Essential Bicycle Maintenance Tips
Bike maintenance is as essential as spending time to buy a bike. Whether you commute daily or take a road trip, it is essential to maintain your cycle to deter unstable bike conditions during your biking trip or any surprise repair expenses.
Bike maintenance is not as difficult as it sounds. Through this guide, we’ll share you some of the best bike maintenance tips that will help you keep your road partner in tip-top shape.
Simple Bicycle Maintenance Tips
1. Examine the bike
When you inspect your bike routinely, you will be aware if there are any loose components on your bike. You can identify if there are any at an earlier stage before they become a major issue. By using a multitool, you can make simple adjustments on your bike.
2. Check for the ABCs: air, brake, and chain
A for Air: To prevent flats in your tires, you must have properly inflated tires. You should check for low air pressure in the tire's sidewalls. Make sure the quick-release levers are properly tightened when you are checking for air pressure. Carry a mini pump and patch kit with you whenever you go for a ride out.
B for Brake: Press the rear and front brakes to ensure that the brakes connect smoothly and correctly.
C for chain: Check your chain and other components. When you keep your bike's drivetrain, which includes chain rings, rear cassette, and rear derailleur, clean and greased, it will shift more easily and also last longer.
3. Tighten bike bolts
Bikes use numerous nuts and bolts to hold them together. It is crucial to keep everything “tight ship" since poorly designed or loose bike parts can cause more damage, poor performance, and safety concerns. Check your bike manual for the exact tension specifications before tightening any bike bolts. The failure or destruction of a component might result from overtightening.
4. Clean up your bike
You should clean your bicycle often to increase its lifespan. Cleaning your bike will help stop dirt from building up and safeguard your bike from frequent repair issues. It will also prevent other accumulations from destroying the mechanical components. You must clean up your bike parts: bike frame, chain, chainrings, pedals, brakes, and seats using normal soap water.
5. Grease the drivetrain
After each and every ride, clean and dry up your bike chain. This will give the lubricant time to soak into the chain. Before a ride, some might prefer to lubricate the chain, but it will attract dirt and dust. Use a very small amount of lube to wipe off any extra. An excessive amount of lubrication might restrict gear shifting as you ride and draw in more dirt. If you feel that the grease built up is more, you can get a commercial chain cleaner and cleanse the parts.
6. Check the tires
Nothing is more frustrating than needing to halt mid-ride to replace a flat tire. Always use a floor pump to examine your tires and measure the air pressure. After inflating your tires, check for additional wear and tear damage that could result in a flat tire during the ride.
7. Check the brakes
A good braking system is significant for any type of bike. Break pads become less efficient as time goes on, so make sure to check your brakes during every bike checkup at the service center. Take a quick ride home and squeeze the brakes. If they are soft, they got to be replaced soon.
Basic Bicycle Cleaning Supplies
- Always keep plenty of dry clothes for tasks involving grease, oil, and wax as well as for routine cleaning and drying.
- Have a variety of shapes and sizes of brushes so you can remove dirt from the places that rinsing the bike can’t reach.
- When used properly, water can be a helpful tool. But beware that when it is released forcefully on your bike, it might damage your bike’s sensitive braking systems.
- To clean the frame, use mild soap or a liquid specially made to clean bikes.
- When cleaning greasy items like bike chain, avoid using grease or turpentine. Instead, use a cleaner designed for bikes. Select a solution that is environmentally friendly. Use proper disposal for all solvents.
- When you lubricate your chain properly, it will expand the lifetime of the drivetrain. Lubes are available in two types - wet and dry. Wet lube can be used in wet conditions. Ensure you remove the excess lube from the bike. Dry lubes are best in dry conditions. Dirt doesn’t stick to dry lube as it does in wet lube but will be easily rinsed off in rain.
- Use a bike stand to place your bike in a comfortable position for you to clean. You can easily remove the wheels and rotate the pedals as needed while cleaning. You can easily work on hard-to-reach parts when using a bike stand.
Other Bike Tips to Maintain your Bike
- Always park your bike inside your home and not outside because rain, and moisture can damage your bike parts and cost you more in services and repairs.
- Extensive service is required if your bike is ridden on a rainy road or off-road. If you are a person who rides daily, you may notice that your bike needs service often.
- If you have purchased a new bike, take it to a local mechanic shop to make sure that all the parts are functioning properly.
Bicycle Maintenance Checklist
Conclusion
Be it a mountain bike, electric bike, hybrid bike or road bike, all of the above-mentioned tips will help you to maintain your bike easily and extend your bike’s lifetime. Apart from the tips given above, you should also take your bike to the local bike service center once in a few months for a professional checkup of your bike. Hope this article will guide you to maintain your bike properly. Write to us in the comments section if you have any doubts and we will get back to you soon.