How to maintain your bicycle | Bicycle regular servicing

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What to do before the first ride on your bicycle

Two actions before riding your new bicycle:
  1. Adjust the height of the saddle
  2. Inflate your bicycle tires to the pressure setting shown on them

Bicycle saddle height adjustment

Loosen the saddle pin clamp and pull up or push down the saddle in a manner that:
You can stand in front of the saddle without touching the chassis
Your leg is slightly folded when placed over the pedal
The saddle pin is within its adjustment range
WARNING: never let the saddle go beyond its limit mark. If your comfort biking position is found after the saddle limit, then this simply means the bicycle is small for your body. You need to get a larger one.

What you need to know about gear change on your bicycle

  • Never change gear while pedaling, stop pedaling for a couple of seconds while you shift your gear lever.
  • Avoid the shown gear combinations in this figure, from one chainwheel to an opposite gear sprocket as this puts utmost lateral tension on the chain and will damage it.

Checks to perform on your bicycle after your first rides

  1. Check nothing is lose, all bolts and nuts remain tightened
  2. Check brakes and gear cables are tensioned
  3. Check the brake blocks (if not disc brakes) are at an equal distance of the bicycle tires
  4. Seat cannot be rotated or tilted by hand
  5. Handle bar is perpendicular to the front tire and cannot be inclined by hand
  6. Gears shift smoothly up and down

Regular bicycle maintenance

The maintenance of a bicycle often consists of:
  • Cleaning it
  • Lubricating it
  • Inflating the tires
When cleaning your bicycle, simply use a damp cloth to wipe it out.
Avoid touching the chain, the chainwheels and the derailleur or sprockets indeed.
If your bicycle is too dirty, you may have fun and use a waterjet machine then wash it with soapy water but then you need to re-lubricate the chain properly.

For the lubrication, simply put a few drops of a thick oil on the chain and rotate the pedals to spread the oil on the chainwheels and sprockets. Change gear while lifting the rear wheel so the oil spreads over all the sprockets.
Do not use excess oil, you  should really count the drops or else dirt will accumulate and the resulting mud can be projected to your legs by the chainwheels.

For inflating the tires, simply use a bicycle hand inflator.
Inflate to the PSI value shown on the tire. If you have no gauge, simply touch the wheel with your fingers and press strongly. You should feel it hard enough so it barely deforms under the action of your hand.

Bicycle fixing

Click on the below link for our detailed bicycle repair pictorials:

Tightening torques for bicycles

Below are the recommended tightening torques for bicycles.
These remain quite general however, please make sure to follow the manufacturer's recommended tightening torques that are specific to your bike whenever you can.
Bicycle part
Torque, mKg
Front wheel nut
2-2.5 mKg
Rear wheel nut
​2-2.5 mKg
Seat bolt
1.1-1.3 mKg
Handlebar height adjustment bolt
1.6 mKg
Handlebar clamp bolt
​1.1-1.3 mKg
Pedal bolt
4.75 mKg

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