What's your maintenance routine?

Dave E

Dave E

Member
I haven't owned such a nice bike before, and definitely never one with expensive electronic components. I'd like to make sure I'm taking proper care of this investment, plus it's my ride to work.

So what do you all do to your bikes on a regular basis?

I lube my chain once or twice a week, check/fill the tires once a week, recharge the battery every day, and charge all my accessories as needed (headlamp, tail light, earbuds, etc.). I feel like I should be doing more.
 
I work in a shop, so I put the bike up in the stand at least weekly. I drop the wheels, install a dummy hub to clean/lube the chain (I use Rock 'n Roll Gold), check it for wear, blow brake dust out of the disc calipers with compressed air, and give the entire bike a detailed wipe-down. Sometimes I pull the brake pads out so I can clean the caliper more thoroughly. I don't check tire pressure very often...maybe once a month. I have not really done anything regarding the electrical connections, other than look to see that they are clean. I do need to get a screen protector for the Yamaha display; I only use quality microfiber to wipe it but it has still picked up scratches.
 
Mostly keeping it clean/wiping down, especially in winter on wet roads. Probably clean/lube the chain every second week or so, using a wet lube. I deal to things as they need dealing with. It is worth proactively keeping an eye on spoke tension, no need to obsess.
 
Dust/wipe. Wash when it looks dirty. As for the chain--when I bought chain lube at my LBS, the guy said to lube the chain when it got noisy, and if all was quiet, all was good. (I have a hub drive, BTW).
 
On the mid drives, checking the chain wear is much more important. On the hub drives your chain wear should be normal (you will get > 5000 km from a quality chain). I used to have a 7-mile off-road trip to work each day and in those days I had to clean and oil the chain constantly. These days I do it maybe quarterly.
 
This seems like a weird question, but are the kickstands adjustable somehow? The kickstand on my new bike is a little too long and the bike wants to tip over.
 
Lately the breaks are the ones giving me a lot of trouble (horrible noise, specially when dirty). So I degrease the disks once in a while and remove the pads at least once every two weeks to clean them and if necessary, sand paper them to leave their surface as new again. After that, I clean them with degreaser and all back to new.

Regarding this, can anybody recommend me a combination of disk rotors and pads that were a complete new experience regarding breaks or they all are more or less the same thing? My Shimano disks and the organic pads are kind of bad combination, specially when we talk about noise and they require a lot of maintenance.

The second component which I check more often is the chain. I try to keep it as clean as possible and pay special attention when I find some rust on it. Just using a soft degreaser with the chain cleaner tool once in a while. When dry, then apply the lube.

Tires preasure checked every two weeks or so.

A quick visual check after every ride is also a must. Specially if you use your bike regularly or as a commuter vehicle as I do.
 
Disc breaks are noisy, but I love them.
Kickstands—the one on my bike (Pedego) is stable and adjustable. It adjusts from the back.
 
eagamer80 said:
Lately the breaks are the ones giving me a lot of trouble (horrible noise, specially when dirty). So I degrease the disks once in a while and remove the pads at least once every two weeks to clean them and if necessary, sand paper them to leave their surface as new again. After that, I clean them with degreaser and all back to new.

Regarding this, can anybody recommend me a combination of disk rotors and pads that were a complete new experience regarding breaks or they all are more or less the same thing? My Shimano disks and the organic pads are kind of bad combination, specially when we talk about noise and they require a lot of maintenance.

The second component which I check more often is the chain. I try to keep it as clean as possible and pay special attention when I find some rust on it. Just using a soft degreaser with the chain cleaner tool once in a while. When dry, then apply the lube.

Tires preasure checked every two weeks or so.

A quick visual check after every ride is also a must. Specially if you use your bike regularly or as a commuter vehicle as I do.
Click to expand...

I'm currently using a Shimano RT86 rotor, M8000 caliper, and H01A resin pads. The combination is totally silent.
 
Beyond tire pressure check (about weekly -- wherein I tend to find a ~5lb psi drop has occurred) - I've started doing a modest chain lube & clean session roughly every 10 days or so -- I don't have a bike stand at home yet, so I take my "cleaning kit"* to a local park, find a picnic table in the shade, and turn the bike upside down to work on it.

*The kit is - Rock n Roll Gold, a toothbrush, a large (non-terrycloth) kitchen towel, two plastic grocery bags. (All of which I keep in a ziplock plastic bag, so it can't dirty-up the inside of my pannier bag.) Pretty much my method is to apply a generous amount of RnR Gold (per their instructions) while hand-pedaling forward a bit, and changing through all the gears. Then a mix of forward and backward while using the kitchen towel to take up the excess lube & dirt, and clean, somewhat, the teeth of the gears. I usually go through this twice, until after several rotations, I see the teeth aren't immediately getting dirty again. I'll use the toothbrush in the derailleur bits, and if I spot any larger caked up gunk anywhere. The plastic grocery bags slip over my saddle and handlebar display (to keep them from picking up dirt/tree sap on the ground, etc., when the bike is resting upside down, as well as protecting the saddle from any stray spray of RnR Gold.)
 
I try to lube my chain as the kind I use, T9 Boeshield, has a wax element that works best if it is given a chance to set up. I address any issues that may have arisen during the ride also or note them to do before the next ride. I keep an eye on all the critical fasteners, especially with my kit system the nut that holds the system in place at the bb and check the cranks for tightness while at it as they do loosen being the steel square taper/aluminum crank arm variety and this has always been an issue with this interface even on my dino bikes over the years.

Once a month, as I am able to do so relatively easily, I tear down the motor to access the main drive gear and clean and re-lubricate it with red and tacky

If properly dirty as is the case with winter riding here I do a bike wash using a brush and hose after the ride. In the summer I don't pay as much attention to the dirt and have a black bike.....

I put the battery on charge right away and monitor it til it is full and then unplug so that it doesn't sit at full charge for too long. At some point I am going to get the Grin Satiator version that will allow for a more exact charge cycle but to this point I have just been using the 2A and 3A ones I have on hand.
 
JRA said:
I try to lube my chain as the kind I use, T9 Boeshield, has a wax element that works best if it is given a chance to set up. I address any issues that may have arisen during the ride also or note them to do before the next ride. I keep an eye on all the critical fasteners, especially with my kit system the nut that holds the system in place at the bb and check the cranks for tightness while at it as they do loosen being the steel square taper/aluminum crank arm variety and this has always been an issue with this interface even on my dino bikes over the years.

Once a month, as I am able to do so relatively easily, I tear down the motor to access the main drive gear and clean and re-lubricate it with red and tacky

If properly dirty as is the case with winter riding here I do a bike wash using a brush and hose after the ride. In the summer I don't pay as much attention to the dirt and have a black bike.....

I put the battery on charge right away and monitor it til it is full and then unplug so that it doesn't sit at full charge for too long. At some point I am going to get the Grin Satiator version that will allow for a more exact charge cycle but to this point I have just been using the 2A and 3A ones I have on hand.
Click to expand...
I’ve been charging my batteries to no more than 80%, then just before a ride top them off at 100%. Also, I go thru a more laborious process of cleaning the chain by taking it off, thoroughly deep cleaning in gasoline (be careful here and use a proper container), degreasing, soaking in hot liquid wax mixing all the bubbles out, then upon removal, dowsing in ice water until the wax solidifies, brushing/wiping off excess, cleaning chainrings with degreaser and water rinse with brushes/rags, then putting chain back on. This keeps the chain very slippery and very clean for a months or so. See
 
My routine?
Clunk!
Bang!
Pop!
Carunch!
Dang... guess I gotta fix it!
Kidding of course, but a good visual before a ride including tires. Then maybe once a week for lube and cleaning.
 
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