The Basics of Bike Maintenance

You will want to focus upon maintaining the condition of your chain throughout the year, as it will improve its lifespan and ensure you are able to ride best all year round. The basics are simple when it comes to the above, so look to clean and lubricate your chain at least once a week, which will subsequently help to avoid the odds of increased wear upon your drivetrain as a whole. Not only does this help in regards to performance, but also prevents you having to pay out for replacement parts or services unnecessarily.

Maintaining your bicycle's brake pads

These can end up as the perfect environment to hide sharp pieces of debris from the road, often leading to damaging the rims of your wheels and likely to produce some ear piercing sounds as a result of grating upon the rim when braking. In order to avoid this it is best to check for even wear between each of the two pads, which can indicate that something is causing inefficient braking to occur, often the result of grit or glass for example.

Make sure you have cycle insurance

However you enjoy your bike, you'll need insurance that suits you. We offer a range of cycling insurance products that gives you the option to choose the cover you’ll need, including worldwide cover for your bike and accessories. Start your cycling insurance quote online now.

Maintaining your bike’s disc brakes

Worthy of their own blog, disc brakes can be a complicated affair to remedy if things begin to go wrong. Some of the most common issues are due to the need for bleeding your brakes and potential damage which has caused warping to the rotors themselves. Unless you are a dab hand, it is often best to leave this one to the experts.

Avoiding gear shifting issues

Certain to cause much frustration and swearing is inconsistent gear shifting, an incredibly common problem, but one which many people think they have to suffer with. Thankfully the solution is often simple, though can be caused by a variety of issues. Be sure to check for loose gear cables, a potentially stretched chain and any damage to the derailleur which have left it misaligned with the cassette.

Maintaining your bicycle’s gear cables

One to keep an eye upon over time, gear cables become frayed over time and are likely to spell the end of a ride if snapping while out and about. Check them while cleaning the rest of the bike out of habit, meaning you know when they might need replacing or simply a few drops of lube to improve their performance. If you are not entirely sure of their condition or how you go about changing them, then a swift visit to the local bike shop is sure to solve it for you.