Neglecting maintenance for commuting?
 

I heard clicking as I started to walk out the door this morning. On checking, I found three of four cleat bolts were a bit loose. It made me think. Coming out of work a couple days ago, my left foot attachment seemed a bit loose, but I ignored it.

Last month I had to replace a crank, along with cassette and chain, because I'd let the chain wear too much. I thought I'd checked it earlier in the month, but you know, it could have been three or four months since I'd given it a close look.

Have you ever let something slide because a commute is a short ride, or it's cold, or you're wet? If so, how has it come back to bite you?

I've had a pedal clicking for a month.

If it breaks....I'll probably look into dealing with it.

Maybe.

An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. So they say. It's funny how we have different personalities expressed on this issue.

I do corrective or preventative maintenance on everything we own. If you look for it and keep a running list, there's enough to keep you busy doing only one thing a day.

I also do maintenance on my neighbors' bikes whenever I come upon something that's "not right". I can't help myself.

Living with something that I know doesn't work right? I couldn't do that, with one running exception. The federal regulators thought that the car industry should have tire inflation sensors to tell dummies to keep their car tires inflated properly. Well, those sensors fail sometimes, or their connectors fail, causing a light on the dash. Unable to get the reset to hold, I'm leaving the light on. There's no way I'm buying a replacement sensor. I'm bright enough to keep my tires inflated, thank you very much.

Constantly, and constantly.

All the time.

I don't think you come out behind timewise if you defer maintenance -- and you actually know what you're deferring.

However, you significantly increase the risk of having to do some kind of emergency work at a time and in conditions not of your choosing.

I don't need to commute to neglect maintenance ... sorry, couldn't resist. but yeah the more I ride, the more maintenance I need, but because I'm riding more I'm less likely to make time for the maintenance

reminds me, one time, at work, a cycling buddy & I were marveling at the (late) business owners light, custom bike, cuz he rode to work that day. & we noticed his rear tire was so worn, the inner threads were showing. we brought it to his attention & he said he had no idea & thanks. he was an avid cyclist. miss him

I don't worry much about drivetrain wear; I lube and wipe it on a regular basis, but other than that I ride it until the chain starts to skip and then replace it together with the casette. The shifting, of course, gets worse towards the end, but as I live ina flat place, that doesn't matter much, and the need for little overshifting when downshifting a few times during a commute isn't too terrible.

Other parts I like to have in order though.

Sure, we all defer maintenance, and sure, we all do it too long, from time to time. And sure, the more we defer, the more dangerous and costly it gets. But you know all that.

Winter bike...rusted!

I had a few bad times with brake cables snapping on commutes, so at least keep up with that much.

My everyday, short haul, commuter still rides but...

• the 8-speed Shimano hub skips in all gears but 1 & 5. It might be worn out after 40,000+ km
• I should probably replace the brake cables since the left one has cracked all around through the outer cable though the inner one is still fine.
• Speaking of cables, the shifter wire has a tendency to pop out of the gripshifter. probably due to a worn out shifter and rusty cable.
• chain seems a bit rusty. I can tell from the brown slosh on the rim.
• tyres and lights are still good.

I swear I take better care of my other bikes. :lol:

I hear clicking coming from my rear wheel. Stopped to check what was hitting any part of the spinning wheel. Nothing. I guess it's the bearings wearing. Will get it fixed in the fall when I switch bikes.

I used to be a part of a service club that solicited donations on streetcorners during rush hours, and was surprised to hear the noises coming from the commuter bikes when I did that. the noises didn't bother the riders, but had me wondering how long it was going to be until more maintenance needed to be done.

While I don't rely on my bike to commute throughout the week, only 3 days a week / 34 mile round trip, I want a reliable bike to get me to work and back without any issues in between. I achieve this by doing quick maintenance on the weekends that include a quick wash and lube, checking bolts and QRs and checking tires and inflation. At the end of each month, I check the chain with a chain checker. Better to replace a cheap chain rather than a new chainring, cassette and chain. This usually doesn't take more than 30 minutes per bike so I can give more maintenance attention to the other bikes in the garage. Maintenance also includes helmet, shoes and gloves. I usually have to give them a wash every couple months, especially during the sweaty summer months.

My general rule of thumb is, "if it's obvious, fix it this week or so." That's about it. I don't replace my chain for example when it's "time" if it's still okay.

It’s not nearly as costly to neglect maintenance on a bike vs a car. I wouldn’t want to commute on a bike I couldn’t replace entirely for a couple hundred bucks. So yeah, admittedly I’m pretty lax with my maintenance. And always keep a spare bike if you can.

For a few months recently I let a slow leak slide. At the end I would pump up, ride to work, then after work come out to a flat tire, pump it up, ride home. I also needed a tire change, so I took everything off, and ended up patching three holes in two tubes.

Currently I have a flat tire again. I happen to have to drive a lot this week because of things I have to go to after work, so the bike is sitting flat in the garage. If I have time to replace the tube Wed then I will ride Thu.

Also I started noticing when I would shift down to power up the steep driveway, my chain/cassette would slip. Not quite sure whether it was actual slip from a worn cassette, or I hadn't shifted quite right. The first time I noticed that was probably 5 years/10,000 miles ago.