Keeping your bike in tip top condition makes cycling a far more pleasurable experience and of course saves money. There is nothing worse than going out for a ride and finding the gears clanky, slipping, not changing etc. We do recommend having your bike regularly serviced by a good bike shop but ongoing maintenance not only prolongs the life of your bike but can help reduce servicing costs.
If you wish to learn about maintaining your own bike then there is lots of information on the internet. Youtube is a very good source of “how to” videos. Alternatively there are lots of bike maintenance books on Amazon.
Bike Maintenance Guides
Gears
Indexing your front and rear derailleurs
Brakes
How to adjust disc, cantilever, v brakes and caliper brakes.
E Bike Batteries
E Bike battery care and maintenance
Other
Changing an inner tube / repairing a puncture
Fortunately most routine maintenance jobs on bikes are fairly straight forward and can be done with just a few tools. We would suggest the following tools.
Essential Tools
Allen Keys
A range of allen keys is an essential part of any cyclist’s toolkits. Buy good quality allen keys as cheaper keys can easily round off bolt heads.
Many cyclists use multitools for repairs / adjustments on the road which containing a number of different allen keys along with screwdrivers and spanners.
Screwdrivers
Good quality flat headed and Phillips (cross-head) screwdrivers in a range of sizes. Again multitools generally have flat and cross headed screwdrivers.
As is the case with most tools its better to pay more to obtain good quality screwdrivers. Nothing worse than rounding off screwheads !
Screw Drivers for sale on Amazon
Spanners
Most decent quality bikes dont use bolts with spanner heads these days but a couple of suitable spanners are useful for pedal removal etc. Some older bikes and single speed bikes still use nuts for wheel attachment rather than quick release skwers.
Spanner Sets for sale on Amazon
Floor / Track Pump
A decent quality floor pump (sometimes called a track pump) is an essential part of any basic bicycle toolkit. Although smaller portable hand pumps are ok for taking on rides it is difficult to get higher pressures into road tyres using these. Track pumps usually have a built in pressure gauge ensuring tyres are inflated to the correct pressue.
Track pumps for sale on Amazon
Bike Specific Tools
There are a number is bicycle specific tools that you may find useful whe doing your own bicycle maintenance.
A chain checker will indicate chain wear / stretch and let you know when you need to replace your chain.
Most chains these days use quick links allowing easy chain removal for replacement or cleaning. Although not essential quick link pliers will greatly assist chain removal.
If you need to shorten a new chain then you will need a chain breaking tool. This allows the removal of links to get the correct chain length.
If you need to remove your cassette for replacement or cleaning then you will need a chain whip to hold the cassette in place and a cassette lockring tool to unscrew the freewheel. There are a number of different fitting removal tools so make sure you get the correct one for your cassette.
Lubricants
There are hundreds of different lubricants to choose from for use on bikes. There is chain lube, chain wax, wet lubes, dry lubes, grease, water dispellents, carbon paste etc.
