no motor?

When I rode a motorcycle, I used to do the yearly maintenance like changing the fork oil, brake fluid, lubing the controls etc when it just started to get warm out so I'd have it all done for the rest of the year and wouldn't end up wrenching when I'd rather be riding. Is there anything I should be doing here besides lubricating the cables, cleaning and adjusting the brakes and checking the derailer operation before I resume commuting when the weather
s better?

sauerwald

I can't tell you what you should be doing, but I can share what I do. I have two very similar bikes which I use to commute on, when one has a maintenance issue, it tends to not get used until after I have taken care of the issue. I work on the bikes on the weekends, probably every other week on average - I clean the bike, clean and lube the drivetrain, and generally look it over, noting when consumables like tires, chains and brake pads will need replacing. I keep my eyes open for sales on those things. The bigger jobs I will either set aside some time for, or take into a shop - for example, one of my bikes has a headset which probably needs to be dealt with. I was going to pull it apart, clean and lube this weekend, but my wife has other plans for the weekend, so the bike may go to the shop.

My bikes are set up with relatively forgiving drivetrains - no indexed shifting, so they are not as fiddly as most of the bikes being sold today.

When I lived in an area with a much more harsh climate, I tended to do a major overhaul in the spring, after they had cleaned the sand from the roads, but here in California, there is no weather, so less maintenance.

2su

Single Speed... keep chain lubed & tight.

jeffpoulin

I do all my own maintenance and I fix my bikes whenever they need it. One of my biggest pet peeves is riding a bike that makes strange noises or has something that doesn't work right.

CliftonGK1

There's nothing in particular that I do for yearly maint. because I'm always fiddling around and adjusting or maintaining equipment throughout the entire year.

On average, I'd say check the typically most neglected systems: hubs and headset. If it's been a harsh winter, you're likely to at least need a hub repacking.

GriddleCakes

Drivetrain, shifters, brakes, and cables get constant attention all year long. Hubs are repacked twice a year, on both ends of the winter season. Headset once a year. If I knew how to true wheels, I'd probably check those at least once a year as well. As it is, they go to the shop once I start to feel the wobble. When I pay for maintenance, it gets ignored for a lot longer.

I do the same for my lady's bike, except that with her rim brakes we don't let her wheels go as far out of true as mine. And her suspension fork goes the shop for service at the end of every winter.

Charlie_Eleanor

This is a subject I'm interested in as well. Are there any 'bike maintenance' books? Like a reference manual on how to do repairs, etc?

PaulRivers

There's only 2 things I would add -
1. I like to clean off the braking surface (rim of the wheel). That can accumulate some junk on it, and eventually it starts to making annoying noise. Probably wears out the rim faster to.
2. Just check the wheels to see if they're significantly out of true (if you pick up the bike, look at the wheel from the top and spin it, and it appears to wobble that's "out of true"). A little bit doesn't hurt, you just don't want them to be anywhere near hitting the brake pad.

Some people have some crazy intense bike maintenance routines that involve cleaning the frame, daily or weekly chain cleaning, etc, but I find those over the top - my time is worth something, and a replacement chain and cassette isn't *that* expensive, particularly when you figure in the cost of cleaning supplies used.

GriddleCakes

Yeah, there's loads of maintenance books, check your LBS or Amazon. The Park Tools website also has a bunch of videos and step by step color picture guides for free.

GriddleCakes

Depends on the conditions in which you ride. If you ride in the snow every day, you'd best clean your drivetrain at least once a week, or it won't make it to the end of season. I lay off the drivetrain in the summer as long as the weather stays fair, cleaning once a month or after periods of heavy rain.

ghettocruiser

Change Fork Oil
Brake Bleed and pads
New Chain (~9 months)
New rear cable and housing (front 2+ years)
New Cogset and derailleur pullies (~18 months)
New BB cups
New Cartriage Bearings (in the snowtire wheelset)
I normally irreparably bend a rear derailleur and/or the replaceable hanger every 2 years or so, so I bend it back and replace with everything else.


I used to do all this stuff myself, but these days anything that takes more than a little thought I ship off to the LBS.

tarwheel 

For my bikes that I ride a lot, I've learned through experience to replace the cables yearly. Other maintenance is done as required. Eg, chains are cleaned and lubed every week or so, again depending on how much I ride a particular bike as well as the weather. Brake pads replaced when they wear out, which generally take a couple of years or more on my bikes. Tires replaced when threads start showing.

PaulRivers

I've had a lot of discussions with people over this, and I don't necessarily agree. The thing is, in the summer you can clean your chain and it doesn't collect significant dirt for quite a while. In the winter, there's so much dirt and grim kicked up that after cleaning your chain, it takes about 5 minutes for it to get back to being a dirty mess like it was before you cleaned it. So...how much good did you do by cleaning it?

It's something of a matter of opinion. But a new chain costs $20-$30. Even a new rear cassette isn't terribly expensive, though I'm not sure that effected by chain cleaning at all. I'd rather replace a $25 chain twice as often than spend time cleaning my chain every single week, personally.

Just_Ryan

Same for me, with the exception that I'll delay replacing parts during the winter months until March or April to avoid wear and tear on the new parts from winter salt and grime. When the winter beater bike is retired for the summer, I take the whole thing apart and clean/lube and replace as needed.

tsl

My bikes are my sole means of transport, so I can't afford to let maintenance slide.

I take care of routine maintenance things as they come up--chains, cables, brake pads, etc. I keep these things in stock at home for all my bikes. Over the years, I've figured out how many of each I use in a year and place an annual order with Nashbar. Strangely, they don't carry cable housing, so I buy that in bulk from the LBS.

Annually, I have the LBS go over all the bearings--headset, bottom bracket, hubs, freehub.

As for books, visit your public library.

I have yet to find a public library that doesn't have a copy of Zinn and the Art of Road [or Mountain] Bike Maintenance on the shelf. Online, Park Tool's Repair Help section has everything you need to know, and tells you which tools you need. If you prefer it in book form, all the same stuff is in the Park Tool Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair.

gerv 

I am always picking at my bikes. It is a wonder they survive the attention.

I always have a few things I need to do over the winter, though, when typically some bikes are parked. Last year I took two over them apart to spray anti-rust condition inside the tubes.

I have a winter bike that gets some similar attention in the summer.

dynodonn 

When I make the final transition to the summer bike, my winter bike will be disassembled, thoroughly cleaned, inspected, and repaired. Likewise to the summer bike when it gets parked, but until then, it's just maintenance as needed since I could spend endless hours on the bike if I really wanted to.

GriddleCakes

It's a matter of personal opinion, yes, based on personal experience. I don't clean my drivetrain in the summer until I can hear it. I have found that if I don't regularly clean the drivetrain in the winter, it won't shift (and I use friction shifters, not indexed). It rusts. And eventually, it breaks. I replace the chain every other season anyway, but without regular winter maintenance I don't even get that much out of the chain.

Maybe it's also a matter of personal climate experience. When I lived in Tahoe, I cleaned my drivetrain once at the beginning of summer and once more at the end (I didn't ride in the winters down there). It never rained in the summer, and was dry as a bone. Winters in Anchorage vary, with a lot of melt-thaw in the last couple of years. I get loads of snow in the drivetrain on a regular basis during storm cycles, but then can go weeks during a long cold snap with no moisture interference at all. When everything melts, I can hear the chain within a day of riding, slowly grinding away my cogs and chainrings.

It takes me about ten minutes to clean a chain. Once you get in the habit, it's super fast. But I hear you about valuing time over components that you're going to replace anyway. I just think that the longer I can make a component last, that's less mass in the trash stream. Sorry, I'm kind of a greenie.