10
10 Minute Maintenance
minute maintenance The best maintenance is preventative. Check your bike at the weekend to stop problems developing during the week
Bike shops are brilliant at carrying out the maintenance you don't have the skills, time, tools or inclination to do yourself – things like an annual service. Your bike will run better in the meantime if you can carry out some simple checks and fixes yourself.
1
Pump up the tyres
Soft tyres make cycling hard work and can cause poor handling. Punctures are much more common too. Every tyre will have a pressure range stamped on the sidewall, in atmospheres (BAR) or pounds per square inch (PSI). Make sure it's inflated to at least the minimum. Air seeps slowly out of innertubes. They lose pressure faster the narrower and harder they are: racing tyres may need topping up every couple of days; mountain bike tyres may last weeks.
2
Oil the chain
WD40 (or similar) is great for removing water from a wet chain but isn't so good as lubricant, as it's so light. Dedicated cycle oil is longer lasting. Hold the oil above the chain where it emerges from the derailleur, preferably the rear one. Drip oil onto each link as you turn the cranks backwards. (Tip: start and finish with the special joining link.) Use newspaper to keep oil off the disc brakes/tyres/rims/floor. Wipe off excess oil with kitchen roll or rags, and stand the bike on sheets of newspaper when you're finished.
3
Test the brakes
Squeeze the front brake and try to push the bike forward. The rear wheel should lift and the lever shouldn't touch the handlebar. Now repeat with the rear brake. The rear wheel should lock and skid. If either brake is ineffective, this may be a job for the bike shop. Or perhaps not: if your bike has cable operated brakes rather than hydraulics, the cable may simply have stretched. Look for a barrel adjuster where the cable exits the lever or enters the brake unit. Turn this anti-clockwise to tighten the brake cable. Repeat the brake check.
4
Spin the wheels
Spin both wheels, alternately, by hand. Both should revolve easily and quietly. If not, it's probably a brake rubbing. Assuming this isn't due to a buckled wheel (does the wheel move from side to side when you look at it edge on?), adjust the brake position. Rim brake: If there are separate brake arms either side of the wheel, joined by cable, there should be small screw on each brake arm. Screw this in to stop the brake rubbing on that side. If the brake is a single calliper, fixed centrally, push it left or right until the brake pads are equidistant from the rim. You may need to loosen the fixing bolt behind the fork/seatstays first. Disc brake: Loosen the calliper's top and bottom fixing bolts, so the whole calliper can be moved side to side by hand. Squeeze the brake lever firmly on. Keep it held on while retightening the bolts. The calliper should now be centred.
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