Maintenance

Good maintenance is mostly repetition rather than skill. Ten minutes spent cleaning and checking a bike after a ride prevents most of the expensive failures that end a season early, and it keeps the quiet, reliable feel that makes a bike a pleasure to own.

The chain is where everyone should start, because it wears the parts around it far faster than it wears itself. A clean, correctly lubricated chain can last several times longer and protects the cassette and chainrings in the process. From there, the same habits extend to brakes, suspension and the drivetrain.

Each guide follows the same shape: what the job is, how often it needs doing, the tools or parts involved, and the signs that tell you to stop and go to a shop. We are honest about the line between home service and specialist work, because a badly bled brake or a stripped bolt costs more to fix than the original job.

If you only do one thing after reading this section, make it the post-ride clean-and-lube routine. It is the cheapest insurance you can buy, and everything else on the bike lasts longer because of it. Keep the small jobs small, and the big, expensive repairs rarely arrive without warning.