Maintaining your bike is vitally important
IT’S not long now until the Innisfree Wheelers Autumn Sportive in Association with The Sligo Champion Skoda Burns Car Sales on September 2nd. Be bike ready for the event. One of the best ways to get the most from your bike is to ensure that it’s clean and ready for action. A good clean every week will mean that your bike is ready to carry you out on another ride as soon as your legs are willing. Failing to clean the bike after your ride on a regular basis can result in gradual wear and tear.
Keep it clean: Washing your bike after a ride can be a pain but it’s important to do it regularly to keep it in good working order. Start by giving the frame a basic wipe. Use a sponge and a bucket of water – don’t be tempted to blast it with a hose as this will force water into the bearings.
Spray the bike with a bike cleaning product, and leave it for a couple of minutes – see the back of the bottle for the optimum length of time.
A proper degreaser will help break down the oil and grit in the chain and gear sprockets Next, spray the deraillieurs and chainset with a degreasing agent and give them a good (but gentle) scrub. It may be easier to take the chain off the chainring to do this. Spray degreaser over the chain and cassette – and give them a scrub.
Rinse off the bike and dry, dry the chain with an old rag and apply chain lube to the chain and the pivot points on the derailleurs. Keep your tyres inflated properly: Poorly inflated tyres are prone to punctures. You need a standing track pump with a pressure gauge to do the job. Look on the side of your tyre for a number followed by the letters PSI. That tells you how much air to put in.
Check your brake pads: Brake pads need replacing from time to time they wear down over time. Fitting new brake pads is a very cheap and easy fix.
Silence squeaky brakes: Screeching brakes are often dirty brakes, or at least dirty wheel rims. Clean and dry both properly and 50% of the time, you’ve solved the problem. If that doesn’t work, they might need adjusting. Get a professional service
Once a year should be fine, ideally at the start of spring if you’ve been brave enough to cycle though winter. Think of it as your bicycle MOT.
Lubrication: Buy some bike-specific lubricant and use it sparingly on any parts of your bike where metal touches metal. There is no point oiling your chain unless you have cleaned it properly first – you’ll make matters worse.
Get your saddle perfect: Setting the right saddle height is essential for comfort, efficiency and avoiding injury. Sit on the bike with it attached to a turbo trainer, or hold onto a wall – just make sure the bike is straight. Place your heel on the pedal, with it at around the 6’oclock position.
Your leg should be completely straight with your foot in this position.
If you’ve got a bend in the knee, the saddle needs to go up.
If your hips tilt or move at all when you place your heel on the pedal, the saddle needs to go down Buy some latex gloves: Bike oil is a nightmare to get out from under your nails. If it’s too late for that, scrub your hands with washing up liquid and sugar, only adding water right at the end.
Air: Be sure you have enough air in your tires Brakes: Look to see that your brake pads are not worn Chain and Cranks: Pull on your cranks to see that they are not loose and look to see that the chain is not rusted and it is free of gunk Quick Release: Make sure all quick releases are closed Check: Take a slow brief ride to check that your bike is working properly.
Day 1: 60 minutes. Steady pace. Include three 20 second intervals at a fast pace with 45 seconds recovery between each effort.
Day 2: 90 minutes. Steady pace.
Include 30 minutes at a brisk pace mid-way through the ride. Day 3: 60 minutes. Steady pace.
Include two 15 minute intervals at a brisk pace.10 minute warm up,15 minute brisk,10 minutes steady, 15 minutes brisk, 10 minutes easy.
Day 4: 150 minutes. Steady pace over variable terrain.