Done your spring maintenance yet?
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Done your spring maintenance yet?
I usually do that some weekend when I can do mine, the GFs and another friend's bikes all at the same time. I hadn't gotten to that yet this year, but did manage to change the oil in all the cars on Saturday. I should have done the bicycles too, this morning as I was putting air in the tires I noticed some loose spokes in the front wheel and by the time I quit trying to get it good enough to get me to work and back I'd managed to get the wheel out of round enough to hit the brake. So I got to drive today, and will have to deal with this problem later.
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I tend to do a lot of that over winter, when I'm otherwise bored and fidgety. The fixed-gear gets maintained on a when-needed basis, and the other stuff doesn't need much apart from cleaning and chain lube.
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I was going to do some maintenance this weekend, but I never got a Round Tuit. Saturday it was too far to the garage with all that rain, and Sunday it stopped raining so I got to ride. Poor me!
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Those Round Tuits are always in short supply!
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Been meaning to give one of my bikes a thorough cleaning for two years now. Problem is I live in an apartment, so that would mean the bathtub, which isn't ideal (I've tried it with other bikes). So that bike is pretty dirty, but the bearings have been freshly cleaned and lubed, and the cables are fresh. I can live with that.
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Because of my surgery recovery, I'm putting off my spring maintenance... til autumn! Bike needs a couple of chain links replaced so I'll probably just replace the whole chain. Have been planning a new rear tire though it's probably not really necessary. The tread isn't too far gone but I want one with a better compound that's "real" tubeless and doesn't seep.
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I knew the odds of my getting it true enough to continue riding were slim, but knew it was better to try than not try knowing I was going to take a more thorough look at it later. I'm not sure how old the front wheel is, but I know I've had it for a while and it has some miles on it. It's only a matter of time until I need to go find somewhere local to replace Performance as my LBS, and this may be my motivation.
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The hubs on my road bikes are all high quality and I've never had to service them. The hubs on my fixed gear commuter (two sets of wheels) are cheap and all need to be lubed. I'm not sure what I'll find, but I used to do loose ball bearing repacks all the time, so I hope they're like that.
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Me + wife + 4 kids, all with multiple bikes. Maintenance all year.
However, this spring...
92 Bridgestone MB3 got new Continental Traffic tires, new Kool Stop dual compound brake pads for canti's properly adjusted, new Blackburn racks front and rear, chain cleaned and waxed, and shifting dialed in.
91 Bridgestone MB4 got a new Schwalbe Hurricane front tire but left a Continental Travel Contact on rear to keep on rolling, new chain, brakes and shifting dialed in this spring. Smooth as silk, fits great, original SunTour XC Pro, my favorite bike I own. I have kept fresh chains on this bike for years and am still rocking the original Sugino chainrings, original and hard to replace freewheel, original shifters, etc.
Partner's 90's Specialized rigid mtn bike commuter got new Kenda Cross tires, new Kool Stop dual compound pads, clean and tuned drive train w/ fresh wax on chain.
Wife got a new to her beautiful 1982 Univega Safari mixte in April. Cleaned and tuned and ready to ride.
Oldest son has two 90's Specialized Rockhoppers but neither needed much if any work. I did put one new Schwalbe Hurricane tire up front and moved my other Continental Travel Contact to the rear of this bike this spring. Same very effective tire setup as my MB4. This bike could use brake pad replacement at some point.
Youngest two boys both have nice single speed BMX bikes that are usually good to go.
They both have 90's steel 24 inch mtn bikes w/ racks and well set up. They both got new Michelin tires last fall.
Nothing really needed except youngest got a new rechargeable headlight last week.
Our three dedicated touring bikes don't really need much until prep before heading out. Pretty much good to go, now.
My go to road bike could use a little fresh lube and correct tire pressure. Easy to do before next ride.
We are ready to roll going in to summer, here.
At least it will be hot in Texas.
However, this spring...
92 Bridgestone MB3 got new Continental Traffic tires, new Kool Stop dual compound brake pads for canti's properly adjusted, new Blackburn racks front and rear, chain cleaned and waxed, and shifting dialed in.
91 Bridgestone MB4 got a new Schwalbe Hurricane front tire but left a Continental Travel Contact on rear to keep on rolling, new chain, brakes and shifting dialed in this spring. Smooth as silk, fits great, original SunTour XC Pro, my favorite bike I own. I have kept fresh chains on this bike for years and am still rocking the original Sugino chainrings, original and hard to replace freewheel, original shifters, etc.
Partner's 90's Specialized rigid mtn bike commuter got new Kenda Cross tires, new Kool Stop dual compound pads, clean and tuned drive train w/ fresh wax on chain.
Wife got a new to her beautiful 1982 Univega Safari mixte in April. Cleaned and tuned and ready to ride.
Oldest son has two 90's Specialized Rockhoppers but neither needed much if any work. I did put one new Schwalbe Hurricane tire up front and moved my other Continental Travel Contact to the rear of this bike this spring. Same very effective tire setup as my MB4. This bike could use brake pad replacement at some point.
Youngest two boys both have nice single speed BMX bikes that are usually good to go.
They both have 90's steel 24 inch mtn bikes w/ racks and well set up. They both got new Michelin tires last fall.
Nothing really needed except youngest got a new rechargeable headlight last week.
Our three dedicated touring bikes don't really need much until prep before heading out. Pretty much good to go, now.
My go to road bike could use a little fresh lube and correct tire pressure. Easy to do before next ride.
We are ready to roll going in to summer, here.
At least it will be hot in Texas.
Last edited by AusTexMurf; 05-06-19 at 03:29 PM.
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if routine preventive maintenance was done right shouldnt have many problems. riders that store bicycles during the winter should only need to check chain, tires, cables depending on quality may need lubed. lights with corroded batteries happens to me. loose spokes would be just a realized found issue.
Last edited by roashru; 05-06-19 at 03:54 PM.
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I usually do that some weekend when I can do mine, the GFs and another friend's bikes all at the same time. I hadn't gotten to that yet this year, but did manage to change the oil in all the cars on Saturday. I should have done the bicycles too, this morning as I was putting air in the tires I noticed some loose spokes in the front wheel and by the time I quit trying to get it good enough to get me to work and back I'd managed to get the wheel out of round enough to hit the brake. So I got to drive today, and will have to deal with this problem later.
I volunteer at a bicycle co-op here that has Fix Your Bike hours 3 days a week including 6 hours on Saturday (my shift). We have 6 stands and free tools usage in a relatively large shop area. I have never understood why we can have empty stands in the winter when the weather is too bad for riding but we a swamped when the weather warms up. On Saturdays, we can have as many as 6 people waiting for a stand. Why don't they come by in the winter? The weather is too nice to spend it working on bikes...says the guy who gives up nearly every Saturday!
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#13
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I usually do the Spring maintenance about two weekends before planning on starting my commute. If something needs changing, I have time to do it before I start my commute. The maintenance includes regreasing the hub's bearings, BB bearings, retensioning the spoke's tensions/trueing the wheels, degreasing/cleaning the derailleurs/cassette/chainrings, cleaning/oiling the brakes arms/lugs/seat post and finally check the cables for frills/stickiness.
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Not much for me to do. I hung up the winter wheels, still looking for a beater frame that I can put them on next winter. I check my bikes for problems whenever I have a reason to work on one, such as to fix a flat. That's usually often enough that nothing gets too far out of hand.
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I did some maintenance this weekend but it was more tweaking and upgrading. I added a Garmin mount to my road bike and swapped the tires to Continental GT4000s from the Cont. race tires that came on it in 2016. they looked okay but slightly flattened out. I relubed my chain on my commuter and tightened some nuts on my fenders because I had developed some sort of rattle. Rolling smooth and quiet now.
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One thing I learned when I rode motorcycles was that I could combine the benefits of a thorough check of things an reduce the likelihood of making dumb mistakes due to over exuberance by doing the annual maintenance that first nice weekend we had. Let the knotheads realize they were rusty after not riding during the winter by doing something stupid then was the way I looked at it, and I usually found a few things to take care of that I hadn't remembered from when I put the bike away for the winter.
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I did a lot of maintenance last week, it was in the spring, but not because of it.
I had bought some bar tape and brake hoods, and thought I'd be able to just pop them on, but either I'm an idiot or there's no way to get brake hoods on except by taking the brakes off the bars completely and pulling them on from the back. In order to do that I (had to?) disconnect all my brake and shifter cables, and then wire everything back up again. Plus patch 3 of my 2 tubes, and while I was at it I swapped tires.
I'm a slow worker, it took me a solid 5 hours, and I didn't even have to redo much, except reopen that front tire to patch it again.
I didn't wash the frame though; I like my mud. It makes my bike look bad-as and also it protects the paint (right?)
I had bought some bar tape and brake hoods, and thought I'd be able to just pop them on, but either I'm an idiot or there's no way to get brake hoods on except by taking the brakes off the bars completely and pulling them on from the back. In order to do that I (had to?) disconnect all my brake and shifter cables, and then wire everything back up again. Plus patch 3 of my 2 tubes, and while I was at it I swapped tires.
I'm a slow worker, it took me a solid 5 hours, and I didn't even have to redo much, except reopen that front tire to patch it again.
I didn't wash the frame though; I like my mud. It makes my bike look bad-as and also it protects the paint (right?)
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DSCN1274 by Stuart Black, on Flickr
Of course if your bike was make of a metal that passivates itself and becomes somewhat impervious to corrosion, you wouldn't need paint!
IMG_3144 by Stuart Black, on Flickr
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
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Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
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yawp, I might get me some TIE tayneeum someday.
That scene looks familiar, is it from your Dinosaurs in Colorado set?
That scene looks familiar, is it from your Dinosaurs in Colorado set?
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No. It’s along my commute to Golden on Clear Creek in Wheatridge. I’ve posted it before. Taking the picture was a challenge. I had to get across the little gap on the left side of the picture. It’s actually about 4’ deep and runs really fast. And, damn, it was cold!
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#22
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Jubilé sat on the stand all winter long, getting worked on as I had time. Lots of love and a few upgrades as well. She did her first 2019 bike commute yesterday.
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I should have done a bit more over the winter, but I commute when I can, and I've been busy moving (AZ to UT), so I'm waiting to get the new ride next month, then I'll tear my two wheeler down and give it a good going over.