Todzilla

You know how there's a million maintenance tips for cars, but ultimately regular oil changes are the most important (debate anticipated)?

What's the most important maintenance tip for bicycles? You know, that task without which you're risking safety and/or costly damage to bike?

Properly inflating tires?
Lubing chain?
Replacing Bottom Bracket every 100 miles?

rmfnla

The first two are done a bit more often than a car's oil change; I would call them weekly maintenance.

BBs should last much longer than 100 miles; I hope you just came up with that as an example and not from personal experience...

rydabent

The "oil change" for bikes amounts to cleaning the drive train, and checking adjustment of the same.

Further in the winter months the whole bike needs to be gone over, the RD pulled apart, cleaned and relube the tension and jockey wheels, and oiling of the pivot points. Also all nuts and bolts on the whole bike should be checked for tighness. Wash the wheels and frame, and check the frame for possible cracks.

Flyingblind9

I check my tire pressure every time I ride, look for possible debris embedded in the tire itself, clean and lubricate my drivetrain when it gets squeaky, gunky, or gritty from road dirt to limit potential wear on the components. As per bottom bracket, I'd expect at least 2000 Miles To 10000 miles depending on the standard. Wheel hubs should be inspected at possibly lubricated every season. Some may not need it for example if the bearings are sealed cartridge. Much of the maintenance on bikes is nearly weekly just because most is visual inspections and light adjustments.

JerrySTL

#1 Inflating and inspecting tires. Flats are bad. Blowouts are worse.

#2 Lubing the chain properly and frequently. A worn chain can ruin a cassette or the chain rings. It can also cause a chain to jump or skip. I had a buddy fall hard off his bike when he was climbing a hill out of the saddle and the chain jumped off the small chainring.

FastJake

Weekly/monthly "oil change": clean/lube the chain and related parts.

Yearly overhaul: repacking loose ball bearings (hubs, headset, bottom bracket.) Also pulling out the seatpost and putting a little grease in the seat tube to make sure it doesn't freeze up.

FBinNY 

IMO and IME bicycles should be able to go hundreds of miles without any attention at all. However, tires will go soft over time, so checking pressure and topping off at least weekly is necessary. The actual frequency depends on your tires so if when you check they've lost 10% or more, you should shorten then interval, OTOH if they've only lost 5% or so, you can stretch the interval if you want.

Likewise with chain cleaning and lubing. A periodic wipe keeps the chain clean enough, but the interval depends on conditions and your choice of lube.

Then there's all sorts of other stuff, loose hardware, wheel alignment, worn brake shoes, etc. Much of these can be spotted in a quick bike check, or if you're attuned to your bike will be spotted while riding. Deal with these as they arise, or immediately after riding, so you don't forget.

Sometimes I can't get to something at the end of the day, and don't trust myself to remember so I have a "don't ride" marker on a shower curtain ring, which I clip onto the bars as a reminder.

The rest is "as needed", or annually or other longish frequency depending on your bike, mileage and conditions.

Todzilla

Thanks, guys!

Yeah, I was kidding about the bottom bracket. Yes, I check and inflate my tires every other ride. I need to do the other tasks as well. I've historically been pretty neglectful and it hasn't cost me in terms of safety or wear. Now that I have a precision machine (Cannondale CAAD 10 105), the threshold for my neglect is way lower.

rmfnla

I'm so obsessed with my bike I look it over (lovingly) every day, so routine maintenance is not an issue...

MikeinBuffalo

After a couple rides I like to do a "visual inspection". Anything wrong I take care of, otherwise I leave it alone until I lube the chain every 2 weeks.

ThermionicScott 

Autologous blood transfusions.

mconlonx

Tire pressure is tire pressure and should be checked regularly, car or bike.

I'd say chain lube is the oil change of bicycling, followed by chain or chain/cassette replacement.

DTSCDS

I would consider an oil change to be in the category "Pretty simple maintenance that can really cause big problems if you don't do it regularly." (As opposed to something more entailed like changing transmission fluid or drive belts.)
To be analogous to the bike world, I would say chain maintenance. Pretty simple to maintain frequently, but if you neglect it, it can cause big problems.

Drew Eckhardt 

Replace the chain before it elongates by 1/16" over 11 or 12". When you don't do that you'll wear out cassettes which aren't cheap and chain rings which are expensive.

dr_lha

Yes, this is it. But only if you have a BB30 bottom bracket.

fietsbob

Alfine 11 speed and Rohoff 14 speed IGH, its changing the oil in the hub.

rumrunn6

doing the wheel bearings every couple of years would be a luxury ...

george25923

Everyone says do stuff every season or year including my LBS. Should not major maintenance be based on miles ridden per year? Some bikers may ride 500 miles a year and other 4000. Should I take my bike to the LBS every year for a major tuneup as they call it or more frequently if I ride more. I am at about 2600 miles on my Trek Shift 3 and other than replacing the chain at 1300 miles I have done no maintenance other than lubing things every week or so. I have been using Squirt on the new chain and it seems like it will last longer that the last one. How long do cassettes or front sprockets normally last? How long between lubing front/rear bearings mile wise? I live if central Florida about 6 miles from the Atlantic Ocean so I am fortunate that I can ride year round. I started riding again last May after getting laid off. I will hit 4000 miles for the year by this May 1. My usual rides are 40+ miles 3 days a week now. And I ride on the beach every 4 two weeks at low tide.
Thanks
Em

FBinNY 

Based on experience I expect that a bicycle could easily go 10,000 miles or more without needing major maintenance. It isn't the distance that usually creates the need for complete overhauls, but the weather. If you don't ride through northern winters, or ride in the rain regularly as they do in Seattle, you could probably go multiple years between major work, all the way to my 10,000+ estimate.

But if you do ride in rain or snow, then you should do an annual service, regardless of mileage, at the end of the toughest season, so you start out fresh in the dry season.

md11mx

I'm rather picky bout keeping my chain wiped daily per what Zinn says in his MTB book. I'm also a Snap-on holic. So for me it's chain measurement every 100 miles or so and that only takes a minute or two.
Cheers,
David in Alaska

FastJake

Yep. The same is true for cars in the rust belt. They don't last a certain number of miles up here, they last a certain number of winters. Keep your car in storage every winter and it can last forever. Park it outside and daily drive it year round and it will be rusted to the ground in 15-20 years, regardless of miles.

tattman23

'Shamed to admit, I initially stopped by to whine about what I thought was an "add on" to my post-sale initial "tune up".
I knew I would be springing for some new brake pads with >1,200 miles on the clock (yeah I been meaning to get it back to the shop for a WHILE, pls no h8); but was a little surprised that the chain when measured had stretched enough to warrant replacement.
Some posts in here were a kind of reality check, making it seem like I'm not that far "off the charts" as far as chain-wear being too much too soon.
In the end I "OK'd" replacing it, not just to prolong the lifespans of the other drivetrain parts; new chains always look gorgeous, at least when they begin their life; plus, the replacement chain has a quick-link (factory chain did not have one) that gives me more options for its "care and feeding". Promise to bike and to self: lube more often...
Grateful, even though my one tune-up "freebie" is not free anymore,
Tatt

davidad

I remove and clean my chain every 800 miles.
I clean and inspect the bike, including the bottom bracket at that time.
I over haul cup and cone bearings every 2500 miles.
I lube my pedals every 5000 miles.
Radial bearing are changed as necessary.

RubeRad

The analogy of a car oil change, is a bike chain lube.

The analogy of adding air to car tires, is adding air to bike tires.

scott967

The beauty of chain lube is, you don't have to pull a filter that's in some god-forsaken location and you can't get out without skinning knuckles and/or having hot oil run down your arm. My wife's car has this plastic bit that covers the entire area under the engine with a small trap door to get to the pan drain plug and another one to get to the filter. Major PITA. Much prefer working on bike on the stand.

scott s.
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