Belgian Cobbles

I hope this is not a completely stupid question but I have often heard folks on these forums saying statements like, "I love my [brand of choice] tires. I have gone 5,000 mile with no flats!" or "The best bet is to overhaul the headset every 3,000 miles." Every time I hear people drop numbers like that it makes me wonder how these people are tracking their mileage for all the different parts of the bike. It has always seemed a bit AR to me, BUT, long story made short, after leaving one or two pieces of maintenance until too late I am now primed to take the plunge and start getting mathematical on this @$%#% . So I would love to hear what your system looks like for keeping the numbers straight. Mistakes that I should avoid and shortcuts would be great.

Thanks so much!

ItsJustMe

Every time I do something to my bike, I post it on my LiveJournal page with an odometer reading, and tag it with appropriate tags like "bicycle, odometer, tires, chain" whatever.

I don't use it to know when I should do maintenance; I do that based on, well, looking at the bike. Every time I lube the chain, I check its length (takes 5 seconds). I look at the tires when I top them off, which is generally every weekend, or maybe every other. Apart from that, I just fix stuff that isn't working right anymore.

So, I know how long a chain or a tire lasts me, but I don't have something to remind me to check them.

tjspiel

My maintenance isn't really based on mileage. I do have a rough idea of how many miles I have on my tires just because I know when I bought them and I know about how many miles I put on my bike in a given period of time. A cyclocomputer helps. I don't really log anything.

I replace brake pads and tires when they're worn. I lube the chain when it starts to get noisy. On my wheels that have serviceable bearings, I check them periodically to see if they're spinning smoothly. If not, they get repacked.

I also check for wheels being out of true and play in various parts. There's no set interval. It's something I just check now and then.

The bikes usually get a good going over in the spring and fall as well.

I'm not saying this is the best way to do it, only that not everyone has rigorous maintenance schedule.

BILLB58

I just developed a "quickie" spreadsheet and enter each days miles, conditions, etc......then as parts are replaced just ID date and miles and what was done.....over the last 3 years, spreadsheet has expanded as I add tabs for mtc items. Based upon history, have changed tube supplier, as I noted a trend of valve stem failures....changed brake pad brand based upon tracking poor lifespan...noted I never get the big mileages on tires that some people do.......I update it each morning during the week & add weekend miles...

Looked at several commercial products....figured it was too complicated, so I just did my own, and just focused on what was important to me...

InfiniteRegress

I don't use mileage to judge when to do things. Visually inspecting the bike, knowing what to look for, and "feeling" for any changes when riding is the best way to know when maintenance is required. This is mainly because bike commuting exposes a bike to all sorts of conditions that vary from day to day and month to month. In addition, many of us who bike commute vary the routes we take, or periodically ride through snow and rain.

Each weekend, I have a very basic maintenance routine that has proved it's value during the past 12 years of bike commuting. I visually inspect every inch of the bike and tires, looking for cracks or anything else that could be a problem. I check the brake pads and make sure they aren't too worn. I remove the tires and clean them really well, using us a scouring pad to remove any dirt from the rims. I check the tires again for any cracks. I clean the rest of the bike, removing any dirt or debris. I degrease and lube up the chain and moving parts. I put everything back together, take it for a test ride, and do any adjustments that are necessary. If something doesn't feel right, I check it out.

I've just found that mileage is a poor indicator to know when something needs to be done. How long components and tires last seem to depend far more on the conditions and weather I'm riding in than the miles ridden.

CCrew

Here:

https://www.mycyclinglog.com

mjw16

I replace tires/brake pads/cables when visibly worn, top off the tires and lube the chain every 2 to 3 days, replace bar tape when necassary, replace the entire drivetrain (rings/chain/cassette) once a year (in March) and take care of everything else on an "as needed" basis. I've been commuting, year 'round, for 6 years and have never felt the need to track all of these services to the mile. That said, I'm constantly upgrading, tinkering, repairing, adjusting, paying attention to my bike. It takes a lot of abuse so, it needs the love. I'm getting ready for: new tires/tubes, bar tape, I'll also drill a drain hole in the bottom bracket housing (for water drainage) and re-grease the b.b./cranks/pedals etc, probably this weekend. I also used to replace the headset once a year as it would wear but, I recently upgraded to a Chris King and, therefore, shouldn't need to service/replace. I can also true my wheels trailside and take them for professional truing/tensioning once a year. Jeez, as I write this I'm realizing just how much maintenance a daily ride requires. Worth it though, certainly compared to auto maintenence/operating costs.

GV27

I don't do it for my bikes - it's done in my head. I don't use a computer anyway so I have no idea about my mileage.

For my cars - which would be just as useful for the bikes - I assign an engineer's compositions notebook (just like the regular cloth-bound "compositions" notebook common on university campuses but with grid ruled paper inside) to each vehicle. Then each item I note date and mileage and then all the work that was done. I also use this notebook to record values, make tables, etc. So for example if I do a valve adjustment not only does it show up that I did it, but my before and after clearances, old shim size, calculation and new shim size are all in there. I also will tape in a piece of a box for a part I install if I think it's relevant - receipts for stuff too.

On a bike, for example, if you have disc brakes and check your disc thickness with a micrometer you'd put that value in in the fashion noted above so you can track wear.

You could just as easily do this with a spreadsheet. I've thought of setting up a computer in my garage for just this reason - I don't want to take notes then enter it later. On the car I often take my notebook with me under the hood of the car.


Composition notebook for those who have no idea what I'm talking about:



The quad ruled ones are harder to find but give you guidelines for tables and such. Mainly as an engineer it's what I'm used to and probably makes no difference to anyone else. It's what I use at work.

Chris

CCrew

There's just something about that statement here that I find puzzling...

tsl

BikeJournal.com tracks tires and chains in addition to everything else.

My Public BikeJournal Profile.

If you scroll down on my profile to my commuter rig, the Trek Portland, you'll see that I have 5,470 miles on it since I bought it, 4,376 of them so far in 2008, with 4,449 miles on the front tire and 1,272 on the rear one, with 1,271 miles on the chain.

That will change later when I log today's miles, then put the snow tires back on.

Within my account, I get more detail on tires and chains. Other things I just add to my ride log with a big MAINTENANCE in the description to catch my eye when I scan through.

sharkey00

I check the chain at 2,000 miles which I keep track of roughly in my head. Everything else I replace when it is worn out (tires, brake pads, ect).

Hubs and bearings get services 1-2 times per year depending on how much I am riding.

GV27

What, you don't access this site with ESP?

LOL - cyclo-computer that is!

huhenio

Preflight inspection.

If all is well , I go ahead.

Squeaks = torque

Rarely something comes loose without squeaking first.

Tabor

I fix stuff when it breaks/is worn. I adjust things when they come out of adjustment. The only preventative maintenance I do per say is to replace the chain when the chain stretch gauge says to. I adjust my hubs when I replace the chain. I guess I lubricate the chain from time to time.

anastrophe

Whoa, I have never heard of anyone using LJ for that purpose before!

I've always assumed most people who count mileage use a cyclometer.

noteon 

My comprehensive maintenance plan has three major components:

1. When something falls off, I bolt it back on.
2. My four-year-old likes helping me clean the chain.
3. I lube and wipe stuff when I should be writing.

Works so far.

sharkey00

Well done

noteon 

Thanks. Yeah, that's the best one. He can name all the parts of the drive train and what turns what, too. Though he recently stopped saying "rocket" instead of "sprocket," which I kind of miss.

BassNotBass

Aside from maintenance needed as a result of daily and weekly inspections I usually completely tear my bikes down, clean, grease and reassemble them once a year.

Twenty+ years ago when I was putting in a lot of training miles, that teardown/reassemble ritual was done on every bike on a weekly basis because I used special low viscosity grease formulations which degraded or washed away more readily than the thick all purpose moly grease I now use. After every ride I would clean the bike I had just ridden and lube all cables and non-friction joints with Tri-Flow.

Things sure do change.

AlmostTrick

I use a simple spiral note book to log maintenance. Date, mileage and service item or part is all that is included. I do this not so much to let me know when service needs to be done, but because I like to know how long my parts and stuff are lasting. If you want to have this information you need to log it somehow, as there is no way you'll remember everything months or years later.

Big_e

I never kept a schedule of my bike maintanance, that seems like a good idea so I can keep track of my 4 bikes. I do write the stats of my bikes (mostly tire size, kinds of brake pads and other parts as I replace them) so I know what to ask for at the LBS if that part wears down again.
Ernest

Belgian Cobbles

Thanks for all the input. A LOT of people seem to do what I do, wing it. I check the bike over on occasion and during my rides I listen/feel for weirdness, then fix whatever is causing said weirdness. This is pretty easy with tires, brakes and chains. With headsets, hubs and bottom brackets it is a bit harder to visually inspect them and they can develop problems without sounding particularly bad. So my thinking is that I would like to develop a timetable for these items that would give me reasonable intervals over which to check on the harder to access points of the bike.

In the end I am probably overreacting based on my recent bad experience with a headset that I neglected and had to replace.

Anyways thanks for your thoughts!