SERVICE YOUR BIKE
If you find yourself too familiar with the inside décor of the bike repair shop, then read our easy guide to fixing five common bike problems...
Our super mechanic shows how you can fix a lot of common bike problems like a pro – and save yourself money.
There are times when your bike seems to see a mechanic more than it sees you, and while mechanics are a valuable resource for the hightech stuff, there are a few ways you can keep your bike running better, for longer.
Our bicycles, while being relatively basic mechanical systems, are a labyrinth of fixtures, mountings and other connections that have a propensity to work loose, become dislodged and generally misbehave. It’s worth going over your bike at regular intervals and making sure everything is secure, properly aligned and appropriately tightened. Firstly, if you don’t own one already, buy a torque wrench, or befriend someone who has one.
There are some common reasons bikes are taken into shops, and the good news is that often it’s fixable at home. In this feature, we’ll look at these reoccurring issues and give you the knowledge to reduce the frequency of those trips to the bike shop.
1 Frequent punctures
Nothing breaks up a ride like a flat tyre. In the haste to fix it, it’s possible to miss some of the offending debris, or pick up more. It’s also more common than you might think to shift a rim tape, exposing the tube to the sharp edges of the spoke holes. Take the time to inspect inside and outside the tyre, as some debris will be hiding just under the surface but will reveal itself under pressure. If you can’t afford the time, take the tyre off when you get home and go over it more thoroughly. You’ll thank yourself when you find more garbage in your tyre and your rim tape out of place.
There’s little more frustrating than pumping up a tyre to find you’ve pinched it putting it back on. Learn how to do it without levers – there are only a few combinations that are difficult to overcome without technique, and your tyres will loosen a little each time you take them off. Once installed, go around the bead on both sides of the tyre and make sure the tube isn’t visible between the bead and the rim.
Many tyres have wear indicators. These vary, but where there is tread on or close to the middle of a tyre, it’s worn out when that starts to fade.
The single easiest way to avoid regular punctures is to keep your tyres inflated as keeping your tyres full of good air makes them more resistant to intrusion.
“It’s more common than you might think to shift a rim tape, exposing the tube to the sharp edges of the spoke holes”
2 Bike makes a noise at irregular intervals
Make sure your wheels are properly seated. It’s almost impossible not for them to be with bolt-through systems but if you have quick releases on one or both wheels, ensure the axles are fully inserted into the dropouts. The easiest way to do this is to have the bike standing upright and apply pressure downwards on the stem (for front wheel) or saddle (for rear wheel) while closing the QR lever.
Remove all components that are clamped, clean the clamping area and reinstall using grease or carbon grip paste where appropriate, tightening all fixtures to the manufacturer’s recommended torque. Then check the alignment of your stem and the rotation of your bars.
“If you have quick releases on one or both wheels, ensure the axles are fully inserted into the dropouts”
3 Skipping chain
Is it ‘skipping’ between gears, as in not staying in the selected gear, or is it ‘slipping’ – staying in gear while giving way under increased power? Skipping can be for a variety of reasons, whereas slipping is almost always down to worn out components. Chain wear is commonly misinterpreted, so the easiest way to check drivetrain wear involves getting dirty hands. Shift the chain onto the big ring, then at the 3 o’clock position or front edge of the chainring, pull the chain away from the ring. Even a new setup will have movement, but when the chain moves far enough to reveal most of the teeth close to where you’re moving it, you know the time is coming to change your drivetrain.
Rather than examine the many reasons for chain skipping let’s use a process of elimination...
IS IT COMPATIBLE?
If you haven’t changed any components, it’s to be hoped that everything is as it should be – but not guaranteed. Make sure you have an 11-speed cassette if you have 11 speed shifters, and so on. If you have changed individual parts, this can get a bit more complicated, but a brief search of the relevant manufacturer’s websites should tell you what you need to know.
IS IT STRAIGHT?
Misaligned mech hangers are a common cause of
“Chain wear is commonly misinterpreted, so the easiest way to check drivetrain wear involves getting dirty hands”
gear issues – catastrophic if they’re bent enough to shift past the top of the cassette and into your wheel. Bent mech cages have a similar effect. The chain should run in a straight line vertically through the sprocket and jockey wheels.
CHECK LIMIT SCREWS
Often mistaken for barrel adjusters, they are almost always labelled H (high gear, smallest cog) and L (lowest gear, largest cog) and don’t usually move, but can creep over time. They should be adjusted to allow the chain to shift into the relevant gear, but limit the movement of the mech, so the chain can’t shift off the end of the cassette.
CHECK THE CABLE
If everything else seems fine, it could be a fraying, corroded or dislodged cable. It may just need tensioning. Inspect the inner by moving the shifter hood to look into the cable port on the shifter. Apply a little light lube and cycle the bike through the gears. You can use the barrel adjuster to tension the cable, or adjust it with the pinch bolt. The cable should be ‘guitar string’ tight when the mech is in its untensioned position.
These ideas apply to e-systems. They all have a means of finely adjusting the mech position relative to the cassette in each gear, and cabled systems need checking to ensure connections haven’t worked loose and cables haven’t become trapped while installing an unrelated component.
4 NOISY DRIVETRAIN
The steps in ‘problem 3’ may still apply, but the most common reason for a noisy drivetrain is lack of cleaning or lubrication.
Keeping your bike clean not only makes it look better, it also makes it last longer. The less grime that’s on your drivetrain and braking surfaces, the less abrasive material you have wearing your precious bike into the ground. Use an appropriate cleaner, specific brushes for ‘drivetrain’ and ‘not drivetrain’ so you don’t use an oily one on your brakes, and some warm water. Dry it off using separate cloths once again, and apply a small but sufficient amount of lubricant to your chain and jockey wheel pivots, being particularly careful that any airborne residue cannot make its way onto braking surfaces.