This subject came up at a recent café stop on our regular weekly ride – another club’s members were getting very excited because a local bike shop was offering special deals on bike servicing.
Bike servicing seems a fairly recent phenomenon possibly born out of a few of things. Lack of knowledge, the will to get your hands dirty and greater disposable income. Plus, bikes in recent times have become more technically complicated – or have they?
I’ll take the last point first. I’m lucky enough to own a pro level road bike. Its Italian, cost a small fortune and was factory built – badly as it turns out. After a few weeks of suffering various creaks and knocks I decided to find out what was going on. Delving further I found that several items needed attention so stripped the whole thing and torque wrench in hand started again.
Needless to say, the bike now runs and rides as it should. Yes, along the way there were bits I didn’t know like programming the electronic gear system but we’ll come to that.
I suppose the point here is despite this particular model having won the Tour de France twice recently, its still just a bike and mechanically very simple. It works on the same principals as the bike I built and raced when I was 16.
Some bike shops today are very different places, part boutique, part coffee shop. I know after the boom years during the recent pandemic lockdowns there’s been a slowing of trade so many have looked at additional revenue streams and possibly a few have literally woken up and smelt the coffee!
My concern has always been that on a bike I occasionally ride very fast., how confident can I be that a bike shop mechanic who bolted it together has done the job properly? There are various qualifications for shop mechanics, probably the best known is Cytech, but I ask - has anyone ever actually ever failed this? Generally, most bike mechanics start as retail assistants – nothing wrong in that, start at the bottom, learn your trade and work your way up. But, a good mechanic needs the right aptitude and an eye for detail.
Surely bikes just require maintenance, you can’t just ride, lock away and expect them to last. With a few simple tools it’s a quick and easy job to keep on top of. Do it regularly and you’ll be surprised how much longer things last and how your riding enjoyment is enhanced.
A few paragraphs ago I mentioned adjusting an electronic gear set – your first port of call when wanting to find out how to do anything bike maintenance wise is YouTube. In my case the manufacturer SRAM had put up a very good series for installing and adjusting the gear system as well as bleeding disc brakes- really simple stuff once you know how.
Over the years I’ve developed a professional standard workshop. I’ve educated friends and cycling colleagues how to maintain their own bikes. Everything from cables, bottom bracket bearing replacement, wheel truing and spoke replacement to brake pads. I’ve seen some bike shop mechanic workmanship that is cause for concern from lost locking circlips on disc pads to incorrectly fitted chains. I’m first to admin I still make mistakes but they are usually cosmetic and I always ensure none are life threatening.
Like most things in this world if you don’t have the aptitude to work on your bike find a good individual mechanic and follow them where ever they work rather than just rely on one shop.
Don’t let any bike shop make you believe that they won’t guarantee the part if you fit it yourself, complete nonsense and verging on fraud.
So…..bike servicing or regular home maintenance?
Up to you and how deep your pockets are but as an owner of 8 bikes, I know what I choose.
If you do go down the route of home maintenance here is list of basic tools to work on modern bikes like anything buy the best you can afford, generally the Park Tool brand is a good place to start:
Chain Measurer
Chain Link Remover
Puncture Kit
LM Grease
3-1 oil
GT85 spray lube
10mm spanner
15mm spanner
Cassette lockring tool [SRAM and Shimano are same Campag is different]
Chain whip
Cable Cutters
Tyre levers
Set of Allen keys
Torque Wrench – a must if you have carbon components or frame
….and YouTube!
Other items such as Bottom Bracket tools can be added as you require them. Gone are the days where these were either English or Italian. You can also ask your cycling friends or clubmates to lend you one they’ll probably even show you how to do it – I do!