I know it is not even July but, if things continue as they are I will have 3 - 4 thousand miles on my new bike this year. I get the days off between Christmas and New Years so, I thought that would be a good time to do some major maintenance on my bike. The problem is that I have no clue what tools I need or what maintenance I need to perform. This is where you guys come in.

1. What tools do I need to start purchasing
2. Is there a manual on what type of maintenance I need to do

Never to early to start planning

I'd suggest cone wrenches of the size(s) you need to service the wheel bearings.
Get a tub of wheel bearing grease and buy a bag of 100 or so Grade 25 bearings in 3/16 & 1/4" sizes.
Service sooner than your intended date. It's not that involved of a job.

https://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...ycle-Mechanics

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

https://sheldonbrown.com/

https://bicycletutor.com/

Bikes have come a long way in the past few years. Newer ones require less routine maintenance.

Bearings were always something that you serviced once a year, or more if you're a high-mileage or all-conditions rider. Sealed cartridge bearings have eliminated that.

If your hubs use cup-and-cone bearings (loose ball), then by all means, as Bill suggests, get what you need to service them and learn how.

But check first to see if your hubs use sealed cartridge bearings. All four of my bikes use sealed cartridge bearings in the hubs, headset, and bottom bracket. Nothing to see here, move along.

Outside of that, consider replacing brake pads and cables, shift cables, chain, maybe RD pulley wheels, maybe the cassette. Nothing "major" there at all. Simple hand tools will do.

It's a good idea too to re-grease the seatpost so it doesn't seize in the seat tube. New bar tape will freshen things up, and is required if you replace cable housings that run under it.

You'll need

• a set of metric hex wrenches--I've used just a multi-tool, but a set of P-handle wrenches are nice. I've used the Nashbar ones for years. They're perfectly adequate for the amateur home mechanic.
• a chain tool to shorten the chain (most are sold with 114 links, and most road bikes need only 106 or 108),
• cable cutters (or a very good diagonal cutter if you already have one),
• cable housing cutter (or I prefer a Dremel with a cut-off wheel),
• a cassette lockring tool and a chainwhip (to hold the cassette when you loosen the lockring).

Those tools with get you started.

My bikes all get used in the rain, snow, and salt. I go further and remove all fasteners and re-grease them so nothing corrodes in-place. So I also have a bottom bracket tool, and a torque wrench for putting everything back together.

If you have no tools then a "Good" kit of bike tools would be useful but Some of the kits will not have all the tools for the latest bikes.

But as a basic then a set of allen keys-set of spanners and screwdriver set as basic tools. You will only use a few of these but if you have the sets- you will have boxes to put them in.

Bike tools and a set of cone spanners if you have "Normal" Wheels
Bottom bracket spanner and a crank puller
Chain whip and Lockring tool.
Cable cutter and get a good one. I have two and I use the Shimano one as it fits my hand and works.
Chain tool and a chain cleaning device.

But spares so that as you work on the bike you don't have to keep running to the LBS.

2 sets of brake blocks
2 brake and 2 gear cables
Couple of metres of outer cable
Cable ends (Inner and outer) so you don't see the frayed ends on your first attempts at cutting cables
Set of bearings for the wheels---whichever type you have.
Spare chain

Then some lubes and greases that you should already have in stock.

Remember that if you mess the servicing up then you always have the LBS to go to for getting your servicing corrected. The mechanics need a bit of a laugh occasionally as they marvel at your skills.

Er, that's it. Everything worth covering is covered in the three posts above.

Manual... I've had good luck with the book by Lennard Zinn.https://www.bigandtallbike.com/Zinn-a...ion_p_316.html

Here are a couple of books I like:
Big Blue Book, Park Tool Co. : https://www.parktool.com/product/big-...-edition-BBB-3
Zen and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance, Lennard Zinn:https://www.amazon.com/Zinn-Art-Road-...s=lennard+zinn

There are many on the market and chasm has it summed up quite well, the information above is spot on. Best of luck on your adventure in tools and maintenance, As a "certified tool freak", it is addictive, be careful!

First, figure out how you're going to hold your bike up while you work on it.

Once you do that, you're going to be surprised at how far just a 5 mm allen wrench will take you. I recommend only buying bike specific tools as you need them because there is so much variance from bike to bike. The nifty tool sets that you see advertised won't contain everything you're likely to need and will likely include tools that you'll never use.

One other thing you might want to consider doing.... check to see if any of the good shops in your area do any maintenance classes. I know my favorite LBS does several between late fall and early spring. If this kind of work is new to you, it's nice to have a qualified wrench looking over your shoulder as you attempt things for the first time.

Good point.

An LBS near me has a "Wrench Club". There's an annual membership fee to cover insurance. You rent the workstand and tools by the hour. If you get stuck, mechanics are available on a sliding scale from advice, to helping, to doing it for you.

As for reference material, all the books I've seen (remember, I work in a library) neglect one important point: troubleshooting. The assumption is that their instructions are so comprehensive, and that you're such a good mechanic, that everything will be perfect, first time, every time. For me anyway, that's simply fantasy.

Bookmark Shimano Techdocs. Their instruction sheets include troubleshooting. You'll likely need this, especially when replacing shift cables. I like the simple, clear, "if the shifting is wonky like this, do that" explanation. And since the sheets are model-specific, there's no guesswork or interpretation involved.

It's best to have your local bike shop do all your maintenance. It's cheaper in the end. This is how it works: Many cyclists get caught up in the satisfaction of having a good running, well maintained bike that draws admiring glances from the Velominati the extent of then needing to aquire one or more bikes. It's like a drug. One you get started you can't stop. This is how many go from a single bike for peddeling around the neighborhood in the evening to a fleet with a specific purpose for each one. This turns into an investment of many thousands of dollars, euros, whatever. Best not no risk falling into this trap and if you have any tools whatsoever that could conceivably be turned to use on a bike, throw t hem out. The risk is too great. You've been warned.