Repair and maintenance tips

If you’ve just embarked on a journey of bike repair and maintenance, you’re on course for an adventure of learning, self-sufficiency, pride, and satisfaction. We want your journey to be full of enjoyment, not one that makes you want to pull your hair out with frustration. Follow these tips, and you can avoid lots of unneces­sary problems:

✓ Take safety precautions when you work.

Wear safety glasses to protect your eyes and rubber gloves to cover your skin. (Gloves will also keep your hands clean. Trying to get dirt and grease off your hands and out from under your fingernails can be a chore.) If you’re using chemicals in an enclosed space, limit your exposure by wearing a mask and limiting your exposure time. Better yet, don’t use chemicals in an enclosed space, period. Make sure that you always work in an area with proper ventila­tion.

✓ When you take something apart, note the order in which you dissembled it. This tip will save you all kinds of time when you try to reassemble it. You can scratch notes on a piece of paper or line up the parts in sequence on a flat surface.

✓ Before reassembling a component, thor­oughly clean its parts. Also clean the part of the bike you removed it from.

✓ After you finish lubricating a part, wipe off any excess lubrication. This will help keep dirt and grime to a minimum.

✓ Be careful when tightening parts. Too much force and you could strip the threads. If you aren’t sure, under-tighten the part, check it, and if it’s loose, tighten it a little more.

✓ Never force a part that doesn’t want to cooperate. This advice is especially true for threads. Always check to see that the threads match, use grease on the threads, wait for the grease to penetrate the threads, and tighten slowly when you begin — to make sure you don’t cause any damage.

✓ When following the instructions in this book, keep in mind that many procedures may vary depending on the component, the bike, and the manufacturer. We give you guidelines for basic bike maintenance and repair, but you may need to tailor them to your individual bike. When in doubt, follow your bike owner’s manual.

✓ Don’t feel as though you have to do every­thing yourself. If you aren’t sure about how something works, you’re better off taking the time to look for the answer in the owner’s manual or asking staff in your local bike shop. Otherwise, you could end up damaging your bike or hurting yourself. Remember: Even the best the bike mechan­ics ask for help sometimes.