Pre-Tour bicycle maintenance check list.

[Mark Lavis]

Good morning 2017 Team Dai crew!

Just thought it would be worthwhile writing a small message about appropriate bicycle preparation, maintenance for this year's tour. Having a well functioning bicycle will make your tour safer, more comfortable, and mean your are more likely to complete and enjoy the challenge. This year's challenge includes significant hill climbing and descending so you are going to need your gears, and brakes to be in tip top condition.

I will have my work stand and tools with me on the trip as I have on the previous two but this should be used mainly for emergencies and not as your annual bicycle maintenance check up! For non-emergency work done on the tour I will be asking people to donate $15US and hour plus cost of parts to the Quality of Life Association. So to avoid that here is my list of things for you to check before starting on the tour!

1- Check that your tyres are in good condition, suitable amount of tread, no cracks or visible damage to the sidewalls. Older tyres tend to dry out, crack, and provide less grip and puncture protection than new ones.

2) Replace your current brake pads, and buy a spare set to bring on the tour. Starting out with fresh brake pads means you won't have any surprising hairy moments on descents. And with plenty of up and down it is always good to have a spare set- in the hot weather, and with some dust thrown in, pad life can be reduced dramatically. This applies for both disc and rim brakes! 

3) Ensure that you have full use of your range of gears (including the smallest- granny gear for hill climbing). You will need it!

4) Replace your chain with a new one. Little know fact. Bicycle chains can stretch over time...a lot. So much so that it can become a safety issue as the chain no longer meshes properly with your front chain rings. If you have been riding a significant amount in the past 12 months and you have not replaced your chain- do it now! A well looked after (regularly cleaned and lubricated chain) can last up to a year. If you are not so fastidious with your maintenance that can drop to 6 months. A worn chain is not only dangerous, it also causes long term damage to other parts of your bike- cassette, front chainrings etc- which are more expensive to replace.

5) Check that your spokes are evenly tensioned. Use your fingers to go around your wheel and press the spokes towards each other. All the spokes should be of a similar tension- any loose ones mean your wheel has a weak spot and if you hit a pot hole your wheel may buckle, or you may break a spoke which reduces the strength of your wheel.

6) Check your wheel bearings. You can do this by picking up your bike by either the front or rear wheel and using your hand to try and shake the wheel sideways (at 90 degrees to the direction of rotation). If your wheel has movement there- (anything more than 1-2mm) you need someone to at least tighten the wheel's cone nuts (or possibly even dismantle and re-grease the bearings inside). This movement, if left unfixed can lead to poor braking, needing to replace your hubs (which in laos essentially means buying new wheels) and ultimately your wheel ceasing to spin....

Unfortunately I won't be available for pre-tour maintenance work as i am going back to Australia this Friday and won't be back until Wednesday 8th of March. If you need parts i'd recommend looking at the big red Thai bike shop near the small Naked Espresso Branch off dongpayna road. And for maintenance you can use Willy's shop which is now on That Kao Rd (avocado street).

Happy to answer any questions you have if you need advice,

Mark