Mountain Bike Maintenance

Okay guys, this post has been a long time coming as we really wanted to make it as thorough as possible. We have kind of created this as a kind of home guide on how to maintain a Mountain bike. I hope we have covered everything in this article and once you get to grips with what you are doing then it should take around 40 minutes to go through.

Firstly remove all the accessories from your bars and bike, take off any saddle bags and lights that you might have on your bike and release the brake cables. To do this squeese the calipers into the rim of your wheel and then life the brake cable out of the retaining clip. By squeesing the caliper you are releasing the tension from the cable and this makes the whole thing a lot easier.

Great, now that this is done lay a towel or sheet onto the ground and turn the bike upside down so that the saddle and bars are resting on the ground (now do you see why you have to put something down so you don’t scuff your saddle or bars). As you get more into your bike maintenance it might be worth shelling out for a proper stand as this makes everything so much easier and there is less risk of damage to your bike.

Using the quick release leavers on the wheels, take the wheels out of the frame, a top tip when taking the rear wheel out (and this can be used when transporting your bike without its wheels on) is to use a bungee rope – attaching one end to under the saddle and the other to the chain. Doing this stops the chain from rubbing on your rear stays and scratching your frame.

Start by cleaning your rear mech and the rear part of the frame, a damp cloth with do just fine for this. Next spray WD40 onto all the moving components to lube everything up and keep it running smoothly.

If you are doing a light maintenance routine then running the chain through a cloth will surface, however I have been known to take the chain completely off and letting it soak in a tub of paraffin overnight to remove all built up dirt.

Next clean the pedals so there is no trapped dirt, clean the seat tube, down tube and top tube. Free any trapped dirt on your front mech and again spray with WD40 to lube and keep it running smooth.

Next take out your bike brush and start cleaning the cassette on the rear wheel with care and attention. Mountain bike wheels, unlike road wheels tend to pick up more stones and crap that can get caught in the cassette due to the nature of mountain bike riding. Work the brush between the cogs and use soapy water to clean off oil and muck.

Put the wheels back into the frame and give them a spin to make sure that they are running true and aren’t rubbing on your brake pads.

Here’s another top tip – to check that your spokes are all nice and tight, slowly spin the wheel and let your fingers run over the spokes, they should be taught – if one feels loose then you will need to tighten it.

While we are looking at your cycling wheels then it might be a good idea to check the condition of your tyres. Just like on your car, poor tyres can result in poor stopping performance and poor grip.

Finally check your break pads; you should have at least 3/4 of breaking surface left. Anything under 1/2 and you might want to start thinking about ordering some new breaks and anything under 1/4 and I would be interested to know just how you are stopping on downhill runs.

If you use your mountain bike to commute to work and back (or just have lights on your bike anyway) check that they are bright and visible and all the settings are working. Really you should do this anytime that you ride in the dark.

So there it is guys, our first cycling how to guide. No doubt we will be editing this over time to improve the advice given.