Twenty Minute Tune-up

With the mileage I’m doing to and from work, I’m finding that my bike needs a bit more regular TLC than would have otherwise been the case. This is especially true because I’m riding in pretty much any weather - a good soaking & spraying with road grime does little to improve a bike’s performance in terms of both speed, but more importantly smiles.

So here’s what I did last night in around 20 minutes . . .

  1. Wash the bike. Give it a good soaking with water, spray on Muck-off, and then a good all-over brushing before rinsing off. Five minutes.
  2. Chain maintenence. Check the chain for wear , and then de-grease it , rinse, dry, and re-lube it. Remember to wipe the excess oil off with an old rag. This is slightly complicated by the fact that my commuting bike is fixed-wheel. So I can’t just back-pedal the chain through the de-greasing bath. But I don’t have a workstand, soI get around this by hanging the bike up on its saddle from our washing line! Re-tension the chain to take up any slack - fixed wheel bike chains must be tight. Five minutes.
  3. Brakes. Check the brake blocks for wear and adjust the brake cables to take up any slack. Put a quick squirt of lithium grease into the ends of the cable sheaths, and a dab of oil onto the pivot points. Five minutes.
  4. Tyres, wheels and pedals. Check the tyres for any tears or damage, and pull out any glass splinters or other debris found. Check the wheels for any play, and adjust the cones if required. Squirt of WD40 onto the SPD pedal’s toggle mechanism Five minutes

If I only had ten minutes, I’d just do the chain and brakes. And with thirty minutes, I’d have probably done a better job with the brake cables (take the sheath right off and thoroughly grease the cables), or if required, replaced the brake blocks. I’d also check the headset for wear, possibly rotating the bearing faces to even out any wear.

So that’s me. But what’s on your regular maintenence schedule for your bike?

Workout:

  • Type: Cycle
  • Date: 10/12/2010
  • Total Time: 1:38:00.00
  • Calories: 1431
  • Distance: 29 miles
  • Average Speed: 17.76 mph

Filed under: Bike Culture, Cycle

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One Response to “ Twenty Minute Tune-up ”

  1. Magicroundabout on October 18, 2010 at 6:51 am

    It’s usually much like the above, but my planned half hour turns into an hour and a half as I discover just how mucky it’s really got!