Essential Maintenance

beans

I tend to take my Commuting bike aside once every two weeks to

- adjust brakes
- oil the chain
- clean some of the crud off the casette, derailers etc with an old toothbrush

and generally give it a bit of a scrub. This seems to be enough for me, it keeps the gears clicking over smoothly and the chain supple. I also use Vaseline on exposed bolts and screws to make sure they dont corrode.

How often do you maintain your own machines, and what kind of checks and work would you do? Any tips for keeping hard-working commuter-bikes running at their best?

Raam

all I do is make sure my tyres are pumped and everything is tight. I would do that about once a month, if I remember or even bother.

I really should get in the habit of doing more, because the bike is only going to get more abuse in the winter than the summer.

I bought a chain cleaner a few months ago, but only used it once. It worked quite well, and only took a few minutes.
Link: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=8207

silverside

me:

I clean/degrease/regrease the chain/gears after every offroad ride or once a month, whichever is more often

clean everything else after offroading but i don't go mad with hosing it down like some people do.

i don't bother stripping down e.g. bottom bracket,pedals,hubs etc although some people recommend it on an annual basis. because i dont know how/cant be bothered/dont do a huge amount of dirty miles.

everything else i just service as i notice it getting a bit out of tune i.e. cables brakes etc.

maybe i should get a bike shop to do a thorough job every once in a while.
keep your opinions coming folks.

randomname2005

Clean and relube chain and gears every one/two/three weeks depending on weather and time! Would generally clean the mud off too.

Cleaning your chain and gears helps prolong the life of your chain and gears as it prevents chain wear.
R

Gavin

On that topic, what are the best tools one should have ? I need to sort my bicycle out, been lazy with it lately.

For standard maintenance, I'd a assume a set of alan keys, chain breaker, tyre levers, pump and then grease/degrease stuff.

I want to get a chain breaker for cleaning the chain properly, anyone recommend one ? chainreactioncycles the best place to shop ?

Gav

Raam

Verb,
the link from my post is a chain cleaner that doesn't require you to break the chain, so you can clean it very easliy and quickly. Worked a treat for me. It comes with a cleaning fluid and a hook brush for cleaning out the cassette.
P

Gavin

Hey, aye they look good alright, but I figured that instead of getting a chain breaker and a chain cleaner, just get the breaker and clean the chain with degreaser in an empty water bottle.. Which is seemingly quite effective.

I didn't think so, but a chain breaker seems to be a fairly essential tool ? I've never used one, so don't really know what the procedure is

Gav

Raam

yeah I have a chain breaker too. It saved a long walk home for one of my mates one day up in the mountains. I've found that they can be awkward to use sometimes. I was putting a new chain on once, and felt like I needed three hands to do the job. After 30 minutes trying to get the chain on I was getting nowhere, so in a fit of temper I threw it down in disgust. Next morning I got up and did it in about 30 seconds

Civilian_Target

When I'm using the bike I clean the chain and general wipe down with old rag about every 2 weeks, and apply some more chain grease. I'd check tyre pressure at least weekly. Any time I'd get vaguely suspicious, I'd check the brakes.

Every 2 months or so I'd do a pretty much complete chain disassembly and complete clean up, as well as remove and check the wheels and tighten stuff.