicks that might become big problems.
Many times, when you run over glass, it won’t immediately puncture the inner tube. It gets lodged in the tread. Eventually after riding more miles on it, the shard works its way all the way through.
If you do most of your training on Kevlar belted tires, you can get away with some small nicks. To be safe, rotate each wheel looking for nicks. If you see one inspect it for an embedded shard of glass or small wire. Use a small screwdriver, like a jeweller’s flat-head, to gently pry it out.
And here’s a quick tip: if you have a nick that gapes a little too much for your liking use some “Crazy Glue” to seal it shut. It’s a weak-spot waiting for more debris to work its way into the inner tube. Drop your air pressure. Get a small piece of wire or pin. Coat the tip with some glue and use it to fill in the nick. Pinch the nick closed. Wait about 2 minutes. Re-inflate.
Maintain tire pressure
At least once a week, put your pump on each tire too. Re-inflate to your usual pressure. I recommend 90 to 115 psi (6 to 8 bar) for most riders. A lower pressure in your front tire than your rear.
The lower end of that range will give you a slightly smoother ride. Too low, and you risk a pinch-flat. That’s when you roll over a hard-edged object and your tire bottoms-out against the rim. The inner tube will get pinched against the rim. If you ever pull out a flat inner tube that has a pair of snake-bite punctures in it, that was a pinch flat.
Higher tire pressures are not necessary for road riding. Only when riding the boards of a velodrome do high pressures (130+ psi) make any sense. A high pressure tire running over a typical asphalt surface increases rolling resistance.
Bikes deserve a rub-down too
Well, it’s not a recovery massage, but most rides add some dust to your frame and wheels. Use a dry clean rag or shop paper towel to wipe off last ride’s dust. Look for any sticky drink mix left by your water bottles. Use a damp cloth to clean it away.
While wiping the frame keep an eye for any cracks or dents. Aluminum frames are dangerous if they get dented. Carbon fibre frames lose integrity if cracked. If you see any signs of either, do not ride. Get the frame assessed by a qualified LBS.
Extend the life of expensive drive train parts
Finally, check your chain. As indestructible as a chain looks, it will stretch over time. When it stretches, it not only loses efficiency, but increases wear on the rest of your drive train. Namely your expensive chainrings and cassette cogs. The price of a new chain is much less than the rest of the drivetrain.
I replace my chain two or three times a year at about $50 per chain. By doing so, I’m still on my original chainrings and cassette after 4 years of riding.
So, make a small investment in a chain-checking tool. The most basic looks like an odd-shaped ruler. Park Tool has one with a pivoting gauge.
About once a month measure the chain stretch. The Park Tool gauge is indexed from 0 to 1.0%. Order a new chain at less than 0.5%, giving it time to arrive. Or plan a trip to your LBS this week to pick up a new one. Make sure to change it before reaching 0.75%. Your chainrings and cassette cogs will thank you.
Here’s a Park Tool video about installing your new chain.
Clean and lubricate the chain
A dirty chain is an inefficient chain and another source of early wear on your chainrings and cogs. Keep a rag near your bike storage. After each ride, grasp the chain below and near the derailleur jockey wheels. Spin your pedals backwards, running the chain through the rag. This will keep road dust from building up on your chain.
Touch up your chain lube about every 2 weeks. Apply a single drop to each roller. Spin the pedals backwards for about 30 seconds. Then wipe as much off the outer plates as you can. Lube needs to be inside your chain, not outside.
Need some help finding the right lube? Take a deep dive into lubes, chain wear and how to re-gain the watts you might be losing in your chain in this CyclingTips article HERE.
Clean your chain at least once a month. Run it through degreaser using a chain cleaning tool, like this one:
Also run your chain through the cleaner if you’ve just ridden through the rain. After it’s dry, apply fresh lube.
For more info on maintaining your chain, see this UCS article [Coming Soon!].
Basic Bike Maintenance Checklist Summary
☐ Tire check for cuts – after every ride
☐ Quick wipe away of road dust – after every ride
☐ Tire check for inflation – at least weekly
☐ Wiggle and drop test for loose parts and headset – at least weekly
☐ Chain check for wear, clean and lube – at least monthly, and after every rainy ride
A maintained bike is a smooth fast reliable bike to ride. Keep yours well-maintained so “bad luck” doesn’t leave you standing roadside two hours from home!