rydabent

Feb is the month for those of us in the snow belt to get our bikes and trikes ready for the summer riding season. It is time to grease and lube all the bearings, and go over the whole bike and check all bolts and nuts. Doing it this early will give you time to order and get any parts you find bad and put them on. A total going over will keep you from having to walk home this summer. As a life long technician, I have always done this, and I have never had to walk home.

XxHaimBondxX

Summer? What happened to spring?

indyfabz

Thanks for the yearly reminder. It slipped my mind.

ScottCommutes

Change your clocks, change your smoke detector batteries. Change your smoke detector batteries, lube your bike.

veganbikes

While rydabent sometimes does have opinions people dislike and says things that aren't always likable this post is a fine post. People should spend their winter getting their bikes ready for riding if they are not riding through the winter. I will say yes they did miss spring and the post could have been done earlier but overhaul or tune your bikes with some regularity and if you aren't doing it yourself winter is the best time to take it to the shop less busy and you will be ready to go for that nice spring day. Once it hits you just are pumping your tires and ready to ride while everyone is waiting in line at the shop.

I know we can be snarky here, myself included but overall a message to get your bikes ready is not bad. Unleash on someone when they actually post something bad not when they are giving decent advice.

dedhed

Seems like our whole winter has been spring here this year. So far 1 real snow storm and I haven't trusted the ice enough to go ice fishing.

Rick_D

Agree, especially now that days are getting longer there's more time and opportunity.

This season here winter has been shy about even showing, so riding continued more than typical. Cold and wet now, but January had a high of 73, December 68, and November a boggling 81.

But the bikes pretty filthy and can use a little love. Better now than waiting until it's in the 90s. Don't care for sweat dripping onto my work

ofajen

Good point. I’ve been toying with the idea of switching my road bike this year from a freewheel to a fixed gear. So I need to find an appropriate track or flip flip hub rear wheel that has a wide enough rim to handle a 35mm tire width. Need to get on that now.

Otto

LarrySellerz

Good to see you posting, Rydabent

indyfabz

It’s recycled material. And people should do what they want to do. Besides, how long does it take to get a bike ready to ride? I didn’t ride a bike for almost a year. I pumped up my tires and I oiled my chain and went for some rides later fall.

veganbikes

Sure but it is useful none the less. People can do what they want to do and can take whatever little or loads of time they need to get their bike ready. However in this case 'bent was actually not giving poor advice or doing anything bad. It is one thing to go after someone when they are saying stupid stuff which we all know has happened in their case but a reminder to tune up and overhaul bikes for the upcoming seasons not a bad idea. Maybe you and I don't need it, maybe it has been said before but there are always new members, people finding us on the google searches and old members who don't take care of their bikes and this may help them.

Look I am all for knocking people down a few pegs when they say something dumb or are repeat offenders but if they actually have something decent enough to say I don't think we always need to be negative. I enjoy it for certain I am not afraid of being cynical or even a little misanthropy from time to time that but I am trying to be more positive and I think we all could use a little bit of that. There is so much in the world to be negative about bikes don't always have to be a part of that!

indyfabz

Where is Dr. Rick when you need him?

Koyote

This post seems disrespectful to Australians.

Polaris OBark

I check the bike after every ride, and address maintenance issues immediately.

Every five years, whether it needs it or not, I take the seals off my Chris King headset, clean, and apply new grease. (I use the Gen 1 lifetime supply ring-lube grease, which they recommend.) Then I put it back together. But it has never looked like it needed maintenance so frequently.

Winter is the time when you guilt-trip your S.O. into permitting you to purchase a new bike.

zandoval 

February in Central Texas is one of the few months we can actually get into our Garages and Storage Sheds without suffering Heat Injury... Ha

OldTryGuy

My heart is saddened for y'all's suffering the indignities' of Winter -- as for me -- 55.55 miles in awesome winter weather yesterday here in SW FL

Have no fear, Spring is just around the corner, or is it the next corner ???

Pratt

I have sunblock, does that count?

SurferRosa

Why aren't the bikes ride-ready already? Don't you keep them in tip-top shape for every ride? If you have several bikes, each fully overhauled when acquired, there's little need to overhaul them every five years, much less every year.

Of course, ymmv.

spelger

oil? immersive waxing / it should be more popular.

PDKL45

You guys don't ride through winter there in the US? OP did call it a snowbelt, so maybe states with a built up snowpack keeping the gravel and MTB riders off their bikes? But they don't clear your roads and bike paths? They've become really good about it here in South Korea, with little Bobcats and rotary sweepers/regular front buckets running up and down the bike paths in the aftermath of snow, so hardpacked snow ice isn't really a huge concern anymore. The big one for us has been really wet snow/rain/sleet/wintery mix falling for hours, before the cold front blows the precipitation through and freezes everything that just fell. That's only a few days off the bike, though. Lots of people just ride through the winter here with appropriate clothing and things like neoprene overshoes and thick helmet liners. The temperature's more of a problem for us than the snow.

indyfabz

I think you missed the reference.

Wait for the chorus:

rsbob 

Still haven’t gotten over saying “nah, nah, de nah, nah” from grammar school?

Sierra_rider

In between snow storms, I get out pretty regularly during the winter...so maintenance is a year round/as needed thing for me. Besides, I freely exercise the N+1 metric to bike ownership, so I usually have a back up or few to ride when needed.

LarrySellerz

Not riding a bike to the grave every year or so is a foreign concept to me

plumberroy

I address any issues as they come up but I do put each bike on the stand during the winter and check everything plus clean up and lube as needed