Bike Repair

When you’re shopping for lubricants, the first step is to make sure you get one formulated for bikes (as opposed to something that’s all-pur­pose, or meant for motorcycle chains, chain — saws, or car engines). After you’ve narrowed down the possibilities to the lubes meant …

In general, the frame is one of the lowest-maintenance parts of your bike. Nevertheless, you shouldn’t ignore it when you care for your bike — there are a number of things you can do to make sure it lasts as long as the manu­facturer intended. …

Although headsets don’t need to be adjusted very often, over time all the turning you do on your bike and all the bumps and jolts the headset receives from the road may cause the headset to loosen. If you inspect the headset following the steps …

Take a moment to check the wheels before you depart on your next trip. Wheels are the only parts of the bike that are in contact with the road; ensur­ing that they’re secure and in good working order will help ensure that you yourself don’t …

In This Chapter ^ Entering the world of bike repair and maintenance ^ Caring for your bike before, during, and after you ride ^ Making emergency, basic, and advanced repairs ^ Performing monthly and annual maintenance 7 Ш ust as you’d bring along a map …

If you were tired of eating out every night and decided to learn how to cook, you’d want to make sure your kitchen was stocked with all the necessary cooking supplies. The same applies to bike repair and maintenance. If you’re interested in taking care …

With this book in hand, a few tools, and a healthy dose of confidence, patience, and determination, you can do just about everything needed to maintain and repair your bike. There are only a few situations in which you may have to step aside and …

If you ride your bike regularly, you’ll eventually have to change your brake pads. In this section, we tell you how to change brake pads and how to remove and install brakes (in case you need to overhaul or completely replace them). Chapter 8: Stopping …

You should give your chain a deeper cleaning at least once a month — more often depending on the conditions you ride in. With a deeper cleaning, you still leave the chain on the bike (see the preceding section) — the difference is, you first …

When it comes to crafting bike frames, manu­facturers have more tricks up their sleeves than just changing the frame material. Engineers have come up with a variety of ways to manip­ulate strength and rigidity of frames, including changing the tube width, the thickness of tube …