Routine maintenance / habits / survey

[Mackenzy Albright]

Howdy all, 

I am curious in what sort of maintenance you and your Riv's (and other bikes) undergo. 

1. location (climate variable) 

2. how often do you tinker with your bike (customizing, small adjustments, wash, grease) (can you over grease?) 

3. how often do you full tear down (do you re-treat anti-rust?) 

4. when do you cave and let a shop work on your bike?

My current routine is a little lacking or in need of adjustment in a somewhat new to me climate. I am a frequent tinkerer of bikes - and I have a weird hang-ups with letting shops work on my bikes. I've only had a few trusted mechanics that I've really felt comfortable working on my bikes. I've had some things installed by mechanics and find they rarely grease anything which leads to rusting at contact points which bothers me. I have no idea the correct amount of grease, but previously never had much for issue myself. 

I've moved to the coast (Vancouver bc) and been finding that my bikes really rust or corrode much more quickly here than living in Minnesota, or Alberta. (winter slurry aside). I try to rinse off my bike a few times a week during rainy season to prevent road goo from accumulating - but that is easier said than done. I probably give a quick scrub with a brush and hose once a month (maybe every 3-6 months with soap). I probably tinker once a month with installing parts or making minor adjustments so these often coincide. 

I usually try to do a full tear down yearly where I scrub and re-grease everything. I love fluid film so try to give a quick respray on the most vulnerable areas (I like it more than frame saver) and replace any bits n bobs that needs replacing. I wipe down  and degrease any external grease or fluid film. 

After this summer's first (yearly) tear down - I noticed a lot more corrosion or rust than on previous bikes. I am assuming that it is perhaps partly related to coastal climate. Not to mention that finish on the Clementine is abysmal (lots of chipping and cracking). But really don't want to repaint if I don't have to. The frame was also initially un-treated and I've since treated as well as loaded up most contact points with more fluid film and/or grease. Hoping it'll be less of an issue now that I've undergone my normal corrosion prevention routine. 

Curious what your habits are - (bonus if you live on the coast!)

[John Rinker]

Hey Mackenzy, 

I live in the interior of BC (Slocan Valley near Nelson) so our weather is a bit different, but here's what I can tell you about how I care for my bikes:

1. I don't really ride them much in the winter (Dec.-Mar.) unless I head South so I can't say much about salty roads and such. Spring and Fall can be wet here, and Summer is usually dry. 

2. I'm a believer in a well-maintained bike is more fun to ride. I also love to tinker with my bikes and I love being in my shop, so I'm always poking around with with them. Generally, I'll clean and lube my chain every 2-3 weeks as trails can be dusty here in the Summer. Maybe I'll spray my bikes down every couple of weeks if they're really dirty, but usually, they go unwashed unless I want to give them a good going over. (A clean bike is more enjoyable to work with)

3. In the Winter I'll take the bikes apart for a more thorough cleaning and re-lubing of anything that moves (more to keep my hands from being idle than anything, but it's always fun). I like to clean all the bearings and regrease. And, I'll even put a coat of Griot's ceramic wax on the frames.

4. I sprayed both frames (Atlantis, Hunq) with T-9 when I first built them up (2015 and 2020) but not since. I guess if I lived near the salty coastal waters I'd have done it again by now...maybe.

5. I've never had a shop work on my bike because I'm pretty confident in my ability to keep things in good order. I can pretty much handle anything mechanical issues on my bikes, and when I can there's always plenty of fine people here to point out directions. I build my own wheels and abuse them thoroughly, and I have never had to deal with them (much to my chagrin, as I love the wheelbuilding process! I even had a couple of old wheels around that I tear down and build up just to keep in practice.)

In short, I don't baby my bikes, but I treat them respectfully and do keep them in good working order because I don't really care for squeaks and creaks while I ride. I like it when the animals in the forest don't know I'm coming- better chance to spot them.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, John

[Jay Lonner]

Having lived in similar climates as the OP my experience is quite different. As a year-round bicycle commuter in Wisconsin I found winter to be very hard on bikes, basically requiring an annual spring teardown once the road salt had a chance to dissipate. In the PNW I am very neglectful of my bikes. I figure that the rain does a good enough job of keeping the road grime washed off, although fenders help a lot with keeping it contained. I don’t routinely replace cables or drivetrain components until the accumulation of grease and grit begins to offend even my laissez faire aesthetics, and then I’ll do a half-assed job of spiffing things up. As we speak I’m preparing to swap in a new cassette and chain, and am experimenting for the first time with chain wax as an alternative to more conventional lubes.

A lot of it might have to do formative biking experiences. This is where I grew up, so this is my default — it’s how I expect bikes to weather. I’m used to it. Living in the upper Midwest was quite a change of pace, so I had to adjust my mindset after trashing a nice bike (an XO-1!) my first winter there. 

Jay Lonner

Bellingham, WA

Sent from my Atari 400

On Aug 8, 2023, at 2:38 PM, John Rinker <jwri...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey Mackenzy, 

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[Piaw Na]

I live in California but I ride year round, so I don't avoid rain. I also take a perverse pleasure in destroying bike parts and bike frames, to the point where I actually track mileage on various components: https://blog.piaw.net/2009/04/lifetime-of-bike-parts.html

I check my chain every month or so, and I wear the tires down to the casing. I buy high quality parts and don't usually need to do more than replacing a BB every 25000 miles. I used to run Shimano hubs and got tired of paying to repack the bearings. It turned out that while I could clean and grease the hubs, I hated messing with the preload and the special spanners. After about 5 years the maintenance from paying someone to overhaul the bearings costs more than the hubs themselves, so now I've switched to sealed bearing hubs. I don't tear down my bikes to do maintenance, just replace whatever parts wear out as they go bad. I've discovered that things like headsets don't go bad. Living in California I don't need anti-rust, despite riding in the rain --- they don't put salt on the roads and the rain cleans the bike for me.

I do build my own wheels whenever I can. Though now that I've found Ted Nugent's website I can't build my own wheels cheaper than buying from him, so I might just buy from Nugent from now on. I don't even clean my bikes --- which is why sometimes I'll break a frame and not notice until the bike starts shifting on its own and I inspect it for cracks --- another reason I shouldn't ride carbon bikes.

Things that have me going to bike shops: (1) bent derailleur hanger --- they can fix it far faster than I can, and I can't be bothered to buy the tool. (2) kids bikes indexing --- don't like messing with those and I can't ever get them right anyway (3) suspension overhauls -- don't have the tools (4) hydraulic disc brakes --- those go on MTBs which don't get high mileage and I don't want to mess with those.

On Tuesday, August 8, 2023 at 1:56:02 PM UTC-7 Mackenzy Albright wrote:

[aeroperf]

I live near Atlanta and ride my 2014 Sam year round on city streets and rails-to-trails.

I'm not a "power rider",  just a continuous one.  I'm 74 and bang along at about 12 mph, doing about 1500 miles a year.  I was shocked when I actually wore out a chain.

It’s garaged, so I wash it with Zaino’s a couple of times a year or when it gets filthy from riding after a storm.  But I tinker constantly because, hey, it’s a hobby.  RocRide Epix, Phil Tenacious Oil, and Parks grease are my friends - if it looks like it needs lube, it gets lubed.  If I want to try a different cassette, set of bars, rack, bag, or rearview mirror, I just do it.  

In the winter I do a yearly "annual", tightening check on bolts, etc. in case my pre-ride checks missed something.  I rotate the tires - the rear really does wear out faster than the front - and check for tire problems.  At that time I also give it a thorough wash and a quick polish with show car polish, and Proofide the old Brooks.  I have all the Zaino polish/wash stuff because I used to own a Lotus 7.

I tear it down completely to a bare frame, fork and headset when it gets close to 5000 miles since the last teardown.  Grease every bolt, take apart and lube everything else.  So far, the Sam has had three teardowns and I have seen zero issues.  Having worked all my life with airplanes, I know that if you do a scheduled maintenance, like annually, and a major maintenance based on use, like miles or hours, mechanical things tend to last forever.

I only let a shop work on it if there is a tool I lack and it is cheaper than buying the tool.  If it ever needs anti-rust, they can do that, too.

But like a lot of folks I have more than one bike.  So there is always something that may need doing.  I also bought a bunch of Sigma bike computers when I started this hobby to keep track of mileage, etc.  Sigma has a pretty good computer app, and I download the data after every ride, so tracking is easy.