Steve’s Bike Tech:
Keep Your Bike Clean and in Safe Condition
By Steve Bowen

In the last few weeks as the weather has turned warmer and cyclists start into the annual routine of longer rides, I have seen a good many bicycles with serious service issues. This has prompted me to think about what kind of regular maintenance should be performed, what issues need to be considered to keep one’s bike performing reliably and safely, and how to keep that expensive bike of yours from becoming scrap. I really can’t emphasize this too strongly; a bicycle is a complex machine with many moving parts and it simply must be cared for properly. So, here are some suggestions for what to do and check regularly. Some things you can do yourself, and some might best be performed by an experienced bike mechanic.

Before every ride: Put air in the tires. Always. Tires lose pressure all the time. Keeping your tires properly inflated will minimize your chance of flats and prevent excessive road shock from destroying your rims and spokes. Follow the tire manufacturers pressure recommendations, usually stamped into the tire sidewall, but unless you are especially heavy use about 10% less than the maximum. This reduces premature tire wear and gives better traction on corners. Contrary to popular belief, you won’t increase rolling resistance unless the tire is more than about 20% low (another good reason to inflate before every ride.) Spin both wheels to make sure the rims are not rubbing on the brake shoes. If they rub, it is often as a result of the wheel not being straight in the dropouts. If the wheel is mounted properly and still rubs in one or more spots, the wheel is not true (out of round) and needs to have the spoke tension adjusted. You can learn to do this yourself, but you need a truing stand and some practice. If there is a really bad wobble you may have a broken spoke. Check the brakes to make sure they are equidistant from each side of the rim, and be certain that there is sufficient cable tension to stop the bike. You can turn the adjusting barrel where the brake cable housing goes into the brake counter-clockwise to put more tension on the brake cables.

After every ride: Check the tires for cuts and cracks and wipe the chain off after every ride. We live in an incredibly dirty environment. There’s a lot off soot in the air; it gets on the roads and is picked up by your drivetrain. It’s carried by the chain into your derailleurs, cassette and chainrings, and grinds away at your expensive components. And especially if you ride at or near the beach, clean your chain as soon as you get home. Sand is unbelievably abrasive. Even if all you do is keep a rag where you store your bike and hold the rag around the chain while turning the pedals backwards, you will save yourself a lot of service headaches by keeping the chain clean.

Once a month:

• Clean the chain really thoroughly. Get a chain cleaning machine (about $25 - $30) that uses solvent and rotating brushes to scrub the chain. You can also get a cleaner like White Lightning Clean Streak, spray it on the entire chain and the cassette, and let dry or blow it dry with an air compressor. Another way is to wet down the drive train, spray on a foaming cleanser (Simple Green and Zep both make good ones), let the foam soak in for a few minutes, and rinse with a light spray of water. After cleaning the chain you will need to re-lubricate it. Using a “dry” lube like White Lightning, T-9, or a Teflon-based lube will help to keep your chain from becoming a dirt magnet. WD-40 is really a solvent, and is a poor lubricant. You can use it to clean your drivetrain, but it won’t properly lubricate it. I recommend not using it on your bike at all.

• Inspect your tires very carefully for cuts, worn tread, sidewall cracks, or bulges. Run your fingers over the braking surface of the rims. If you feel an indentation or unevenness, the rims are showing signs of wear from the brakes rubbing on them. If there is any doubt, have a shop inspect the rims. This is a potentially very dangerous situation; I have actually seen a wheel where the sidewall peeled off like an onion and the wheel collapsed. Check the rim around the spoke nipples for hairline cracks. This is actually pretty common. Again, a potentially dangerous situation. Check for corrosion at the point where the spoke is threaded into the nipple. 2 or 3 times a year, put a drop of your favorite chain lube on this junction to keep it from becoming frozen. If you can’t turn the spoke nipples to true the wheel, you will need to have the wheel rebuilt or replaced sooner than is otherwise necessary.

• Try to push the wheels from side to side. If there is play, the cones need to be adjusted or the hub bearings are wearing out. Pull the front brake lever with your left hand, and with your right hand hold the bike just above the head tube and below the handlebar. Try to rock the front wheel forward and backward. If you feel any play, the headset tension needs to be adjusted or the headset bearings are worn. Have this taken care of right away. Headset play can lead to shimmy at higher speeds, and can also result in uneven wear on the inside of the head tube (translation: your frame is toast). Grab a pedal with each hand and try to rock the crankset from side to side. If there is play, either the bottom bracket cups are loose or the bearings are worn. Spin the cranks backwards and see if you can feel any roughness or grinding in the bearings. Check for roughness or grinding also in the headset and wheel hubs.

Once a year: Have your bike tuned up by an experienced bike mechanic. Make sure to ask him or her to check all the bearings, cables and housings, chain, wheels, tires and brake shoes. These are all items that are subject to wear and corrosion, so don’t be surprised if they need to be replaced on a semi-regular basis. Sometimes chains last only a thousand miles or less, especially if you ride near the beach a lot. If you have loose ball bearings in the headset, bottom bracket or hubs, they should be re-greased once a year. Sealed bearings can also have their grease dry out, and it is possible to pack new grease in them. They can also be easily replaced. If your mechanic balks at inspecting or servicing the bearings (this happened to me a lot when I was a bike consumer) find another mechanic. You shouldn’t have to risk ruining your expensive bike because a mechanic is too lazy to check the bearings.

Every 2 – 3 years: Have your bike completely disassembled, have the drivetrain cleaned in solvent and have the frame thoroughly inspected for corrosion, cracks or unusual wear. Even if you take good care of your bike on a regular basis, there may be internal problems that can only be found during complete disassembly. At my shop, we have a customer who keeps his bike meticulously clean. During a routine service, our mechanic noticed a little corrosion under the handlebar stem. He found that the stem was frozen onto the fork steerer tube, and had to break the headset spacers to get the stem off. Then he couldn’t get the fork out to inspect the headset bearings. This cyclist sweats a lot when he rides, and the sweat apparently drips down into the headset. We will have to break the headset (an expensive Chris King model) to get the fork out, and try our best not to destroy the fork in the process.

Take a little extra time before and after each ride, set aside a few minutes once a month and plan for yearly tune-ups. That way you will keep your bike safe and healthy until you decide you just have to have that latest light-weight, high-tech wonder and not have the decision to buy a new bike forced on you before you’re ready.