Now maintenance mistakes can strike even the most experienced cyclist perhaps
They don't know what they're doing or maybe they haven't even spotted them yet
Now I've been fortunate enough to have been able to ride with world
Champions Olympic champions and even a Tour de France winner and some of these problems even plagued them, too
So let's have a look at five maintenance mistakes for you to avoid
Lubricating your chain is a process that to be perfectly honest shouldn't be rushed
If you end up spraying around an aerosol can like a teacher rubbing away a chalkboard well
You're going to end up not doing the best job
And then on the flip side if you end up being scared of applying lubricant well
It's really going to end up with a squeaky chain
And that's going to annoy both yourself as well as anyone else that you're riding with
So let's look at how to avoid your chain looking like it's come out of a swamp or on the other side
Looking like it's been in a desert
So firstly you're going to want to make sure that your drivetrain is absolutely spotless
So give it a good old clean with some degreaser and once
It's dry
Then you want to apply the lubricant now the best method for this would actually be to
Rotate your chain around so you have the joining pin at the bottom run of chain so underneath the chain stay and then simply apply
that lubricant
Whilst at the same time back peddling one revolution now
I'm not dismissing the use of aerosol lubricants
but if you are using them just be aware that any wayward spray can in fact contaminate disc rotors if you've got them or your
braking track on your rims
So if you are doing that actually put a bit of rag or cloth make sure it's clean over them before you start applying
give the cranks a few more turns without spraying the lubricant just so it can work into the rollers and
Allow it to actually work its way in for one or two hours
And then you can just wipe that off and you're good to go now if you're using
Lubricant from a bottle the process is virtually the same so make sure that the joining pin or link is at the bottom run of
Chain so that's a good reference point for you to start and finish with and then apply the lubricant to each individual roller
It does take a little bit longer than applying with an aerosol
But personally I prefer that method because I'm not wasting anything and also there's no chance of it spraying off anywhere else and just like
The aerosol just backpedal a few times to allow that lubricant to work its way into the pins and rollers
And then leave it for a couple of hours
And then come back with a nice clean cloth and actually wipe away any excess from the chain again. Just pedaling backwards
Essentially you don't want any lubricant on the outside of the chain, or where it shouldn't be the only place
It should be is inside those pins and rollers so you're rolling nice and smooth
Always always always check your tire pressure before going out for a ride
Why well if it's too soft
You're going to run the risk of getting a pinch puncher as well as the extra resistance from a slightly saggy tire
And if it's too hard well
You're gonna get a really harsh ride the exception there of course is if you're riding the super smooth siberian pine of a velodrome
Why do you actually need to check that pressure though surely?
it's going to be the same as last time no because an inner tube does actually lose pressure through natural ways and
Secondly the temperature can also affect it and lastly no one wants to punch you in there at riding today
So make sure you check your pressure
Now there is something also sad when you check out a bike especially on a mile munchers
And the headset is either too loose or too tight now with a Toulouse headset
It's very likely that actually it's worked its way into that state
Rather than being initially set up wrong and it's quite a gradual process so a rider won't necessarily have noticed it
And they've just kind of got used to it, so if that's happened to you, and it's been going on for quite a while
It's pretty likely that your
Bearings are gonna be in such a bad state that they can't be saved so you are gonna need some new ones on the flip
Side though if that headset is too tight well
You're more than likely gonna be able to just loosen off your stem bolts and also your top cap and then readjust it
Essentially you want to make sure that there's no plate where you hold the front brake and you try and rock that fall
But also it's not tight so it can easily fall
Either way of course some cables they do add a little bit of resistance in there
But really you just want to feel and make sure it's not stiff or grungy then you'll be nice and smooth on those corners
Now poor cable setup is going to lead to poor performance, and I've got a couple of stories here first one
I was out riding with a friend of mine once upon a time, and we stopped at the cafe
And he asked me to have a look at his gears for him now
He was actually down here in the eleven which was quite rare for him to be perfectly honest
But it took me four clicks of the STI lever to actually move it up there onto the 12 sprocket now
I don't know if that was poor set up or just cable stretch
I also don't know how long he had been riding like that but
Basically he wouldn't have been able to get any further than
Halfway up the cassette through that setup so make sure that cable does have the right tension in it
And you're not missing out on any gears now the second one is brakes another rider
He's actually a current world cyclocross champion and his brakes have got to be the worst. I've ever
Experienced when I felt them you could pull the levers back about 75% of the way to the handlebar before his brakes started to move
Now why was it doing that well the actual cable the outer cable was moving inside of the ferrule that much
That the inner cable wasn't doing his job. You could see it moving
So make sure that your brake cables are inserted properly into the ferals
That's the outer cables so in essence as soon as you pull on your brake lever
you actually want to see the
caliper move then that how small the movement of the lever is and exactly the same can be said with your draya's too so as
Soon as you click that gear the derailleur is in fact moving then you're gonna be good to go
So your gears are working fine or
Maybe you put some new cables on or perhaps your gears aren't working fine and gear changes aren't as crisp as they should be
Do not touch those limit screws ok I see so many people
Reaching for them when their gears aren't working correctly the only time you need to actually fiddle around with those although
It's not strictly fiddling rather adjusting is if your chain is either going too far in one direction or too far in the other so
Over the sprockets at each side if your gears are not indexing correctly just simply turn that barrel adjuster one way or the other
to increase or decrease
Finally the tension of that cable
Just don't touch those limit screws if you don't need to now if you fall and victim to any of these maintenance
Mistakes the good news is down there in the description below
We have in fact got a video for each and every one of those problems, so you can rectify it yourself now
I do remember as well to like and share this video with your friends and also check out the gcn shop at shop
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