Maintenance
Regular maintenance of the bike and its components ensures a smooth and efficient riding experience, minimises injuries and mechanical issues during rides and saves money over the longer term.
- cleaning
- disk brakes
- rim brakes
- Chain
- gears & derailleur
- bolts
- bearings (local bike shop)
Add bike components to Strava
Make it easy to track usage and wear of chain, rear cassette and brake pads by adding them as components to your bike on Strava.
In the Settings > My Gear page, add your bike with a meaningful name and details of make and model (especially useful if you have multiple bikes). Once the bike has been added, select that bike and start adding components.
Essential bike components are tyres, chain, rear cassette and disk brakes. Also consider adding wheels, front chain rings, clip-in peddles, brake and shifter cables and disc brake rotors (where applicable).
Unfortunately Strava doesnt let you add cycling shoes, which would allow you to track the wear of both shoes and cleates. However, its easy to visually inspect wear on the cleates once off the bicycle.
Regular cleaning
Keeping the bike clean minimise wear of the components, especially the chain and rear cassette. A clean chain set will change gear smoothly and cause less mess when maintaining your bike or fixing a puncture.
A clean bike also weighs less, is more aero and looks nicer (especially when taking a break at a coffee shop).
Chain
Keep the chain clean and it will last much longer, with less wear on the cassette and front chain rings.
A clean chain can save between 10 to 25 watts compared to a dirty chain, especially in damp or wet conditions.
The inner part of the chain, the rollers, are the most important part to clean and lubricate.
Cleaning
My recommended approach is to invert the bicycle and use an old toothbrush (or similar) to brush the dirt from the chain.
Apply liquid soap to the brush head (or spray a little on the chain). Brush across the chain and slowly move the chain with the peddle. Apply more soap as required until the chain has been brushed all the way around several times.
Place the brush on the exposed side of a guide wheels (jockey wheel). Slowly move the peddle to rotate the guide wheel and start cleaning it. Repeat for the other guide wheel.
Pour water over the guide wheels whilst peddling slowly to clean the whole chain and guide wheels. Once the chain looks clean, peddle faster to spin most of the water off the chain.
Repeat this process if the chain still seems unclean.
Lubricate
Ensure the chain is dry, using a cloth or paper towel.
Use a bicycle lubricant and place a small drop on each roller of the chain. Move the chain slowly to quickly apply a drop on each roller of the chain.
Peddle the chain whilst changing gears on the rear cassette, allowing the lubricant to move all around each roller.
Finally wipe all the excess lubricant from the chain, especially on the outside. Excess lubrication will collect dirt and make lubrication less effective.
Are you lubricating your chain correctly? - GCN Tech
Avoid lubricating the cassette or front rings
Adding lubrication to the cassette will collect dirt which will then go onto the chain and cause wear.
Lubrication types
A common lubrication oil is suitable for most riders. Most oils are suitable for dry and wet weather riding.
Wax is a high end approach to lubrication although there are many grades of wax with varying degrees of quality. A quality wax will prolong the chain life longer than oil, if applied correctly and regularly cleaned and reapplied.
Low quality waxes are no better than oil and may be worse, especially when they start collecting dirt.
Not all waxes are suitable for wet conditions and can cause additional wear to chain and cassette.
WD40 is a not a bicycle lubricant
WD40 is a solvent that is more useful as a cleaning product than a lubricant. WD40 strips away grease that would lubricate the chain, evaporating quickly and leaving the chain more vulnerable to corrosion.
Typical chain weights
| Manufacturer | Model | Speed | Weight (grams) | Cost GBP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TANKE | X11L Hollow | 11 | 263 | 5-10 |
| SRAM | PC1110 | 11 | 259 | 15 |
| Shimano | CN-HG701 | 11 | 257 | 18 |
Shimano stamped text should be on the outside of the chain when fitted correctly
Cross-chaining adds more wear to a chain - losses 10-20 watts looses many watts of power
Lab test of a dirty chain - GCN Tech
Keeping a higher cadence is more power efficient as the watt resistance is higher in smaller cassette gears, because of increased friction in the chain as it traverses the cassette. Using larger guide wheels in the derailleur (jockey wheels) helps to reduce friction.
Chain Length
New chains are sold for the longest chain set, e.g. 50-36 for a road bike. The chain should be measured and excess links removed to ensure the correct chain length.
When replacing a worn chain, the new chain can be compared to ensure the new chain is the correct length for the gears.
If the chain being replaced was damaged it may not be the right length. Wrap the new chain around the largest front ring and largest cassette ring, there should be two extra links (4 pins) for the correct chain length.
Chain wear
The inner rollers are the part of the chain that wears out, causing the chain to effectively 'stretch' in length.
Once a chain has worn more than 75% then it should be replaced to avoid damaging the rear cassette and front ring(s).
It is common to change a chain twice or three times for the life of a cassette.
Tyres
Clincher & inner tube is the most commonly used tyre for road bikes as they are cheaper, lighter and easier to maintain than other alternatives.
Lower pressures increase the probability of punctures - its physics
Inflating tyres over there manufacturers recommendation will cause serious injury
Removing a tyre
Remove the tyre using tyre levers. Plastic levers are recommended to avoid damaging the tyre (or making additional holes in the inner tube).
Start opposite the valve stem.
Push the outside wall of the tyre towards the middle of the wheel rim. The circumference of the wheel is smaller in the centre.
Gently feed the tyre lever into the gap created, underneath the bead of the tyre. Gently push down on the tyre lever and clip the end on the nearest spoke to keep it in position.
Feed a second tyre lever under the tyre near the first, pushing the tyre wall into the center if there is not a sufficient gap.
Push down on the second lever and
Failed inner tube
Clincher tyres should be inflated to the manufacturers recommended pressure (PSI). Lower pressures will cause extra wear on the tyre and increase the probability of a deflated tyre through a puncture.
When a deflated tyre occurs due to a puncture, use a spare inner tube to replace the failed tube. Or find the hole in the failed inner tube and repair with a suitable patch.
High pressure tyres flick away sharp stones and other debris, greatly reducing the risk of punctures
Tubless
A tubless tyre will experience punctures just like any other tyre. A liquid sealant is added to quickly block those punctures before the tyre deflates.
When the sealant is effective, the rider should not need to stop for repair.
If a larger hole is created by a puncture or the sealant has not been maintained, a deflated tyre can still occur.
Riders should carry tubless plug tool to help patch larger holes.
The rider will need to stop, locate the hole in the tyre and insert a plug big enough to fill most of the hole.
The wheel should then be spun for 30 seconds to a minute to activate the sealant and fully block the hole.
Pump up the tyre to the manufacturers recommended pressure.
If a plug and sealant does not fix the puncture, then an inner tube should be fitted (as with a Clincher tyre repair).
The inside of the tyre should be cleaned of sealant so the tyre can be checked for sharp objects that would puncture the inner tube. Unless tyres are new, there may be many sharp objects embedded within the tyre, covered in hardened sealant.
Low quality sealant may fail to block punctures