With the country being urged to exercise more to prioritise their health and wellbeing, new cyclists have been offered seven beginner’s tips to maintain bikes and save hefty bills in the long run.
Penny pinching pros at personal finance comparison site TheMoneyPig.com have researched and revealed seven bike components to check regularly to save having to pay for expensive replacements as often.
The government recently announced the Fix Your Bike Voucher Scheme as part of a £2 billion package to encourage walking and cycling.
The scheme allows British cyclists to claim a voucher worth up to £50 towards the cost of repairing a bike – but you will have to hurry as the first round of 50,000 vouchers went within hours.
For those unable to bag one of the 500,000 vouchers up for grabs, getting a bike back on the road can be costly.
But keeping on top of basic maintenance can dramatically prolong the life of bike components, which in turn will save cyclists money.
It can also greatly improve the general cycling experience, plus make it much safer.
A spokesperson for The Money Pig said: “The benefits of cycling are seemingly endless. It improves mental wellbeing, promotes weight loss, builds muscle, and is a low impact form of cardio exercise.
“It can also be very enjoyable – there’s nothing like a relaxed bike ride around a country park at the weekend.
“But buying and maintaining a bicycle can be costly, so anything you can do to prevent having to shell out for expensive replacements often is a win.
“We’ve researched seven components to keep on top of and listed what to look out for, to save hefty repair bills.”
1. Drive train
If your bike is making the not-so-sweet sound of metal rubbing against metal, chances are all the appropriate lubrication has worn off. This can shorten the life expectancy of your chain and sprockets, which are not cheap to replace. Save yourself the unnecessary cost by regularly cleaning and lubricating the drive train. The more often you clean and lube, the less time it takes every time you do it.
2. Tyres
Tyres can make a huge difference in the quality of your bike ride. If the pressure is too low, you have to work a lot more to keep the same speed than with proper high pressure, and you will get flats more easily, especially when hitting a curb hard. Make sure you check your tyre pressure at least once every two weeks. Even if you’re not going to ride your bike for a significant period of time, try to remember to keep them inflated. If this isn’t possible, take the tyres off. This will prevent cracks developing on the sides.
3. Brakes
Ensuring your brakes work effectively won’t only save you from having to pay for expensive replacements, but it’s a matter of safety. If you have to pull the brake lever until it touches the handlebar, you should adjust the brake pads closer to the rim or disc. It’s also important to keep both the pads and the braking surface clean from dirt and oil. Dirty pads wear out themselves and the braking surface much quicker.
4. Nuts and bolts
Check regularly to ensure screws, bolts and nuts aren’t coming loose. If they need tightening, do so, but be careful not to overtighten them. With some newer bike models, the parts have the maximum torque limit written on them and you can buy tools that apply only a specified amount of torque.
5. Gears
After riding your bike for some time, you will probably realize that the gears don’t shift as smooth as when your bike was new. Provided the cables or derailleurs are not damaged, you can easily re-index the gears by yourself at home. There are tutorials online that you can follow.
6. Chain
Regularly cleaning the chain will allow you to squeeze more miles out of it before needing a replacement. You can easily check the chain wear using a chain checker. If the chain stretch is above 0.75% it’s time to get a new chain. A worn-out chain will quickly wear out the cassette and chainrings, which could lead to even costlier replacements.
7. Saddle
Quite often saddles will squeak, quite rhythmically, with each pedal stroke. To remedy this remove the saddle from the clamp, clean the rails then apply a couple of drops of light oil before wiping off. Then replace.