Adjusting the air pressure in your suspension fork is supposed to be an easy part of routine
bike maintenance—but it isn’t always.
Air caps have a way of being ridiculously stubborn.
It’s tempting to break out the heavy artillery in these situations, but the solution is right
under your nose.
Your shock pump.
This can actually be used as a slide hammer to knock the air cap loose.
Just brace the handle of the pump on the cap, and then use the body of the pump to initiate
a precise impact.
This won’t scratch your air cap, and it makes use of a tool you already have handy.
It also works with most suspension forks.
Of course the next time you screw on your air cap, be sure not to make it so tight.
Even the best knee pads have a way of sliding around, especially if you’re doing a lot
of pedaling.
If you wear a chamois, you can stretch it over the top of your pads to hold them in
place.
I realize that this doesn’t work for all pads and that some of you are so tall that
your chamois doesn’t actually reach your pads, but for us short people this does an
incredible job.
I use Dakine chamois and they reach all my pads.
Another hidden benefit of this is warmth in the Winter months, as it makes for continuous
coverage down your leg.
As far as bike racks go, it doesn’t get much simpler than the tailgate of a pickup,
and today’s tailgate pads even include straps to secure your bike.
Still, they can bounce around on rough roads.
So if you’re on a long trip or doing any kind of over landing, you can use a ratchet
strap to hold several bikes in place at once.
Just use the tie downs in your bed to hook the strap over the bikes, and then crank it
down just enough to hold the bikes in place.
If you want even more security, you can wrap the strap around each bike, which will keep
them from moving side to side.
This trick also makes theft more difficult during quick stops like intersections.
These next two hacks come courtesy of Eric Porter, although these are both old tricks.
First, a way to secure the rear brake hose on your dirt jump or BMX bike.
Because these bikes are made for tricks like barspins, the hose is often left really long
so it can wrap around the steerer tube.
That leaves a lot of extra hose that can slap around and make noise.
Some people put a zip tie here, but it’s only a matter of time before it slides down.
For a permanent fix, put a zip tie around the hose loosely, and then pass another zip
tie through it and around your steerer tube.
This solution is barspin friendly, and costs only pennies.
So in my opinion, it’s about as good as hacks get.
Even mountain bikers who ride tubeless, still usually carry a tube for emergencies, and
if you want that tube to work for as many bikes as possible, use a 29.
You can actually shorten a 29 inch tube down to just about any size.
Just push down on the tube with your thumb, and pull it back so it folds over itself.
You can then keep pulling it down to achieve the size you’re going for.
It’s a good idea to do this opposite the valve stem to counterbalance the weight, but
in reality you won’t counterbalance anything.
This hack is strictly to get you home without having to walk your bike.
Here’s another inner tube hack.
Shraeder valves are found on BMX bikes, dirt jumpers, and unicycles, while presta valves
are found pretty much everywhere else.
Install a presta tube in a shraeder wheel, and it sits off center, flops around, and
allows for dirt ingress.
But you can solve all these issues with a presta valve cap.
Just cut it in half, and then screw it on to the stem upside down about a quarter of
the way up.
When you install the tube, it should make for a perfect fit.
Although this looks pretty official and will get you by, it’s still a hack.
If you run high pressure this could in theory stress the base of the valve stem and damage
the tube, so be aware of that and buy the right tube if you can.
That said, I did this for a bit at 60 PSI with no problems.
Small multi tools like this one are convenient, but they lack leverage.
If you’ve ever tried to break a pedal loose with one of these, you know it’s nearly
impossible.
But assuming your bike has thru axles, you can use one to add leverage to the tool.
First remove your thru axle, and then slide it over an unused hex wrench opposite the
one in your pedal.
It should now look like this.
In this configuration you can apply pressure to both the multi tool and the axle, giving
you the leverage to crack loose just about anything.
On hex thru axles you can use the hex head, and on quick release thru axles you can use
the hollow end.
Some may worry about damaging their axle doing this, but I tried several with no issues or
even so much as a mark.
but I don’t know how tight your pedals are or how strong your axle is.
So if you have any concerns about this hack, don’t use it.
Now for some trail building hacks, starting with one we’ve used on Berm Peak: Removing
small stumps with a reciprocating saw.
For this you want to use a pruning blade, and just cut around the stump in a circle.
For a little shrub this can get the stump out of the ground in under minute.
Having done this countless times now, I can confirm that it does no harm to the saw itself,
but it will put a little bit of a hurtin’ on your blade.
For slightly bigger stumps, this trick still does work but definitely takes an extra minute
or two.
When building dirt jumps, you ideally want soil without any sticks, pebbles, or roots
in it.
To get perfect dirt, you can use a leaf rake as a sifter.
Just rake some soil into a pile, scoop it up with the leaf rake, and then shift it around
until you’re left with just sticks and pebbles in the rake.
This takes some time, but if all you need is a top layer on a little jump like this
one, it works great and leaves you with perfect, chocolaty soil that compacts like it’s supposed
to.
With a little practice, you can do the same by just raking, but this is more thorough
and kind of satisfying to watch.
You’re all alone in the woods—the only human being for miles, or so you think.
Pull off trail to take a whiz, and it’s a scientific fact that you’ll get run up
on immediately.
It’s just the way the universe works.
So use this to your advantage.
The next time you need some local knowledge, just summon a local.
I hope you found these bike hacks entertaining, and I’m pretty sure you realize they’re
just hacks.
There are proper ways to do all of these things.
Nevertheless, leave a comment below, share this video with someone who would enjoy it,
and subscribe to see me build a mountain bike trail in my backyard.
Ride safe, and enjoy the fall weather.
Thanks for riding with me today and I’ll see you next time.