let's face it bikes are not cheap so
once you've made your purchase and
investment it's a good idea to look
after it to ensure it lasts as long as
possible coming up are a few tips to
help you do just that the first and most
obvious thing is to regularly clean your
bike now if you leave things like dirt
or water or grit or oil or even silk
from the road sitting on your bike for
days or weeks on end it's not going to
do it any good at all and let's face it
the good job of cleaning it is not
particularly difficult all you're going
to need is a bucket of water a sponge
bike specific brush and three decent
bike cleaner and you'll be able to do a
very thorough job indeed then once
you've washed it we need to do is dry it
down an old towel is perfect for that
job to prevent anything going rusty and
then just lube the moving parts such as
the chain jockey wheels etc with some
bike specific products like this now we
do understand that those of you living
in an apartment do you find it hard to
find a space to clean your by but we've
had loads of photos from viewers showing
that they clean their bikes in their
bath or their shower however we would
recommend checking with your partner or
family before you do this before you get
yourself into lots of trouble
now long way of lubricating your chain
some of the other moving parts in the
drivetrain there are other parts on the
bike which will need grease or some kind
of grit paste I'm thinking things like
the hubs the headset bearings here or
the grit pace that you can put down on a
carbon the seat post to stop it seizing
and also in the threads of things like
pedals as well
now you can prolong the grease lifespan
by avoiding jet spraying directly
towards these parts but even if you do
avoid doing that it's still not a bad
idea every so often to take them apart
clean them and reapply some new grease
just to make sure they're all working
properly and lasts as long as possible
we've got a whole host of videos here at
GSA and on our maintenance playlist
which will really help you in this
regard now the next thing that you can
do to prolong the lifespan of your butt
is to use a torque wrench you might be
wondering how but I'm about to explain
now these are becoming increasingly
important when it comes to tightening
bolts on lightweight components and
particularly carbon components because
over time these parts can lead to extra
stress which ultimately in a worst-case
scenario can lead complete component
failure which is of course the last
thing that you want to happen when
you're out riding your bike now the good
news is that you can pick up something
like this pretty cheaply on the market
these days it should last you a very
long time indeed another thing to watch
out for with lightweight frames and
particularly carbon frames is any kind
of bike rack or bike stand which clamps
around the tubes top tube here the down
tube for the seat tube now carbon frames
are only designed to be strong in the
directions they need to be when you're
out riding and not when something is
clamping around it that can lead to the
tube being crushed or squashed so what
we would recommend is by wonder stands
like the pro mechanics use whereby the
Forks going to the dropouts at the front
and stand then supports it underneath
the bottom bracket here however if you
do have to use some kind of stand like
this one we'd recommend clamping it at
the saddle not tightening it too much
and also adding some kind of cushioning
so you've got less chance of squashing
the seat post
you also want to make sure that you
change and renew your chain at regular
intervals that's because over time when
you ride your bike the chain was
stretched slightly and where and in turn
it will then wear the chain rings and
also the cogs here at the rear cassette
what that means that eventually you have
to replace the whole lot which can be
far more expensive and replacing the
chain every so often now there are a few
ways to measure the chain wear and we've
got a video it shows you how to do just
that you can find a link to it in the
description just below this video now
just as if you let your bike stay muddy
and mucky after a ride it won't do it
any good also riding that particularly
mucky or gritty road where all the
components out far quicker so when the
weather's grim you've got an option try
riding on some slightly cleaner roads
and if there's no option what you could
do is invest in a much cheaper bike to
use on days when the weather's not so
good which will mean that you keep your
best bike and much better Nick right
we're going to leave you with three more
suggestions which almost go without
saying
first up whenever you leave your bike in
a public place make sure that you lock
it up securely and we're not saying that
your bike won't last a long time if it's
stolen it's really not much good to you
if it's in somebody else's hands
secondly try to avoid crashing
lightweight carbon frames such as this
one really aren't designed to take huge
knocks so a crash could hurt your wallet
just as much as it hurts your body and
finally try to get your bike stored
indoors or at least undercover leaving
it outside and exposed to the elements
is only going to speed up the aging
process of the bike as rust starts to
set it now if you would like to see our
video which shows you how to do a really
good 30 minute thorough bike wash you
can find that just in the top corner
there meanwhile just in the bottom
corner is our advice on how to use a
torque wrench on you might want to
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