BY DAVID NORTH
Former Chair
Los Alamos County Transportation Board

We have no bike shop, and only access to repair or service on Wednesdays, if that. Which means, at least for now, it’s a good idea to have some basic repair and maintenance skills.

Really, even if we had a bike shop, this is stuff every biker should know: How to check the tire pressure, change a tire and/or tube, install sealant, remove a wheel, lubricate the chain, replace brake pads (and adjust mechanical brakes), and handle basic derailleur adjustment. Well, okay, adjust seat height, headset, and replace pedals too. Strangely, there isn’t anything more to basic repair and maintenance on an ebike, though some of the techniques are a bit different.

Don’t panic. You won’t have to do most of it very often, and all of it is simple. But why so much compared to your car?

Two reasons. First, bikes need to be light, so they’re not a half ton or so overbuilt. Second, your car is nearly impossible to work on without a gazillion tools, and even then most stuff is just plain hard to do. On a bike, almost everything is easy. And cheap.

So, have I done all this stuff? Yeah, and a lot more. I can’t think of any part on a bike or ebike that I haven’t taken apart, replaced or repaired. And trust me, some of it you should leave to a shop.

Of course, you can randomly search for a lot of this on the internet, and some of what you find will actually be right.

But learning about most of it can be fun, with a little help from our local professionals: Syd and Macky (yes, they really do live here). They have a site devoted to maintenance and repair. You can watch their videos just for the entertainment value, but in the end you’ll find out how to do a lot of the above. Check them out at:

https://www.youtube.com/sydfixesbikes

If you prefer the Dragnet/Sgt. Friday approach — just the facts — you’ll find excellent tutorials on all the above from Park Tools. They’re in the business to sell tools, and often are the best deal for quality stuff. You can start here:

https://www.parktool.com/en-us/blog/repair-help

… or just search on something like “change innertube park” (just add “park” to your search and their help will probably be the first listed). Of course you can find all kinds of other stuff, but at least Park is reliable, as opposed to a good deal of typical intertrash. Park is also good for older stuff, like rim brakes or front derailleurs.

By the way, derailleur is just the French way to spell derail-er. You’ll hear all kinds of weird pronunciations. French pronunciation is completely unrelated to their spelling, so there’s no point in pretending you know (it’s kind of like dayRYEyuh while blowing your nose. Nobody, including the French, will know what you are trying to say). No need to be fancy, just say de-rail-er.

There are a few cheap tools you should have around. The usual screwdrivers and metric Allen keys. A couple of tire levers … maybe three if you’re just starting out. A tire valve stem remover. Everybody should have a tire repair kit. They’re cheap, readily available, and come with all the instructions you’ll need.

And sealant. Around here, tube or tire sealant is not optional. We have so many cacti, thorns and goatheads that it will be a miracle if you don’t get a flat without sealant. Even on the roads, some times of year.

Some Tips:

If you use innertubes, Slime is the sealant of choice. If you’re using Presta tubes (the most common on regular bikes and some eBikes) you will need that tire valve stem removal tool to put the Slime in. You should also make sure the tubes you get have removable stems. If they don’t say so, ask. Or learn to identify them by look. I exclusively use Continental lightweight tubes which always come with removable stems. If your bike has Schrader valves (like your car) you’re good to go: they always have removable stems and Slime comes with a barely functional removal tool built in to the cap.

For tubeless tires, there are a bunch of good options. Lately I’ve been using MTB sealant for the first install, shifting to tubeless Slime after a few months. This is an experiment, but so far it’s going well. Typical tubeless sealants are good for a few months, but Slime will work for at least a couple of years. However, using it in tubeless bicycle tires is not recommended for some reason, so ymmv.

Also, you should probably have a tire pump and gauge. Many pumps have gauges built in, but they’re usually not spot on. That doesn’t really matter much, because after a while you’ll have some idea of what reading on your gauge works best for your riding. Just don’t trust the gauge to keep you from pumping your tire too high. It’s a good idea to locate a good gauge and calibrate against it. But really, lots of people get by just by squeezing their tire and adjusting until it feels about right.

Removing a tire? Let the air out, stick one of the tire levers under the bead of the tire opposite the valve and pop it off. Then use another one nearby to do the same thing. With practice you can slide one or the other around until the bead releases, but this can also be done with a third lever if sliding one of them is too tough. Most tires I can put back on by hand, but it’s easier using the lever to pry it back on. It’s best to start opposite the valve because there’s usually a depression in the rim that the bead can sink into. That allows the opposite side of the tire to move away from the axis, giving some slack for getting the rest of the bead off.

Removing a wheel is usually pretty simple. Most will have some kind of quick release specific to your application, and few modern wheels require tools (some will use a large Allen wrench). With rim brakes you have to release the calipers so the tire can fit between them. The real trick is usually getting the derailleur out of the way when pulling off the rear wheel. It’s really just a matter of pressing it rearward but it will look like a Rubik’s cube at first. Fret not. But you will probably get gunk on your hands.

Most chain lubricants are a type of wax these days, and application is very simple. Just drip some on every link joint whenever your chain starts getting noisy. Two tricks: start at the master link (or mark a link) so you know when to stop. Also, apply the lube to the chain below the chainwheel rather than the top run. This will keep your bike a little cleaner and put the lube directly on the surface that contacts the gears.

Replacing disk brake pads is pretty easy, usually. You just remove the wheel, remove the old pads, put the new ones in, pry them apart a bit (the old ones wore off so the calipers have moved closer to each other) and put the wheel back on. No need to adjust if they were working well before. On rim brakes, it’s a bit trickier — you’ll have to readjust. The problems are slightly different for various styles, so here it’s a good idea to look up your setup. If you’re at all mechanically inclined, you’ll be able to figure it out.

Adjusting seat height/rotation is simple on most modern bikes, since there is almost always a quick release lever. I mention this only because I’ve seen folks who don’t know this is adjustable and ride their bike with the seat impossibly out of proper range. The lever will be where your seat post goes into the bike frame.

If your headset comes loose it can be a nasty problem. Your front wheel and handlebars will be loose and sloppy. Damage can result. But the fix is easy! On the top of the front fork (the thing that holds the front wheel) there will be a
tube clamp, usually with two or more Allen screws located rearward. They may be loose already (the problem) or you may need to loosen them. There should also be an Allen screw at the top of the stem (part of the fork that goes through the frame). Tighten that top screw until the fork sits firmly in the frame, but not tightly. Then tighten the two screws on the clamp that you loosened earlier. Problem solved!

Removing and replacing pedals is one of the weirder things if you haven’t done it before, but still easy. The strange part is the reverse thread on the non-drive side. On the right side (as you face forward) is where the chain or belt drive is usually located. Removing a pedal on that side works as usual: counterclockwise to remove, clockwise to tighten. But the other pedal is the opposite: clockwise to remove and counterclockwise to tighten.

The cable is about the only adjustment you’ll want to make to your derailleur unless you really want to dive into the subject (Park has an excellent tutorial on the rest). When your cable gets a bit off, some of your shifts won’t happen easily, or your bike won’t go into the highest or lowest gear. You adjust the cable by turning a knob at the cable end of the shifter, and sometimes there’s another knob where the cable meets the derailleur. Many systems require that you pull the knob toward the cable to engage it, much like a childproof medicine cap. This is another strange thread relationship: usually it’s counterclockwise to tighten the cable and clockwise to loosen it. This will make sense when you look at it — moving the cable sleeve away from either end makes it effectively longer, putting tension on the actual cable.

I’ll bet those simple tips still sound a bit confusing.

You’ll note that most of the references I listed are for videos rather than written instructions. There’s a good reason: it’s hard to write down what’s better shown directly. With that in mind, what the town(s) need are a place and time for people to go and get advice and hands-on instruction for the common repairs and maintenance.

It would be helpful if we had a general bicycling club to arrange and publicize things like that. We do have the Tuffriders, who do a great job for serious mountain bikers, but I don’t know of any maintenance get-togethers even with them. Actually, I know very little about the Tuffriders since they are a Hill Billy organization and I live in White Rock. Went on a couple of rides that were  fun for sure. If they do have repair and maintenance meetups, I’d like to hear about it and spread the word.

With that in mind, if you’d like to see a subject addressed, raise an issue, or just tell me how wrong I am, I’ve registered atomicbikewriter@gmail.com and I promise to check it now and then.

Dave North spent four years dealing with bicycling issues during his tenure on the Transportation Board and rides bikes almost daily. This is an exclusive series to The Reporter about how to get the most out of cycling in Los Alamos County.