Basic bike maintenance kit

[briztoon]

Hi guys,

I'm new to cycling and not really the handyman or diy type. But I still would like to know how to care for my expensive* bike. So is there some basic kit, tools and equipment that everyone should have. I know some LBS do courses in this kind of stuff, but my local Specialized store does not. I don't know if it's polite bike etiquette to take your new bike along to another LBS that does do courses for noobies.

Like what type of grease or lubricant should I be using on the cogs and chain. Is it safe to wash the frame down with ordinary dishwashing liquid and a shammy. What's are the essential repair stuff that should be kept at home. How often should X be done to Y? etc











*It's a subjective term. The bike is not that expensive when it comes to what's out there, but it was an expensive purchase for me.

[ValleyForge]

Hope you have the Kevlar/Nomex undies on. There will be blood!

The Park Tool website has most of what you need to know. Some TAFE's run non-denominational bike maintenance courses, and any decent LBS will be happy to have your business.....

[sherlock]

Is it safe to wash the frame down with ordinary dishwashing liquid and a shammy.

Never use dishwashing liquid. That stuff wrecks paint over time. Just use a small bucket of car wash, or a spray-on detailer, with a soft cloth. Shouldn't cost much for a bottle of Kitten, a bucket and a microfibre cloth.

[mitzikatzi]

Yes take your new bike to another LBS that does maintance courses.

+1 don't use dishwashing liquid use car wash.

For your chain Purple Extreme gets a lot of love on this forum. I like Squirt others don't. Really search for chain lube. Big can of worms there. Some say rendered bacon fat is best

[missinglink]

Some say rendered bacon fat is best

Is that kosher?

[Jean]

Hi guys,

I'm new to cycling and not really the handyman or diy type. But I still would like to know how to care for my expensive* bike. So is there some basic kit, tools and equipment that everyone should have. I know some LBS do courses in this kind of stuff, but my local Specialized store does not. I don't know if it's polite bike etiquette to take your new bike along to another LBS that does do courses for noobies.

Like what type of grease or lubricant should I be using on the cogs and chain. Is it safe to wash the frame down with ordinary dishwashing liquid and a shammy. What's are the essential repair stuff that should be kept at home. How often should X be done to Y? etc

Lots of people buy basic off the shelf kits from places like Ebay, T7, etc, etc for anywhere between $50 & $100. They are fairly generic despite the different branding and while the quality of the tools in them is often a bit iffy, they do the job for a while and let you know what you will and won't use. Buy one if you feel the need and you probably won't be wasting your money.

Otherwise buy some cleaning stuff (already outlined), a set of good metric hex keys, some tyre levers, a puncture kit, some chain lube, and a tube of grease and you'll have a good starting point. Hex keys will do a lot of jobs on a bike. If you have any carbon components you'll want to look into torque wrenches. If you want to do more maintenance I'd suggest you buy tools as you need them to do specific jobs. I built up my kit by drawing up a list of tools I thought I needed to do what I wanted and bought a tool everytime I placed an order with the internet shops I use (plus some additions from EBay). I've also made a few tools.

Buy as high a quality as you can afford as good tools make life nicer and they last longer. Doing a course is worthwhile, but these days you can also learn a lot from the web, including the Park Tools website, Bike Tutor and a zillion videos on YouTube.

Good luck.

[high_tea]

Hi guys,

I'm new to cycling and not really the handyman or diy type. But I still would like to know how to care for my expensive* bike. So is there some basic kit, tools and equipment that everyone should have. I know some LBS do courses in this kind of stuff, but my local Specialized store does not. I don't know if it's polite bike etiquette to take your new bike along to another LBS that does do courses for noobies.

Like what type of grease or lubricant should I be using on the cogs and chain. Is it safe to wash the frame down with ordinary dishwashing liquid and a shammy. What's are the essential repair stuff that should be kept at home. How often should X be done to Y? etc

Lots of people buy basic off the shelf kits from places like Ebay, T7, etc, etc for anywhere between $50 & $100. They are fairly generic despite the different branding and while the quality of the tools in them is often a bit iffy, they do the job for a while and let you know what you will and won't use. Buy one if you feel the need and you probably won't be wasting your money.

Otherwise buy some cleaning stuff (already outlined), a set of good metric hex keys, some tyre levers, a puncture kit, some chain lube, and a tube of grease and you'll have a good starting point. Hex keys will do a lot of jobs on a bike. If you have any carbon components you'll want to look into torque wrenches. If you want to do more maintenance I'd suggest you buy tools as you need them to do specific jobs. I built up my kit by drawing up a list of tools I thought I needed to do what I wanted and bought a tool everytime I placed an order with the internet shops I use (plus some additions from EBay). I've also made a few tools.

Buy as high a quality as you can afford as good tools make life nicer and they last longer. Doing a course is worthwhile, but these days you can also learn a lot from the web, including the Park Tools website, Bike Tutor and a zillion videos on YouTube.

Good luck.

+1 to that list, and to buying high quality. Some things have given me so much trouble that I've sworn off cheapies alltogether: Allen keys, spoke wrenches and cone spanners. My strong recommendation with tyre levers is Michelin. I've had a couple of other brands bend or break on me and the solution was to dig around till I found a Michelin one. I'm not picky about chain lube and grease. Chain lube, I just get whatever (usually Finish Line or Rock 'n' Roll Gold) and I bought a tub of lithium boat trailer bearing grease years ago. It works fine and I won't be running out of grease any time soon.

Good luck!

[ftssjk]

if you're from sydney,

the city of sydney holds free basic maintenance courses for bikes.