|
Sometimes you don’t have the time to properly tune everything before you throw your still-dirty bike on the back of your car and head for the trails. The problem with this learned laziness tends to be the lack of attention the mechanical parts of our bikes suffer. It’s easy to throw the bike on the car and hit the trail, but lack of maintenance can kill a ride as quickly as it starts. We all know it’s much nicer slicing through buff singletrack as opposed to spending an hour fixing a drivetrain mishap. That being said, hang your bike over a tree branch or off a trunk rack and remember these five-minute tips to keep your ride in tip-top shape.
1: Derailleurs
Throw your derailleur into the lowest gear (or highest if you’re using a low-normal unit) so that the spring is completely shortened. You’ll want to grab the parallelogram of the derailleur and spin the cranks with your opposite hand. As you spin those cranks, move the derailleur through the entire range of gears, checking the high set screw. Let it go from the high gear and keep spinning the cranks; the derailleur should return to the lowest gear smoothly. Add some overpressure carefully to test the low set screw and ensure your derailleur is safe from the hungry rear wheel.
Once you’re done testing the rear by hand, run the rear shifter up one gear and back down one gear a couple of times. Spin the barrel adjuster on the shifter/derailleur to make this single shift as quick as possible. Once you’re dialed in, shift through the whole range, one gear at a time, tweaking as necessary for smooth shifts. Repeat the same procedure for the front derailleur and you’ll be done with your shifting.
2: Brakes
Spin the wheels. Listen for rubbing or squealing. If you’ve got brake caliper rubbing, an easy and relatively quick alignment is to loosen the fixing bolts for the caliper, squeeze the lever tightly, and then gently re-tighten the fixing bolts. This should get your caliper pretty well centered over the rotor. Adjust as necessary to eliminate any rubbing.
Adjust your levers so they fall right at the middle of the last knuckle on your index finger, which will give you the best balance between modulation and power. You’ll want to have your brake levers positioned so that when you’re on the bike, your wrists are as close to neutral as possible to prevent wrist issues. Last, try spinning around the parking lot and perform a few hard stops with each brake to ensure they are working well.
3: Chain, Cassette, Chainrings and Freehub
For the most neglected part of your drivetrain, a few simple steps can save loads of headaches. Keep a small brush (Park Tool makes a great long bristle drivetrain brush) in your car and use it to clean out the cogs and chainrings. Scrub the chain quickly with the brush to get most of the grit off. Apply a drop of lube on each link and wipe with a clean towel or paper towel to lube up that chain. Check your freehub for play and adjust the bearings as necessary (depending on the kind of hub you own.)
4: Wheels and Tires
Spin your wheels and check for obviously untrue spots. If they are severely out of true, don’t ride them unless you are able to true them up on the spot. If they’re slightly out, you can use a spoke wrench to true up the bad spots until you’re close. Check your tires for proper inflation and ensure there are no tears in the sidewalls or a bunch of missing knobs (traction is a nice thing to have after all.) Check that your skewers are properly tightened and centered in the dropout. Losing a wheel could possibly put a crimp in your fun.
5: Suspension
Sit on the bike, check the sag in the shock and fork, and add air or adjust preload as necessary. Nothing can ruin a ride (or your wallet) like poorly maintained suspension parts that give up the ghost in the middle of a ride.
6: Pedals
This is an easy one: make sure they’re tightened onto the crank arms. Ever have a pedal come off a crank arm still attached to your cleat? I have and I looked incredibly stupid, not to mention it was somewhat unsafe. Don’t be like me.
If you make this your routine, this can be done in about 5 minutes, and it could save you an hour of pain-in-the-ass work from a stupid little mechanical gremlin. And when you’re standing there waiting for your buddy to fix HIS problem, you can smile and say “I told you so…”
Questions? Comments? Love letters? Send 'em to Techeditor@mountainbiketales.com.
| 
