Bike Repair

ANG/ When you inspect the tire after repairing the tube, pay attention to any tears or rips in the tires. Whatever punctured your tube may have caused damage to the structural integrity of the tire. If the tire has a tear, inflating the newly installed …

іШ! Many brakes are designed with a quick-release capability that makes it easy to spread them apart when you need to remove the wheel. This quick release may also be used if you badly bend your wheel rim and the rim is rubbing the brake …

Cassette systems (see Figure 11-2), which are found on most modern bikes, improved many of the deficiencies with freewheels (see the preceding sec­tion). One of the biggest changes with cassettes is that the ratcheting system is built into the hub itself. Cassettes use a free …

Crucial to the crankset is the bottom bracket. Of all the bearings on a bike, the bottom bracket is the one that has to bear the heaviest load. Not only does the bottom bracket have to spin while you pedal, but it takes the force …

When you clean your bike, you’ll likely remove a lot of lubrication and your bike will be thirsty for a fresh dose of oil and grease. If you’re a typical recreational rider, you may only have to give your bike a quick lube job every …

Frame size is the most important consideration when fitting a bike. Unlike most other factors, the frame is one thing you can’t modify. If you end up with a bike that has a frame too small or too large, you won’t be able to adjust …

Of the three major forces which work against you as a cyclist — air resis­tance, gravity, and friction — it’s friction that our tireless little friends the ball bearings are designed to overcome. Bearings are one part of the bike that has changed little over …

Wheels are amazing things: Even though they have rims that are suspended by, on average, 28 to 36 thin metal spokes, they can take a tremendous amount of punishment. A wheel gets its strength from the equal or balanced tension spread across its spokes. Remove …

At this point, you should have a patched or replaced tube, a tire free of debris, and the enthusiasm of knowing that this pit stop is just about over. After you finish the final steps of putting the tire and tube back on the wheel, …

Brake cables are a critical component of your braking system. You can have new brake pads, but if your brake cables give out, you won’t be able to stop your bike when you need to. Each time you give a hard squeeze to your brake …