Subtitles: Portuguese (Brazil)
Today we’ll learn how to tune up your bike, which I’d recommend doing at least once a year, or even every few months if you ride every day. Since I can’t demonstrate every step of the procedure while keeping this video short, I’ll give a general overview and cover each step further in separate tutorials. You’ll notice below that I’ve written out all of the steps and included links to related tutorials. I’ll be adding new links as future videos are uploaded.
Depending how much work is needed you’ll need a several tools for this job. Most importantly you’ll need:
- Dish soap, water and some rags.
- Chain oil and a light lubricant like Tri-Flow.
- An air pump and tire pressure guage.
- A set of metric allen wrench (4-8mm).
- A set of metric open-end wrenches (8-17mm).
- Two 13mm and two 15mm cone wrenches.
- A set of appropriate sized headset wrenches.
- A spoke wrench for wheel truing.
- A chain wear indicator.
- A repair stand or some rope to hang your bike from the ceiling.
- Order Tools from JensonUSA
Wheel Cleaning and Tuning
First disconnect your brakes and remove both wheels. This makes it easier to clean the bike frame and tune-up the wheels. Clean between the sprockets of your freewheel or cassette using a rag or a proper cleaning tool. Using a dry rag, wipe down the hubs, spokes, and rims on both wheels. If they are difficult to clean dip your rag in some mildly soapy water and try again. Never use harsh cleaners or a water hose to clean your bike. Check both hub adjustments to make sure they aren’t loose and that they spin freely. Adjust or overhaul them as necessary.
If you have a truing stand, deflate the tires and check the alignment and spoke tension of both wheels and adjust them as needed. Inflate both tires to the recommended pressure and set them aside.
Frame Cleaning
Now wipe down your entire bike frame and components. I usually start at the handlebar and work my way to the rear derailleur in order to keep my rag clean as long as possible. Again you can dampen your rag with soapy water if needed to loosen up any tough grime.
Frame and Parts Inspection
Once clean it’s a good idea to carefully inspect the entire surface of your frame for any hairline cracks or damage. If you notice anything you should take it to your local shop right away for further assessment, as it can be dangerous to ride on a cracked frame. Inspect all of your components as well, paying particular attention to the brake and shift cables. If they are frayed or have damaged housings, now is the time to replace them.
Lubrication
Now apply a few drops of some light lubricant to the inside of your cable housings and all of the pivot points on your brake and shift components. Avoid getting any oil on your brake pads, and wipe off any excess so that it doesn’t collect dirt. Here’s a video that demonstrates cable lubrication.
Headset and Bottom Bracket
Check the adjustment of both your headset and bottom bracket to make sure they aren’t loose and spin smoothly.
Brakes
Inspect all of your brake pad surfaces and carefully trim away any wear ridges with a razor blade. Resurface them with rough sandpaper to clean up road grime. You should replace the pads if they are worn past the indicator line, or if you can see metal poking through the surface. Watch the brake tutorials.
Tightening
Now check all of the bolts on your bike to make sure they’re tight, but be careful not to over-tighten. If they already feel tight enough don’t force them any tighter. Important areas to check include your handlebars, levers, shifters, stem, seat, seatpost, brakes, derailleurs, cranks and pedals.
Here is a bicycle torque specification guide from Park Tools.
Final Adjustments
Now reinstall the wheels and reconnect your brakes. Adjust the brake pads and cable tension as needed. Clean the chain, check for chain wear, and then lubricate it with chain oil. Then adjust the rear derailleur first, and the front derailleur second. Now place the bike on the ground and adjust your handlebar and seat position if needed.
Test Ride
The last step is very important. Take your bike on a thorough test ride, running through all of the gears and testing the brakes. Most of the time you’ll have a few minor re-adjustments to make before your bike is fully ready to ride.
Subscribe to the RSS Feed
Thanks for a great overview Alex. You have reminded me how much maintenance my bikes need. If only it took 3 minutes like in the video.
This is awesome. I’ve wanted to know this procedure for a long time. Thank you Alex!
Very awesome Alex.. thank you very much!
God bless!
Super video, look forward to the detailed video’s to follow. Would you say that doing this once a month is over kill? And also which of these steps should be done on a weekly basis?
I’d say it’s a good idea to spot-check your brakes and gears, lube your chain, and check your bolts on a monthly basis. No need for a full tune up.
I usually check my tire pressure on a weekly basis.
Flawless video! I need to do this with my hardrock one weekend… it hasn’t been tuned up since i bought it
Guys, can you teach me how to put a primary photo?
The comment icons on this site are generated using Gravatars.
Once you’re signed up, attach an image to the same email address that you use to post here. I’m not sure if it will update your previous posts, but all future comments will have your icon attached. A lot of websites are using this service so your new icon will show up when you post comments on those sites as well.
If you don’t have a gravatar account and you post a comment on this site, an icon is randomly generated from a bunch of bicycle images that I uploaded.
Cheers!
Just want to say thanks for all the great tutorials. Bike maintenance and repairs are a lot easier when you are shown how it should be done.
It’s working Alex… thank you very much!
Just what I needed step by step awesome!
Thanks so much Alex
I’m just getting back into riding its been like 25 years . I ordered a bike online yesterday and it will be here next week. These videos will help me a lot getting it assembled and ready to ride… I only got one question, Will You Marry Me?
Got any pointers for me?
Thanks again for having this stuff here to help us with our bikes.
Status of this Request
Ok Jeff, let’s set a date
I’m actually planning to do a tutorial on assembling a new bike. It’s too bad I don’t have a demo bike yet…
The main thing would be to check all of your bearings for grease. New bikes often don’t come with enough. Also check all of the bolts to make sure they’re tight after it’s assembled.
Alex, this is amazing. Thanks for the tutoring. Heres a question - I’m interested in purchasing a work stand. What do you suggest?
-R S
Also, how do you suggest truing your wheels if you don’t have a stand? Do you suggest buying a stand? If so, what type of stand would you suggest?
-R S
Hi Ryan, the best truing stand I’ve used (the one in all these videos) is the Park PCS-4, it’s well worth the investment if you want to do a lot of home repair work. If you’re on a budget, the Park PCS-9 isn’t bad, but I find the clamping mechanism is really cumbersome. If you want to build your own, here’s some links to DIY Repair Stands.
In the wheel truing tutorial you’ll find some tips for truing the wheel on your bike. My favorite truing stand is the Park TS-2. They are accurate and easy to use and I’ve seen them last for many years of daily shop use. Their budget model is the Park TS-8. If you want to build your own, here’s some more links to 5 DIY Truing Stands.