With summer making an arrival (somewhere in Europe) and the worst of the weather behind us, it’s important not to take our foot off the gas with bike maintenance. Although your bike may look clean and in good condition, every ride completed, adds wear to your bike. Here are our top five tips to make sure your bike runs as fast and as smoothly as possible during summer.

Drivetrain

Although your drivetrain (rear cassette, chain and chain rings) may look clean, with each ride, these components are going to attract dust from the road.  This dust will eventually start to eat away at your expensive drivetrain. In dry conditions, I’d typically wash the drivetrain every other ride. I have found that a dishwasher brush with a small bucket of warm bike wash solution is the best for this. Put the bike in the largest chain ruing on the front and mid-block on the rear and spin the cranks backwards with teh brush resting in the cassette. Works a treat for me! Once cleaned, rinse off, dry and re lubricate with dry lube. We have found Juice Lubes products work really well when compared to some other which leave a terribly MUCCY mess..  Alternatively, get your chain waxed 🙂

Tyre pressure

I usually run lower tyre pressures when it’s wet, just to give some increased traction. With dry roads and longer rides ahead of us, having a few extra psi in the tyres won’t go a miss. Check out this Silca Tyre pressure calculator for more info

Check your headset

When was the last time you checked your headset bolts? Riding with a loose head set feel horrible and if left unresolved, can cause significant damage to your frame. checking the bearings is easy enough.

• Place your thumb and forefinger at the front of the headset.
• Apply the front brake
• Push the bike back and forth with the brake applied.
• If the headset is loose, you’ll feel movement in the headset cups. At this point, slacken off the stem bolts, then nip up the ahead set bolt until the fore aft movement disappears.
• Retighten the stem bolts, ideally with a torque wrench.
• Once all bolts are tightened, turn the bars left and right. There should be no friction, resistance or roughness. If there is, its time for new bearings.

Bolt check

Whilst you’ve got the hex set out, go over the rest of the bolts on the bike. It’s not uncommon for things to work lose!

-Derailleur hanger bolts to come loose which will affect the shifting performance.

-Stem bolts

-Check brake bolts including rotor bolts

-Seat post and seat bolts

-Bottle cage bolts

-ALL OF THE BOLTS!

Tyre wear

How are your tyres looking? Worn tyres are slow and will increase the chances of you having a puncture. Talking of punctures, if you’re running a tubeless set up, when did you last swap out the sealant? Most sealants have an operation window of approx. 6 months. Give yourself a chance, stick some new sealant in them!

What have we missed? Let us know in the comments!