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Summer Bikes - Before Storage!


chung
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Hi Folks,

 

It’s almost that time of the year to swop out the summer bikes & bring out the trusty old winter hack.

 

So I thought I would share a few tips that I’ve learnt in the past, to do to your pride & joy, before temporary retiring your summer beauties in the comfort of your shed/garage/lounge/bedroom/safe etc (delete as appropriate )

 

Before storage

1. I would obviously recommend giving your bike a good wash (or at least a thorough wipe down) but make sure everything is nice & dry after you’ve done so. No one likes rust on you bike/bike parts!

 

2. Chain - Clean & re-lube this part thoroughly, I use a “Park Tool†chain bath, works great but other means are just as good & dry lube!

 

3. Once chain is nice & clean, shift chain to small chainring on the front & smallest cog at the back - this put the chain into the “least stress positionâ€, theoretically making your chain last just a wee bit longer (if you can pop the chain off the front rings & just rest it loose even better - but might be messy) & your gear cable are not in tension too, again longing the life of these particular parts.

 

4. Oil/Lube all pivot points - front/rear mechs, brake pivots etc for obvious reasons.

 

5. Loosen the seat post clamp & take the seat post out & re-grease/apply copper seize before sliding it back into place (make sure you mark the position first with masking tape etc before you take out the seat post, so you know exactly how far to put it back on) remember to re-torque properly accordingly.

I’ve seem seized seat post before from moisture in this particular area & it’s a right pain to deal with, prevention is key here!

In fact, I make a point of pulling out & re-install all my bikes seat post every few months just in case!

 

6. Check that the condition of your tyres are still nice & ridable come next summer, check for deep cuts or worn parts. If it need replacing, then end of year/Xmas sales are usually a good times to pick up some new tyres. I always buy frequently perishable parts before I absolutely need it, yes I am a hoarder :-)

 

7. Brake pads/blocks - as above.

 

8. Maybe it’s a good time to replace your bar-tapes, it should be replaced as frequent as possible …….. I love new bar tape, cheapest way to make your bike feel brand new :-)

 

Hope these tips help, but if you guys can think of any, I would love to hear & learn more please!

 

It might sounds a lot of work but it's well worth it & saves you money as well, but if you can’t be bother, then there’s an alternative - just buy a brand new bike EVERY SUMMER :-)

 

I suppose these things don’t just apply to doing it before you store the bike, it’s good practice to do these things through out the year when you’re riding anyway!

 

Happy bike maintaining

 

Cheers

 

Chung

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Great advice Chung, thanks :-) Comprehensive list of simple tasks to make your bike last longer. Wee bit more involved, but what about checking and re-greasing bearings? hubs, headset, even bottom bracket?

 

PS you clearly enjoy looking after bikes. More than happy to offer you the chance to care for some of mine if you like ;-)

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Great advice Chung, thanks :-) Comprehensive list of simple tasks to make your bike last longer. Wee bit more involved, but what about checking and re-greasing bearings? hubs, headset, even bottom bracket?

 

PS you clearly enjoy looking after bikes. More than happy to offer you the chance to care for some of mine if you like ;-)

 

Howdy el Presidente Martin,

 

Yeah, checking bearings are important indeed, good shout!

 

I'll be delight to "care" for some of your house-hold's fleet of bikes as long as it's Italian & a bottle of single malt is stashed in the bottle cage :-)

 

Cheers

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  • 2 weeks later...

A good coat of Scotoil FS365 on all components likely to corrode ( not brakes obviously). I use the stuff on my road and mtbs. Can be sprayed fairly liberally on drive train. Great stuff. Also brilliant for the winter steed . Spray on wet bike when you can't wash and lube. (again avoid rims and brakes).

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