How-To video: bike maintenance

Bikes Energy & Sustainability Fun & Games


Bicycle Maintenance: How To Maintain Your Mountain Bike For Peak Performance

Here’s is a very thorough way of tuning up your bike after a hard ride. The rest of the site has some other good information, but you have to dig through a lot of ‘lifestyle’ type entries before you find the making goodies. The bicycle section does look like it has valuable video resources.

Thanks to Will in the comments

8 thoughts on “How-To video: bike maintenance

  1. Lee says:

    Eeek!! (Shakes head)

    – I wouldn’t force water into the drive chain, use a proper citrus degreaser on it instead, and invest in a chain cleaner.
    – Don’t use the same brush you just used to clean your drive chain to clean your disc rotors!
    – Avoid touching your disc rotors with bare hands (you will contaminate them).
    – Avoid spray lube (It goes everywhere!), use a good quality lube in a bottle.
    – What’s going on with the angle of his brake levers?!

  2. Thuli says:

    He demonstrates disconnecting brake cables on rim brakes, otherwise the bike he’s working on has disc brakes. Doesn’t he know how? Or just too hard to demonstrate?

  3. Mike says:

    I’m glad Lee pointed out a few of the errors in this video. But errors aside, it’s good to learn how to maintain anything that you use and bicycles are one of those few things that people own that you can still do this with only $100 worth of tools.

    One of the best websites I’ve found for bicycle maintenance is on the Park Tools website. They have guides for doing lots and lots of things, and how to do it properly.

    http://www.parktool.com/repair/

  4. biker says:

    some of the things there are downright wrong.
    do NOT use spray lubricant,
    use a specialist chain lubricant for the chain. it’s not very expensive, and well worth it.
    on internal moving points, a good quantity of lubricating greese should be used, rather too much, than too little.
    make sure that if you are going to clean parts, that exposed steel such as the brake or gear shift cables are thoroughly dry.
    you can put a small amount of lubricant at rubbing points along the aformentioned cables, but do not allow lubricant to be put between the brake pads.

    the best thing you can do is to find a local bike repair station (not a bike shop) spend a couple of hours there as you will have proper tools, bike stands, and people who know what they are doing. After a couple of visits you’ll know enough that maintaining your bike will be easier and faster than you thought it could be.

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