Know Your Sport: Mountain Biking – Repair and Maintenance

Detailed component drawings on web sites, blue-gloved ‘experts’ on YouTube and numerous ‘Do it yourself’ maintenance manuals on bookshop shelves may suggest that mountain bike repair and maintenance is just not for you. Rather don’t bother about maintenance – just ride your bike till something breaks and take it to your Local Bike Shop (LBS) for repairs. Easy?

A slight change in attitude and an eagerness to get to know your bicycle better could make repair and maintenance part of your ride routine. Whoever said “prevention is better than cure”, must have been an avid cyclist. A quick bike check (tyre condition and pressure, brakes and chain) before departure takes less than a minute but may well prevent a ruined ride, a long frustrating walk back home or an accident while out riding.

The moment you start your ride is also the moment something can go wrong with your bike. Where you ride, how you ride and weather conditions on the day always gang up to shorten the life of your bike, its components and ultimately your planned ride. Be prepared: A good combination bike tool, a tyre repair kit, ‘gorilla’ tape, a few cable ties, pump or ‘bombs’ and a bit of ‘know-how’ can usually solve most trailside bike repair and maintenance challenges.

A hard day’s riding (technical terrain, wet and muddy or rocky and dusty) will place a huge demand on both rider and bike. A quick recovery drink and meal may serve the rider well, but what about the bike? No matter the conditions or terrain, some people just ride their bikes hard and are more prone to regular mishaps, mechanical failure and unhappy endings.

Maintenance starts with the way you ride your bike, care for your bike and prepare for your ride. No ride should end without at least a clean chain even on a dirty bike. Ride hard, maintain smart.