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Proper bike maintenance is critical for keeping your bike in great condition and making sure it lives a long and happy bike. Basic bike mechanics can often be a daunting process - what tools do I need? How long will it take? Will it work? It's a lot like cooking. So here are a few "recipes for success."
Recipe: How to change a cassette
Duration: 6-8 minutes, with practice
Skill Level: Newbie
Ingredients:
Cassette lockring - these are Campagnolo and Shimano specific. Note that SRAM cassettes use the Shimano lockring tool.
Chainwhip
Adjustable wrench
Tips:
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While the cassette lockring and chainwhip are specialized tools, they are standard bike tools that your bike shop should stock. |
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Always give yourself extra time to test the new cassette prior to an event. |
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If you hear a rattling sound coming from your rear wheel after swapping
a cassette, the lockring probably hasn't been tightened enough or it is
missing a spacer. |
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If you're replacing an old worn out cassette, it's a good idea to replace your chain at the same time. |
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Oh, and the proper use of a chainwhip while in mixed company will earn you bonus points. |
Steps:
1.
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Remove the wheel from the bike. Remember: put the gear on the smallest
cog (11 or 12 tooth) before removing the wheel will make it easier to
remove.
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2.
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Remove the rear skewer. |
3.
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Orient the wheel so the rim is resting on the ground, the wheel leaning against your legs and the cassette facing away from you |
4.
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Put the lockring tool into the cassette lockring. |
5.
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Put the chain whip in your left hand and the adjustable wrench in your right. |
6.
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First wrap the chain whip over the cassette. The purpose of the
chainwhip is to stop the cassette from turning in the same direction as
the lockring as you loosen it. |
7.
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Then fit the adjustable wrench over the lockring tool. |
8.
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Push down with both hands and the lockring should come loose. |
9.
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Unscrew and remove the lockring. |
10.
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Remove the cassette by sliding it off the freehub body. Be careful as
the cogs usually are not linked into one solid block. Take care to keep
the cogs and spacers in order. As soon as I remove the cassette, I like
to immediately tie them together with a zip tie. |
11.
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Wipe off any grime that has collected on the freehub body. Don't use
any cleaners as it can get into the bearings and wreak havoc. |
12.
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Slide the cogs of the new cassette onto freehub body. The cassette cogs
will only fit in one orientation way onto the free hub body. Match the
grooves on the freehub body to those on the inside of the cogs. The
writing stamped on the cog should be facing outward. |
13.
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Tighten the lockring using the lockring tool and the adjustable wrench.
You will not need to use the chainwhip to tighten the lockring. |
14.
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Ensure that there isn't any play in the cassette and that the cogs are in the proper order. |
15.
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Insert the skewer and put the wheel back on the bike. |
Recipe: Fix a flat while out on a ride
Duration: 5 minutes with practice
Skill Level: Newbie
Ingredients:
Spare Tube - I recommend always carrying a new tube.
Patch Kit - I recommend glued patches, I find them more reliable than the glueless kind.
Tire Irons - Don't skimp, buy the beefy tire irons. The cheap ones will snap.
Pump - I recommend a frame pump.
Tips:
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Always carry a patch kit and a spare tube. Tubes can explode so a patch
kit will be useless with your only tube in shreds. Or your tube can be
rendered useless if the tip of the valve breaks off. |
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While many like to carry CO2 pumps because of their small size and they
quickly fill a tire without much muscle power, I prefer (and recommend)
the old fashioned frame pump. Frame pumps are much more reliable and
provide an infinite supply of air. The frame pumps are easier (less
muscle) to get to high pressure than the compact pumps. Frame pumps are
also a useful tool to fend off angry neighborhood dogs. |
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Patch kits or bar/gel wrappers are useful if your tire is punctured with, for example, a nail. |
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Practice changing a tube in the comfort of your home. |
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As a last resort, carry a phone and credit card. |
Repair:
- Use two tire irons to lift the bead of the tire over the rim. With the third tire iron, run it along the perimeter of the tire removing only one side of the tire. The other side should remain on the rim of the wheel.
- Remove the tube but keep it oriented to where it was inside the tire.
- Put air in the tube to find the puncture.
- Once you've found the puncture, check the corresponding location on the tire for the object that caused the puncture, for example a shard of glass or a goat head. Sometimes the object is no longer lodged in the tire, so don't be stressed if you don't find a foreign object.
- If you are using a patch kit, patch the tube.
- Slightly fill the new tube or the patched tube and seat it in the tire which should still have one side seated in the rim of the wheel.
- Seat the other bead into the rim of the wheel while ensuring that the tube is completely inside the tire. Start at one spot and move in the same direction around the perimeter of the rim, pressing the tire into the rim.
- It can get tough to seat the last few inches of the tire. There is a technique to seating the last bit that doesn't require a lot of muscle; try to roll the tire into the rim with the opposite side of the wheel secured on the ground or against your body and the other with the tire in the palm of your hands and roll the tire back towards you until it rolls into the rim. Do not use the tire irons to put the tire back on the rim, doing so will likely pinch and puncture your new tube.
- Partially fill the tube with air
- Check that the tube is not protruding out from under the tire. And that it is properly seated within the tire. Do this by pressing on the sidewall all around the tire so you can see the rim tape. If you can see the tube then it is probably not seated properly.
- If all looks good, fill the tube to full pressure.
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