Le Mechanic

I made a video covering the basics of what types of things are good to check on your bike before going for a ride. Let me know if there's anything you think I missed!

02Giant 

Who is this geared towards?

I want to know before i think about watching.

Sy Reene

People who think 2 minutes watching a video is a better idea than spending 2 minutes questioning the reason for watching the video?

55murray

Pretty good, liked the bar tightness check, been burned on that one before! One thing I sometimes do in addition is roll the wheels and made sure the brakes are not rubbing - I like zero play in the brakes, sometimes I take it too far.

tkamd73 

Actually its 6 minutes and 4 sec, worth it if your not endowed with much common sense, or mechanical aptitude.
Tim

SBinNYC

I've been a ride leader for my club for approximately 45 years. We give a "2 minute" safety talk/check that was originally required by our insurance company. It would cover several problems your video missed. It also systematically goes through the bike from the front to the back. Here's the procedure:

1. Front Wheel
1.1 bearings and skewer
1.1.1 visually inspect to make sure skewer is closed properly
1.1.2 lift front wheel and check for side-to-side play - could be loose skewer or loose front hub bearings
1.1.3 rotate front wheel - check it rotates smoothly, is reasonably true and does not rub brake or frame
1.2 tire
1.2.1 check valve is straight
1.2.2 check pressure with finger test like your video
1.2.3 check tire for bulges indicating cut cord or tire not mounted properly on rim
1.3 Front Brakes
1.3.1 rotate wheel apply brakes to see that wheel stops moving
1.3.2 check position of rim brake shoes so that they are not rubbing tire
1.3.3 check that brake releases properly
1.3.4 with bike on ground - push bike from saddle - apply brake - rear wheel should come off ground
2. Handlebars and stem
2.1 facing rear of bike with front wheel locked between legs
2.1.1 try to turn handlebar sideways - stem loose on steerer tube
2.1.2 try to rotate handlebar up down - handlebar loose in stem
2.1.3 try to rotate brakes on handlebar - brakes loose on handlebar
3. Headset
3.1 standing at side of bike - apply and hold front brake and rock bike forward and back
3.1.2 feel for any movement of fork relative to frame at top and bottom of head tube
3.2 with brake released and front wheel lifted
3.2.1 check for any resistance to turning handlebar side to side
4. Bottom bracket, cranks, pedals
4.1 move crank side to side - if any play does crank on opposite side also move - if so bottom bracket loose
4.1.2 check that there is not excessive resistance while rotating cranks
4.2 move cranks to 9 o'clock/3 o'clock position
4.2.1 push down on both pedals - any movement
4.2.2 rotate crank 180 degrees
4.2.3 push down on both pedals - any movement indicates that cranks are loose on spindle
4.3 check that pedals are fully mounted onto crank and spin freely
5. Chainwheel
5.1 rotate pedals backwards and check that chainwheel neither bent nor loose
6. Saddle
6.1 try to move saddle and seat post side to side, up/down and tilt
7. Rear Wheel, brakes, and tire
7.1 same as steps 1, 2, and 3 above.
8. Drivetrain
8.1 check that all gears work and rear derailleur has sufficient range for small/small and large/large combos
8.2 check for obvious stiff or loose chain link by looking at rear derailleur jockey wheels while rotating cranks
8.3 check for sticky pawls in freewheel/freehub by looking at chain while freewheeling with cranks not moving
8.4 check chain tension for non-derailleur bike
9. loose items on bike
9.1 lift bike 6 to 12 inches off ground and drop - anything move of come off

rumrunn6

nice highlight, close-up edits!

Le Mechanic

The video is geared towards newer cyclists who are interested in learning more about bike maintenance, and what essential points to check on the bike before going on a bike ride. The video is a touch over 6 minutes long, but the actual process will only take 30 seconds to 2 minutes.

Le Mechanic

As mentioned above, spinning the wheels making sure there's no brake rub is a good addition and will only take another 10 seconds.