- It's maintenance Monday,
and here are five maintenance mistakes
that you should avoid.
(deep percussive air whooshing)
You see, riding a bike is great fun
and it brings loads of satisfaction, loads of enjoyment,
and a whole heap more superlatives.
But, along with cycling comes maintenance,
and many of us have definitely made
a few mistakes over the years.
Here are some that you need to avoid.
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Torque settings have never been as critical as now.
Too little and it's dangerous.
Too much and it's also dangerous.
Many parts have a torque rating
that you need to take great care of,
as over time it can lead to either failure
through crushing of the component
or possibly generating a hairline crack,
which will also fail over time.
And, on the opposite end of the scale,
if something's too loose, it could equally be as dangerous,
as something could just fall from your bike
as it rattles loose and works it's way off.
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Cross-threading bolts is something
that many people have fallen victim to.
Because it could seem normal
that when you start trying to tighten a bolt,
that it's going to be that little bit difficult
to get it going.
But, if it does continue to be difficult to turn,
then you should stop immediately.
It could be, firstly, that you're cross-threading the bolt,
or the bolt has a poor starting thread
and may need a little bit of cleanup.
Or, maybe the female thread is already stripped out.
It's always worth inspecting all of these
before you even start trying to attach two items together.
Another thing, which may sometimes make you think
you are cross-threading a bolt
is nylon inserts on nuts or female threads.
I mean, it's quite rare that you're going to
confuse that with cross-threading.
What's more likely is also that it's thread locker,
you know, like the blue Loctite stuff that you put on a bolt
to stop it working loose.
That can kind of give the impression
of a really tight, stripped thread
as you're starting to tighten it up,
because it's actually just cutting into that compound,
which is going to help hold it in place.
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Rounding off of bolts.
This is something that often happens,
and for a few reasons: too much torque, poor tools,
poor bolts, lack of grease, and generally the wrong tools.
When initially fitting your bolts,
you should ensure that you use the correct method
and adhere to the correct ways of doing it.
This will help make the removal of those bolts
just that little bit easier.
But, if you do have a bolt
that is, for whatever reason, stuck in place,
then first thing you should try and do
is spray something like a WD-40 penetrating fluid
in there to try and break up that seal,
and then use a decent tool.
Don't simply chance it by using cheap tools.
They won't be manufactured to such fine tolerances,
and the chances are the metals will be
that little bit softer,
meaning you're more likely to round off a bolt,
or, just as bad, is the tool you're using.
If you are using a torque wrench,
it's very unlikely that you're going to round off a bolt,
and that's because you'll be applying
the correct torque to it in the first place.
And if there are bolts on your bike
that you're planning on removing and refitting frequently,
then I would probably aim to switch them out
for something that's a little bit harder wearing,
something like stainless steel instead of aluminum,
as they do tend to be a little bit more hard wearing
from my personal experience.
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One big maintenance mistake that you should avoid
is ignoring problems that already exist.
For example, that tire that is full of cuts,
or that inner tube that's got that slow puncture.
How about the loose headset?
It's only going to get worse.
The squeaky chain, the skipping gears.
Does any of that sound familiar to you?
Well, all of these problems are not going to fix themselves.
So when you have a problem,
you should aim to get it sorted as soon as possible,
because failing to do so will more than likely
give you more issues, literally, down the road.
The skipping gears could quite easily skip
at the moment you're just out of the saddle
and land you awkwardly on the top tube or the stem,
and that's not going to be very nice, is it?
Punctures, say no more.
It's going to leave you sat on the side of the road,
cursing the fact that you should have
patched it up long ago.
(intense electronic music)
Maybe you have adhered to the advice
about using the correct torque, not cross-threading
and not ignoring problems.
But what then, if the parts were fitted incorrectly
in the first place?
I once remember looking at someone's bike
who had not fitted the cassette sprockets
in their intended order.
Switching around the 13 and the 14 tooth.
So, 15, 13, 14.
It doesn't make a lot of sense.
Then, there was also a front plate of a four bolt stem
that I saw where the user had fully tightened
the upper bolts up and the metal plates
were touching each other,
whilst the lower threads were barely even clinging on.
That's just a recipe for disaster
and your bars falling out of the stem.
What do we recommend doing?
Following manufacturer's guidelines at all times.
Making sure that your bike is up to operating standards
as it was intended to leave the factory.
This will keep you safe on the road,
regularly checking your bike,
meaning you won't be spending too much time
sat along side the road with any problems.
Do let us know what maintenance mistakes
you've been guilty of making
down in the comments below.
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