- We're at the Vuelta a Espana
here here in Pompidou, Malaga.
And we're asking the pros, can they maintain their own bike?
Can they change a wheel or change an inner tube?
We'll have to see.
Can you maintain your own bike?
- I think so, I tried.
But to be honest, when it's getting too messy
or too complicated, I just go to the mechanics.
It's always better.
- No, I am not a good mechanic, I think.
- No, no, no. - No?
- No, no, no, I don't know nothing.
- I can, like I can clean the bike,
I can change some wires on the bike, but--
- Not like fix a press fit?
- Oh well, if you have all the--
- Tools. - Tools.
Or maintenance, it's easy.
- Yeah, I think so.
Also with trek experience,
yeah, we know what we have to do in some circumstances.
- So can you fix a press fit valve, bottom bracket?
- Like that you mean, okay.
No, I'm not so good. - I'm not so good either.
- No, I'm really-- - Give it to the mechanic.
- We have good mechanics,
so that's why I wanted to be a professional,
so I don't have to this.
- Yeah, that's fair. - Nope.
- But you can change your wheels?
- I can change wheels.
If I have a flat tire, I can remove, but--
- You can't press fit,
like you fix a press fit valve, bottom bracket?
- Nope. - Nor I can.
- Change a chain, it's not possible for me.
It's not safe, if I fix my bike.
- Just give it to the mechanics, right?
- Yeah. - I should say.
Can you maintain your own bike?
'Cause a lot of pros we've spoken to cannot.
- Yeah, I can. - Yeah?
- Yeah, yeah.
- So you can do more than just change the wheels?
- Yeah, change the wheels, pump the tires up.
- Change a tire.
- Yeah, I'm all right.
I won't mess around with bottom brackets and the like.
- No, the press bottom brackets.
- I go to the bike shop for that, let the experts do it.
- Can you maintain your own bike
without the mechanics' help? - Yeah, sure, sure, yeah.
From when I-- - Fix a bottom bracket?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
From when I am baby, I follow all my bike.
I wash my bike every Saturday, like I think, every ride.
But yeah, I maintained this passion during the year.
I can fix my bike. - Yeah?
- I went to a cycling school
and I was there for seven years.
And there I learned how to maintain a bike.
I even got a diploma.
So after my career, I can become mechanic if I want.
But it's from-- - Will you?
- Maybe, I don't know. - I don't know.
- It's from 12 years ago, so now everything changed.
We have electronic shifting, disc brakes, everything.
So I need to do-- - To redo it.
You need to go back to school.
- I need to go back to evening school.
- I was a mechanic, so I worked in a bike shop.
But in the last five years,
they changed a lot with electronic.
Yeah, so--
- So now you just leave it to the mechanics?
- Yeah, for sure.
- Can you change a press fit bottom bracket?
- I suppose I can, but this part of the part,
I go to the mechanic.
- Go to the mechanic, there you have it.
- I think the biggest thing for any pro
is just to keep your bike clean.
I think if you keep it clean, everything stays working.
And I think it gets to a point where your bike
gets dirty enough, it's better to not wash it.
Because it starts working when it's not,
and then you clean it, and everything stops working.
- Then it never works, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- So either keep your bike really clean,
or just keep it dirty.
- And change tires?
A lot of the pros can't.
- Yeah, but not a tube, I think I don't.
Not the tubulars.
So I can change, but I don't believe,
really, in myself if I change my tubulars.
- Yeah, at home normally I always do it by myself.
- Oh can you, so you can put tubular tire on
and-- - Yeah.
- To a certain extent, yes.
Recently I've done my own chain, cassettes.
But if someone asked me to build a bike,
put the whole Di2 on, then I'd get
someone else to do it. - Leave it to the mechanics.
- No, I can't.
I mean, I think that's also what I learned
in East Germany in the sports school there.
We had every Monday, we had the day for the materials,
and there we had to watch out for our bikes.
And there we also learned to glue a tire on
and to repair our bikes.
So if I am home, all the people,
they think we cannot wash our bikes by our own.
So if I am home, I repair and clean my bike by my own,
even when I have the service course only 5K away.
- I can, but I much prefer bringing it to the bike shop.
It's also my little social spin, you know.
One of my good mates owns this bike shop
just beside where I live. - Which one?
- Cycle Cambellini in Boleo.
- Oh nice, yeah.
- So I usually, I have two shops, actually,
one very close to the other.
And also Philippe Gilbert's one in Monaco.
- Oh yeah, that's not a bad place, that.
- No, so when I need something done,
I usually go down and it's a good place
to have a chat and a coffee too.
So I make a sociable spin out of getting my bike ready.
- We've had a really good walk around,
asking them if they can maintain their own bike.
We've got a lot of good answers.
I hope you've enjoyed it.
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