hey everybody welcome back to another
Tuesday tips and tricks video we're in
this week's video we're going to be
talking about the do's and don'ts of
working on your BMX bike or any other
bicycle for that matter so if you're new
here every Tuesday I try to make a tips
and tricks video whether it be tips and
tricks for working on your bicycle or
tips and tricks for doing tricks on your
bicycle so to get right into it we're
gonna talk about the don'ts of working
on your BMX bike and the number one
don't for working on your BMX bike is to
not over tighten things there's a few
exceptions to this there's a few things
that you can tighten and really crank
down on but the things that we're gonna
be focused on are not over tightening
your stem not over tightening the jam
nut on your back wheel and not over
tightening your cranks if you have no
crank spacer between your bottom bracket
bearings so number one if you over
tighten your stem bolts you can
literally just break your stem I've seen
people and I have friends who have over
tightened stem bolts and cracked their
stem and just completely ruined it
because they didn't know when to stop in
tightening it and then when it comes to
your jam nut on your back wheel if you
have one free coasters are a little bit
different and I'm not 100% sure on how
they're put together they might have a
jam nut they might not I don't know
either way if you tighten your jam nut
too tight then it's not going to allow
your cassette to work the way it's
supposed to and when you push your bike
forward your wheel will spin with it and
your wheel will not spin as freely as it
can and it'll slow down much faster and
it'll prevent you from going as fast as
you can because there's resistance there
keeping you from moving forward when it
comes to your cranks if you over tighten
your cranks without a crank spacer you
can push in on the bearings on the
center part of the bearings and you can
literally move the inside of the bearing
offset from the outside of the bearing
and push them away from each other kind
of like this this is the
outside this is the inside you push them
away from each other like this and that
can cause your bearings to break it can
cause your your cranks to not spin
around as freely as they could or should
and no matter what it's going to shorten
the lifespan of your bearings and make
you have to replace them I know they're
cheap but this is something that if you
don't have to replace it
why would you and if you can prevent
having to replace it so often there's no
reason not to so now that we've talked
about a few things that you definitely
don't want to over-tighten let's talk
about the exceptions and things that you
can tighten and really crank down on
number one example of that is your axle
bolts or axle nuts whenever you're
tightening your wheels there's some
tricks that just loosen your axle nuts
when you're doing them like backwards
grinds on ledges things like that
whenever you're doing those and I have
huge problems with this because I like
doing backwards grinds it loosens up
your peg by spinning it counterclockwise
and it can loosen your axle nut over
time and if you really crank down on
your axle nut or axle bolt it can
prevent this from happening and prevent
you from having to move your wheel back
into place because when this happens
your wheel will often move to one side
and you'll have to loosen up the peg
side pull it back tighten it again
and if you keep doing the trick or you
haven't landed the trick yet it can keep
happening and it's just super annoying
so over cranking on these isn't totally
possible unless your axle nut or your
axle bolt is already kind of on the way
out so just pay attention to them
whenever you're doing this another thing
that you can really crank down on is
your pedals because pedals love to just
come loose and realistically you can't
really over tighten your pedals I mean
you might be able to but I've never seen
it happen and having your pedals come
loose and only be finger tight because
you don't have a pedal wrench with you
is extremely annoying so you can crank
down on those too and it's really not
going to hurt anything really though
these are the only two things on your
bike that you can get away with over
tightening or really cranking down on
when you're
tightening them realistically everything
else on your bike you should not be
cranking down on the way that you do
with your pedals or your wheels simply
put over tightening breaks parts it's
that simple so when you're working on
your bike you kind of can get a feel
with how tight things should be and when
you get to that point just don't go that
extra a little bit because usually that
extra a little bit is what either strips
out a bolt or break something so now
that we've got all that out of the way
let's move to the second don't for
working on your BMX bike and that is
don't use heat or cut things on your
bike until you absolutely have to and
there's just no other way to get around
what you're trying to do
usually there's solutions for most
problems that you have when you're
working on your bike whether it be
stripped bolts or anything that could go
wrong just you don't want to use heat
until you have to because with the way
that parts are built usually heat will
weaken whatever you're applying that
heat to let's say that you got a pedal
stuck in your crank arm usually crank
arms are made from heat treated 4130
chromoly and when it comes to heat
treated 4130 chromoly just like it says
in the name it's already heat treated
and when you apply heat to this it
weakens the metal because it's already
been heat treated more heat applied to
it heating and then cooling will make
that chromoly weaker and it could
increase the chances of you actually
breaking that crank whereas there's
usually a way to get that pedal off of
there without using heat now if you
don't care about your parts you can do
this but there's usually a way to get
things done without applying heat or
cutting things when it comes to stripped
out bolts there's easy outs you can jb
weld allen wrenches and whatever you
need to into there but cutting things
and drilling out bolts should always be
a last resort i have a stem from my
first ever bike that is essentially not
usable for anybody who
rides for real because one of the the
stem bolts stripped out and I had to cut
it and now I can't get the other side
out the end of it where there's nothing
to grab ahold of so it's just pretty
much useless at this point I know it's
an old part but you can do this with
things on your bike currently and end up
having to buy new parts so now that
we've got that one out of the way let's
talk about the third don't of working on
your BMX bike and that is simply don't
be stupid and I mean that in the nicest
way possible but we all know how
frustrating working on our bikes can be
and it's super easy to just jump right
in and start doing something that you
know you probably shouldn't just because
you think it'll fix the problem on your
bike and it kind of relates to the last
one where you don't apply heat and other
destructive methods before you
absolutely have to in that is very easy
to just grab a saw and start cutting on
something and then before you know it
you're too deep into hurting whatever
you're doing that you can't salvage your
parts or you don't even fix the problem
in general so it's very important to not
be stupid and now that we've got all of
the don'ts out of the way let's move
into the do's of working on your BMX
bike and the first do kind of relates to
the don'ts as well but that is use the
right tools it's very simple if you have
a profile or another American stem use
quarter inch Allen wrenches on it not
six millimeter and I'm guilty of this as
well because when I had my profile stem
I always used my six because I didn't
feel like carrying around a quarter inch
but as I just said before I stripped out
stumble might have to be cut and you
might ruin your stem in the process so
use the right tools there use the right
tools when it comes to taking off and
putting on your wheels an axle nut
stripped out
your peg means that you have to cut your
peg off to get your wheel off because
you can't get to the stripped out axle
nut unless you want to cut your drop out
and ruin something way bigger
either way ruining apart is not the
solution to fixing other parts when all
you had to do is use the proper size or
tool in the first place
when working on your bike another thing
that you might not think about when it
comes to using the proper tools is spoke
wrenches there's actually a bunch of
different sized spoke wrenches and if
you use the wrong one you can very
easily strip the nipple out and if
you're trying to true your wheel or work
on your wheel with your tire on and
pumped up and with it on your bike a
stripped out nipple is an extreme pain
in the butt to fix if you have to do so
so keep in mind that there's different
sized spoke wrenches and using the right
sized spoke wrench will keep you from
having to cut spokes or take things
further apart than you originally wanted
to and especially keep this in mind with
alloy colored nipples because they're
softer than brass nipples and they're
much easier to strip out than brass
nipples as well so the next thing we're
going to talk about I'm gonna bend down
here is that flathead screwdrivers are
not tire levers I know everyone's done
this I'm swinging this around
look out everybody's done this before
and a lot of people still do it but I've
also popped tubes as I was putting them
on I popped multiple tubes in one
session of working on my bike because I
was using a flathead screwdriver when I
should have been using a tire lever and
if you watch one of my previous videos I
show you how you don't even need a tire
lever sometimes when taking off and
putting on your tires and changing flats
out so keep in mind flat head
screwdrivers are not tire levers and you
can scratch your rim
or pop your tires again while trying to
fix a flat that you already have
when realistically you can use a tire
lever or not use a tire lever at all
using the right tools will make working
on your bike shorter easier and way less
stressful than it will be if you use the
wrong tools and end up breaking things
or having to take extra steps to get the
job done
the right way so ii do for working on
your BMX bike is to use grease anywhere
that there's metal on metal contact with
a few exceptions you should be using
grease a huge one for this is stem bolts
using grease in your stem bolts makes
things work so much smoother and nicer
for taking your stem off and loosening
the bolts in general and just making it
easier to work on your stem as well as
taking away any creaking that could be
caused by your stem bolts and not having
grease in them I've had this happen
before and grease has fixed it another
place that you want to use grease is on
your crank arms where they go onto the
spindle if you use grease it's a million
times easier later on to take off and
put on your cranks where as no grease
could fuse your cranks to your spindle
and make it so that you really have to
work to get them off or put them on or
you have to resort to heat or cutting
like we talked about earlier but in
talking about grease there's a couple
places where you actually don't want to
use Greece because Greece can make
things more complicated
you want to use grease anywhere that
doesn't typically work itself loose by
itself where there's metal on metal
contact and another place that you
definitely 100% never want to use grease
is on the inside of the pause and
Springs on your cassette hubs they're
100% not made to have grease in them
they're designed to work freely inside
of there and be a dry environment and if
you read on profiles website they're not
supposed to have grease no other
cassette hubs just don't put grease in
your cassette hub unless you
it to be quiet sound in work like crap
I'm not sure exactly on free coasters
there might be places where you need to
have grease in there but when it comes
to cassette hubs don't put grease or
anything else inside where the paws and
springs work and now that we're done
talking about ii do when it comes to
working on your BMX bike let's talk
about the third and that is to think
about what you're doing while you're
doing it this relates 100% back to the
don't be stupid
of the don'ts you always want to think
about what you're doing before you do it
while working on your bike because I'll
say it again it's extremely easy to mess
things up to the point of no return to
where you have to either cut things use
heat or just get a new part in general
I've done it I'm sure everyone else has
done it too it's super easy to do and
it's very easy to get frustrated and
just do things half way and ruin things
in the process if you have been riding
for 10 to 15 years maybe you can get
away with this and you just know what
you're doing but if you're just getting
started and you're not 100% when it
comes to working on your bike yet think
about what you're doing before you do it
think about things logically and think
about the outcome of anything that you
might be doing that's outside of the
norm for when working on your bike there
was actually time where I was riding at
Worcester and my axle came loose just
like we talked about before because I
was doing some kind of feeble grinds
backwards grinding something I was doing
something and the axle kept coming loose
I would tighten it and tighten it and
tighten it and no matter how much I did
it or how much I tightened it it kept
coming loose and then it finally got to
the point where I would tighten it and
then it would just keep going kind of
like if you have a bottle cap and you
just twist it past and keep it going
again and it was at that point that if I
had not been stupid and thought about
what I was doing I would have been able
to save my axle rather than cranking on
it as hard as I could to try and get the
axle not off and heating it up so much
that the axle not fused to the metal
the axle and I had to cut it off it was
a huge bummer I had to get a new axle
and all I had to do to prevent it was
think about what I was doing and not
being such a rush just because I was at
the skate park and I wanted to keep
riding sometimes thinking about what
you're doing and accepting the fact that
a session could be over because you have
to wait to fix your bike properly could
keep you riding for longer than if you
just kept working on the bike and broke
something in the process so that's gonna
be it for my list of the do's and don'ts
when working on your BMX bike or any
other bike for that matter because these
things are pretty general let's run
through the list one more time quickly
just to sum things up number one of the
don'ts don't over-tighten things there's
a few exceptions to this rule but in
general you just don't want to
over-tighten things on your bike number
two don't use heat cut things or any
other destructive method for working on
your bike until you absolutely have to
and you've exhausted every single other
method or resource for working on things
in a way that doesn't destroy them
number three don't be stupid think about
what you're doing and don't ruin things
if you don't have to don't let yourself
get mad now let's move on to the do's
number one of the do's use the right
tools if you're working on your flat
tire use a tire lever if you're working
on your stem and you have an American
stem use a quarter inch allen if you
don't have an American stem or it's a
six millimeter use the six just use the
right tools when working on your bike
number two
use grease on any surface that metal
touches metal and it doesn't typically
work itself loose number three of the
do's think about what you're doing
involves directly with don't be stupid
just think about what you're doing while
you're working on your bike so that
there's the least amount of stress
possible and working on your bike can be
enjoy
rather than stressful and annoying and
frustrating like we all know that it can
be working on your bike doesn't have to
make you mad you just have to think
about what you're doing don't be stupid
and follow all of the other do's and
don'ts that I talked about so let me
know what you think in the comments
below I know that there's other do's and
don'ts that I didn't talk about things
that I missed leave those things leave
your tricks and tips and do's and don'ts
in the comments below let's make it a
conversation thanks for watching
hopefully you got something out of this
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thank you for watching and we'll see you
next time goodbye
you