You’re riding your bike often now and you’re wondering what you need to do to keep it up, right? Maybe not but let’s pretend for the moment that you want to keep your bike ready, out of the bike shop and embracing the greasy ways of working on your own bike.
Pump Up Your Tires
Check your air pressure a few times a week. On a high pressure road tire I’m checking it almost every ride to avoid flats and excessive wear. Or my mountain bike I get away with less pressure so I only check it once a week or so.
Lube Your Chain
Lubing your chain keeps your drive train shifting well, not squeaking and makes it last a lot longer.
Safety Check
This includes: Checking your tires and brake pads for wear. Making sure your brakes stop and gears shift. Finally check that the wheels are round (not hitting your brakes) and wipe down your frame to look for any cracks or dents in the frame/fork area.
Do you have any questions on how to do the three above? I plan on going over all of the above in their own articles.
[...] hit upon the preventative maintenance and how to lube your chain so now is a weekly safety check that all riders should know how to do. A [...]