Bicycle Mechanics - bought the bike, now how to maintain it?

Hi, everyone. I'm a newbie mountain biker and I just bought a shiny new Specialized Hard Rock. Now I'm looking to do all the right things to make this thing last as long and run as well as it can. So my question is: What's a good basic maintenance schedule to keep? What do you do and how often do you do it? Right now, I live in a pretty urban environment so I don't get out and dirty as much as I'd like (maybe 1-2 times/month), but I do ride a lot for transportation. What do all you experts do?

Thanks a lot for any input you can offer :)

Thomas

I generally clean the bike every 2, 3 rides. Change tires every 5-8 months, new chain and cassette every 3,000 miles(done this 6 times already this year.:eek:) Rebuild for every 10 rides, change tubes every 2 months if I don't flat before then. That's what I do, but I beat my bikes up. a good maitenance routine is is clean/relube drive trasin after every 2 or 3 rides, or after every ride if it's wet out. Check air pressure before every ride. As you break components, you upgrade.

Thats a pretty heavy maintainance schedule. For a commuter/utility bike, you really dont need to mess around that much.
I lube the chain at least once a week, pref more.
An unlubed chain will rapidly wear, then it will wear down the rear cogs. Replace every 6moths-1year as needed.
You can reduce your maintainace by keeping the bike clean. Wax the clean frame to help it shed dirt. Fit fenders to keep road muck of you and the bike.
Ensure that QR levers are tight and that the brakes work and are free of embedded grit before every ride.
The rest is really a yearly service of bearings, cables.
The Hard Rock is a great bike, but for commuter use, fit some smoothe, high pressure road tyres for extra speed. Tyres should last a year or 2.

Do practice fixing a puncture/replacing the inner tube before it happens on the road.

First thing I'd suggest is get a good book, like Zinn and the
Art of Mountain bike maintenance.
The frequency of cleaning/maint etc. will depend on how you
ride. the more you're in the muck, the more you'll need to clean.

Marty

I wipe down the bike when it's dusty, and wash it properly when it's dirty. Don't use a hose on anything other than the frame tubes and wheels - you don't want to get water in the bearings.

I lube the chain every couple of rides (twice a week on the commuter, once a fortnight on the MTB), and clean it when it's a bit grubby. On my commuter, I remove the chain and soak it in degreaser about twice a year - I do this about twice a season the MTB. I also re-lube the cables, service bearings etc about once a year. Casettes and chains I replace when the chain has stretched too much.

Everything else I pretty much replace when it breaks! Make sure you check air pressure frequently (on slicks normally every ride, but on lower-pressure MTB tires I find every two weeks seems to be ok).

Check for loose bolts often. This only takes about 2 to 3 minutes to go over the whole bike. I can't tell you how often I find a "finger tight" nut or bolt.

L8R

Originally posted by lotek
First thing I'd suggest is get a good book, like Zinn and the
Art of Mountain bike maintenance.
The frequency of cleaning/maint etc. will depend on how you
ride. the more you're in the muck, the more you'll need to clean.

Marty

Yes to all of the above I have tune ups done on the commuter twice a year and over haul every other year, The MTB I will tune up at the beginning of the year and over haul as needed. maybe every 3 years or so depending on the millage. replace tires when needed as well as tubes clean the chain about every 100 miles, at least that has been my experience, replace it as needed (part of a tune up includes checking chain stretching.) and yes wax your bike put a couple of layers of GOOD wax I recommend McGuire's but there are numerous other brands out there as well. That way when you are done playing all you got to do is hose it off and let it dry you may want to repack the bearings every year an easy job to do yourself. You shouldn't worry about water in the bearings I ride in the rain a lot never had problems with water. So just hose away.

Everyone,

Thanks for all the helpful replies. I just got on Amazon and ordered the Zinn book and will jump into that when it gets here. In the meantime, I've got your thoughts to get me started :D

Thomas