
Clean-up time (ap/Margriet Faber)
Winter can take a toll on your bike. Unless you live somewhere where it never rains, snows, or gets windy, your bike picks up dirt and debris every time you ride. All of these foreign bits and pieces can cause your bike to wear in places that really don’t need it.
Here are some things you should do, most especially during the winter months:
- Wash your bike on a regular basis. It’s tough to do it after every ride, which would be ideal, so get the garden hose out, and get the big chunks off.
- Clean your chain. After hosing it down, use a good chain cleaner. No chain, no ride, so keep it in good shape.
- Oil your chain after you clean it. Use a good chain oil only. Wipe the excess off.
- Clean the derailleur, oil it, wipe it down.
- Use a gear brush, and clean your gears and crank set.
- Check your crank set, make sure the teeth are straight. If you can’t do it, or there are broken teeth, head into your local bike shop for a fix.
- Tighten the cables if they are loose. Replace them if they are frayed.
- Check your tires. If they are cracked plan for replacements.
- Make sure your wheels have all the spokes. Lack of spokes will eventually cause your wheel to collapse, which is generally a negative experience for the rider.
- Spin everything that is spinable. Oil or tighten anything that squeaks.
Spring isn’t that far away. A little maintenance now will get you to spring tun-up time in good shape.



Read any bicycling magazine and you will find references to numbers: tire size, frame size, fork travel, bike gears. Except for bike gears, the numbers are easy to understand. Gears, for most riders, are what they hear about at the bike shop. But what do they mean? What difference does it make to you, the rider?
