Bike Repair Basics

So many of you might have begun to notice a theme on this blog. I hope I can encourage you drop some of your personal " my ___ does that" or "the store sells that". As a stay at home dad you must wear many hats and those range from baker to bike mechanic. Today we're working on bike basics. Almost everyone knows how to ride a bike, but how many can keep it on the road. Many people can't perform even the most basic bike repairs and that equals money wasted at your local bike shop. I came to this realization about a year ago when getting ready for a 4 hr mountain bike race in Lake Tahoe. While training a friend of mine had mentioned that he had to practice changing tires in case he had a flat. I found this extreamly odd and asked why? It was simply because he had never had too and didn't know how. Now I must say if your purchasing a new bike please solicit your local bike shop and avoid chain stores. Your service will be much better and you will be keeping that money local. I used to pay to have my bike fixed too. That is until I came to an epiphany one day. The guy that I brought my bike to when it needed work would bring me his Audi when it was in need of repair. Now this did provide the occasional "mutually beneficial" arrangement but wasn't sustainable. I now perform all of our bike repairs and with a little help you can too. Your Huffy isn't an R8 so you can do this.

There is one site I must plug because it's just that good. The site is  http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help. Park Tool is a shop level tool company that provides consumers with the same tools your bike mechanic uses daily. In addition to that they feel the need to provide you with excellent repair information for about anything your bike might need. They also sell a great book called "The Big Blue Book of Bike Repair". I use both resources together and with a little common sense it's a cake walk.

If there are any bike repair items you would like to see covered please let me know. Either use the comment section or email me at mckenna019@yahoo.com. Don't be bashful, we have 3 road bikes, 2 mountain bikes, a kid's bike and  a strider. There is a really good chance I can justify repairing something for this blog. Onto today's lesson.

Our lesson today is about shifting. On a recent ride my road bike my shifting wasn't as crisp as it should be. The issue was it was skipping and wouldn't up-shift properly. This can only mean one thing: my cables need adjusted. This isn't half as complex as you might think.

Rear Cassette Shifting

1. To adjust your rear derailleur, shift into your outermost (smallest) gear on the rear cassette.
2. Check the cable tension. It should not feel tight but should have no slack either.
3. Adjust the slack. There will be a barrel adjuster on your rear derailleur. Turn until the slack is out of the cable.
4. Test the adjustment by shifting though all gears. If it does not down shift as it should you have the cable too tight. Loosen slightly and try again. If you cannot get proper tension with the barrel adjuster loosen the cable then pull tight and tighten clamp and recheck.
5. Most but not all bikes will have a second adjuster called a "micro-adjuster" this is going to be near where a rider can reach for in ride adjustments. See pictures below.
6.  DO NOT adjust the index screws on the derailleur for this issue. The index screws have one job and one job only. Control the innermost and outermost point the derailleur goes. This only needs adjusted if the rear gears do not go into the lowest or highest gear assuming the cables are properly adjusted. 
7. General note on cable adjusting. Try to adjust only when in the relaxed position. This will be the outermost on the rear and innermost on the crank. This will make adjusting easier and you cables will thank you.

Front Derailleur Shifting

1. This is largely the same as the rear with one large exception. You have no barrel adjuster on the derailleur for the adjustment. 
2. Shift into the lowest gear and check tension. If loose then loosen cable clamp and pull tight by hand and tighten clamp.
3. You will most likely need to adjust the micro adjuster to dial in correctly.

While this is just one of many things that a bike might need it's also one you can fix. Bikes are some of the most simple and efficient machines the world has ever know. There is know good reason why you should pay some one to do this simple of a task.  If it seems like something is missing let me know. What seems obvious to me may not be to you. This will be the first of many bike repair posts so please let me know if there is a repair that you want to see.

Future Moto Fan

I have shared in the past my daughter Leah's love of motorcycles. This week she achieved a new level, while in the garage the other night she walked up to one of our dirt bikes and starts pointing while making a bike noise. Mom asks what is that Leah? Dirt Bike she says while poking it. Today while driving home a Harley passed us and Leah starts making motorcycle noises at it in return.