How do you manage your bike maintenance?

JHensley · Jul 21, 2020

As others have said, I just ride until I think something needs my attention. Aside from lubing and wiping down my chain every time I ride. I might wash it once every few weeks.

LMN · Jul 21, 2020

ljsmith said:
As some others have stated, an average of 4 hours a week is overkill. You are obviously doing some unneeded maintenance, or you spend 8 hours every day riding and your bikes need a lot of maintenance. I maintain my bikes and my wife's bikes. I typically ride around 4000 miles a year between road, gravel and mountain. Each bike gets thoroughly washed, the chain lubed and tires are topped off before rides. Other things are just done on an as needed basis. I would guess maybe an average of 1-2 hours a week.

As I said, I ride a lot. I am on my bike 15hrs a week and my wife averages around 20hrs a week. And between both of us there are 10 bikes that get regular usage.

Here is the list of tasks for this week:
-Service main pivot my FS XC bike.
-Overhaul fork my FS XC bike.
-brake service wife's FS XC bike
-change front tire my HT XC bike
-put DH casing tires on my Enduro bike for bike park day
-install fresh chain and give deep clean to my road bike

On top of that are the standard post ride clean. Other than the pivot service all those tasks are pretty quick

J.B. Weld · Jul 21, 2020

A professional mechanic does all of my bike maintenance.

tick_magnet · Jul 21, 2020

I just prioritize the stuff that really matters and have stopped sweating the stuff that don't really matter:

Stuff that matters:

1. Safety issues: I always check important bolts with a torque wrench every week.
2. Things that keep the bike smooth: Every three months or so, I will pull the cranks and clean the BB area out. I do the headset when I do my 50 hour fork service.
3. Things that prevent future maintenance catastrohpe: Replace chain and brake pads before they are fully worn to preserve the drivetrain and keep the brake pistons functioning smoothly. Lube the derailleur and spoke nipples regularly.
4. Leave time consuming stuff like derailleur disassemblies, wheel truing and tensioning for the off season. If I do a good thorough job, everything will work for the whole season without much attention.

Things that don't matter enough to me to worry about anymore:

1. Cleaning the chain: At $30-$40 a pop, I am not going to spend 1/2 hour every month to clean the chain. Plus, I've gone the wax route. I just wax about 5-10 chains during the offseason and that carries me through the season without having to clean or lube the drivetrain at all.

2. Clean the bike except to get the big chunks off. I no longer worry about a a spotless bike except on the fork stanchions after a ride or if sweat has dripped on the frame or handlebars.

Gallo · Jul 21, 2020

LMN said:
As I said, I ride a lot. I am on my bike 15hrs a week and my wife averages around 20hrs a week. And between both of us there are 10 bikes that get regular usage.

Here is the list of tasks for this week:
-Service main pivot my FS XC bike.
-Overhaul fork my FS XC bike.
-brake service wife's FS XC bike
-change front tire my HT XC bike
-put DH casing tires on my Enduro bike for bike park day
-install fresh chain and give deep clean to my road bike

On top of that are the standard post ride clean. Other than the pivot service all those tasks are pretty quick

That is allot of riding but it seems you enjoy the maintenance aspect which is fine I have about 40 hours on my bike so far this month which is much more than usual (strava challenge whatever) Road bike I clean the bike on the stand once or twice a month including a thorough wash of the chain and drive train which is quite honestly why it is up on the stand. wipe the chain every ride or two. When on the MTB which this month I am not. Weekly or if needed up on the stand cleaned. I wont do a fork rebuild or true a tire, replace a broken spoke but perform most else. Never worked at a shop. I think keeping the bike clean and lubed keeps it happy. I am sure your bikes are much more maintained than mine. You spend the time and have the skills good on ya. Mine go and give me a smile. Cheers

coke · Jul 21, 2020

6 bikes between my wife and me. I do my own maintenance, but I really hate working on bikes.

I spend around 90% of my time on rigid singlespeeds, and save the higher maintenance full suspension and geared bikes for races and special occasions.

A couple weekends ago I serviced the suspension on three bikes, set up a wheelset with new tape, and installed new tires. I didn’t keep track, but it took a lot of time.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fleas · Jul 21, 2020

scottg said:
I take really good care of my bikes and don't find it that time consuming. Giving the bike a good cleaning is a good opportunity to look at everything on it - check brake pads for thickness, look for any damage, check for play in wheels/headset/pivots/pedals, occasionally drop a chain checker on it....

Yeah, I forgot the chain checker. Anymore, I do this once a week because the last time I didn't, it seemed my messed up chain ate my drivetrain in about 2 outings, oiled or not.

Any other looseness or brake pad thickness gets checked while I'm riding.

My case in point for not being neglectful of my ride --> The 20 year-old flats on my fatbike are finally done. The right one (and it's always the right one) is loose and the last time I went to re-pack the bearings I could not get it apart. I will be amazed if any pedal I buy today will last 1/2 that long.

-F

Curveball · Jul 21, 2020

ljsmith said:
As some others have stated, an average of 4 hours a week is overkill. You are obviously doing some unneeded maintenance, or you spend 8 hours every day riding and your bikes need a lot of maintenance. I maintain my bikes and my wife's bikes. I typically ride around 4000 miles a year between road, gravel and mountain. Each bike gets thoroughly washed, the chain lubed and tires are topped off before rides. Other things are just done on an as needed basis. I would guess maybe an average of 1-2 hours a week.

His wife is an Olympic XC racer. I imagine that the two of them put a LOT of miles/kilometers on per week. They probably ride more than most of us drive in a year.

edubfromktown · Jul 21, 2020

Incrementally... check each bike before it goes out and after it comes back from a ride (four of mine and two of the wife's).

Stan's sealant makes noise in tires when shaken
Chain lubed and within acceptable wear range
Brakes in good working order and have sufficient pad thickness
Axle's tightened and wheels spin true
Saddle firmly attached
No play in cranks/pedals & spin smoothly

About once a month I go over bikes more thoroughly
Check frames, forks, bars, stems and posts for cracks
Verify tightness of stem and saddle bolts, crank arms
Check cogs and rings for excessive wear

andy f · Jul 21, 2020

I take care of maintaining tire pressure and keeping my drivetrain clean/lubed. I also check my axles, stem, headset, and cranks to be sure nothing has come loose. LBS does everything else and I always tip the mechanics. I'm lucky that the shop closest to home is a good one.

Timothy G. Parrish · Jul 21, 2020

upstateSC-rider said:
I'm doing fleet fleet maintenance on cars, mx bikes, and mt and road bikes. Good ole notebook works best for me....I keep a log on each car as far as mileage and what was done, same with the motorcycles except based on hours.

If you use Strava it's pretty easy because you can add each bike separately, that way when you upload a ride choose the bike you were on and strava will keep track of mileage for each one. You can also add notes to each one within strava but I just use the notebook for handwritten maintenance items or adjustments (shock/fork/tire psi stem change, etc).

Strava has been adding components to list for each bicycle. So you can track said mileage on each component to know when service is due, and you can even do PM by tracking how long components typically last. You simply 'retire' the old one, and add the new one.

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk

dir-T · Jul 21, 2020

LMN said:
As I said, I ride a lot. I am on my bike 15hrs a week and my wife averages around 20hrs a week. And between both of us there are 10 bikes that get regular usage.

Yeah but not at the same time! 35 hours / 10 bikes = 3.5 hours per week per bike. My wife's MTB and mine each see a bit more than that and if I spend 4 hours / month on maintenance it's a lot.

I replace brake pads, tires, and chains about once per year. Lube the chains every ride or two. That stuff takes almost no time at all. I just replaced the drive train and shifter on wifey's bike and it took about an hour including the beer drinking.

That said, we're XC riders so aren't hammering our bikes at the park or off of 4-foot drops all day long. And we live in an arid place so mud isn't much of a wear factor.

Shock/fork maintenance I leave to a shop every couple of years.

127.0.0.1 · Jul 21, 2020

5 bikes in current rotation

I just ride
lube chain
keep air in tires
-----------------------
replace whatever needs to be replaced when it interferes with riding
wipe off suspension stanchions when dirty

when bike needs real maintenance I just stare harder at it for a while until those feelings pass

KingOfOrd · Jul 21, 2020

Surprised we haven't had any fully rigid ss riders chime in yet

Fleas · Jul 22, 2020

Train Wreck said:
Surprised we haven't had any fully rigid ss riders chime in yet

coke said:
6 bikes between my wife and me. I do my own maintenance, but I really hate working on bikes.

I spend around 90% of my time on rigid singlespeeds, and save the higher maintenance full suspension and geared bikes for races and special occasions.

A couple weekends ago I serviced the suspension on three bikes, set up a wheelset with new tape, and installed new tires. I didn't keep track, but it took a lot of time.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks to this thread, I finally quit putting off the brake bleed that my Hope Tech M4s have needed since they got contaminated a couple years ago. :blush:
They still worked well enough once they were cleaned, but the brake fluid was roasted. On the last ride they pretty much stopped working. I don't like doing brake bleeds, so I don't, so my confidence is low. But thanks for lighting a fire under me. Brakes are tip-top once again! (as in 1-finger lock-up, no problem). :thumbsup:

-F

scottg · Jul 22, 2020

Train Wreck said:
Surprised we haven't had any fully rigid ss riders chime in yet

I ride an SS..... it does have a suspension fork, but it's such **** that it's more ceremonial suspension by today's standards. Maintenance still happens, and a SS breaks in ways that you'd never expect. My steel frame cracked on a chainstay, got that welded up, and then a week later the crankset broke.

I also ride a FS trailbike, but both bikes need some love from time to time.

I ride with some people who never do maintenance, and it's frustrating sometimes doing a trailside fix on something that should have been resolved. Ideally I don't do any maintenance or cleaning between rides because I know it was all good when I finished the last ride - that's in periods of less mud of course.

TylerVernon · Jul 22, 2020

I stick the bike in my front porch stand and wash it/lube it while I'm preparing my post ride dinner. Then I leave it there to air out, but just before bed I move it into my bicycle room.

Fleas · Jul 22, 2020

Even this bike doesn't need an overhaul but once/yr.

-F

J.B. Weld · Jul 22, 2020

Fleas said:
Even this bike doesn't need an overhaul but once/yr.
View attachment 1350537

-F

need vs want

beastmaster · Jul 22, 2020

Train Wreck said:
Surprised we haven't had any fully rigid ss riders chime in yet

As I mentioned in my earlier post, two of my bikes are SS. One is a vintage road bike and one is a dirt bike. The dirt bike is a rigid Stache. The road bike requires almost nothing, just air pressure, because I only ride it in dry conditions on paved roads. The Stache is almost as simple--air pressure and cleaning/lubing drive train every ride. Every once in a while brakes need servicing.

How do you manage your bike maintenance?

JHensley

LMN

J.B. Weld

tick_magnet

Gallo

coke

Fleas

Curveball

edubfromktown

andy f

Timothy G. Parrish

dir-T

127.0.0.1

KingOfOrd

Fleas

scottg

TylerVernon

Fleas

J.B. Weld

beastmaster

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