The mechanic: cornerstone of cycling

Behind every rider is a good bike mechanic. Photo: Eddie Barkla

Aside from the whoosh of the tyres on the road, and the occasional clicking of the freewheel, a bicycle should be silent. One of the many joys of the freedom of cycling is when the speed is on in a large bunch where the whoosh of the tyres and the clicking of the freewheel and gears is magnified creating a cycling euphoria.

If your bike makes other noises, there is a fair chance it is a sign of a problem manifesting. Many of these problems can be cured easily at an early stage, just by tightening up a nut or bolt…but if you ignore the noise, it may result in serious damage to parts of your bike, and you may find yourself stranded or even injured when the problem gets more serious! Enter the bike mechanic, our local multi-talented individuals that we expect to have the capability to be the walking cycling encyclopaedia on all aspects of new innovations the best but cheapest cycling paraphernalia guaranteed to improve performance and make us look part of the local scene.

Short-term parking solutions

Hoops provide convenient short-term bike parking.

One of the most common prayers offered in Bendigo would be “God bless me with a parking spot!” Parking in any city is at a premium for all, shop owners, employees and customers not to mention delivery drivers.

Well this is no different for the commuting cyclist the same question arises where do I park my bike for the day for it to be secure from being stolen and or damaged not too far off from my place of employment.

Transporting your bike by car

Choices: there are a range of bike rack options available. Photo: Eddie Barkla

Bike carriers which ones work best and suit your needs what can be the advantages and potential risks and disadvantages? Basically there are three types of racks on the commercial market:

• Roof racks
• Rear of car – tow bar mounted
• Rear of car – hanging from car body.

It is worth noting that any rack that is attached to the rear of the vehicle is required by law to have a bike carrier registration plate with a number plate light.

There is no right or wrong answer and all bike carriers require careful attention in the manner in which the bike is attached to ensure that neither damage to the bike frame and paint work to the vehicle or bike occurs.

Wet weather needs a tyre check

Weather watch: keep an eye on your tyres in wet weather. Photo: Nicole Hamaker FlickR

Rain created trouble for a friend’s icecream earlier this week. She’d gone shopping with bike and trailer, but forgotten the puncture repair kit.

As always happens when the roads get wet, a sharp stone cut up her front tyre and she had to walk bike, trailer and melting icecream all the way home.

The icecream finally made it to the freezer and the tyre ended up in the rubbish bin.

Pre-flight checks for your bike

Easy as ABCD: give your bike a quick check before you ride to catch any potential problems early. Photo: Helen Cronin

No matter how many engineers and maintenance staff look after a plane, pilots always personally run through a series of checks before they take off. If something is not right, the best place to find out is on the ground.

Even though you don’t have to worry about being 5,000 ft above the ground if something goes wrong, it still pays to make sure your bike is roadworthy before you head out the front gate. Much better to find a problem before you find yourself stuck 30km from home.

The ABCD quick check will pick up any potential problems before they get you into trouble, and it only takes a few minutes to do.

“A” stands for “air”. Check that you’ve got the correct pressure in your tyres. (It’s written on the wall of the tyre if you’re not sure what it should be.)

Many ways to transport your bike

I often wonder what people in pre-car days would have thought of horses being towed around in floats. Strapping your bike to the car can seem just as odd, but it might be the only way to get your two-wheeled steed where you need to go.

Rather like a faithful dog, I’ve seen the prized carbon fibre road bike – minus its wheels – perched on a blanket in the back seat of a convertible. Getting your bike inside the car is certainly the simplest way to carry it.

Keep your chain on the straight and narrow

Last week I talked about the different noises your bike makes and what they mean. There’s one noise that has nothing to do with maintenance problems.

The sound of metal rubbing against metal when you pedal is your chain grinding against your front derailleur. It’s a good indication that your chain is at a bad angle because of poor gear selection or you have not trimmed your gear selector.

Listen to your bike

Dr Dolittle could talk to the animals and they would talk back. Your bike will talk to you and tell you what needs attention if you learn to hear what it’s saying.

A regular squeak every time you turn the pedals means “I have a dry chain”. Time to clean and lubricate it. Wipe off any excess lubricant so it doesn’t collect dirt and create problems again.

Hear that canary chirp when you change gears? That means “The bushes in my jockey wheels are dry.” This may need a visit to the bike shop because they need to be taken apart to grease them.

Fixing a puncture

It’s generally faster to fix a puncture and get rolling again than to phone and wait for help. Fixing punctures is simple – once you know how and have some practice.

I don’t have space to take you through the process step-by-step – that’s best done by a friend or your local bike shop. But I can give you a few tips to keep in mind.

Good storage is the best maintenance plan

In pre-metric days they used to say an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. When it comes to your cycling gear, the way you store it can certainly save you a lot of maintenance trouble.

There are likely to be quite a few shiny new bikes appear at Christmas. Where do you plan to keep them? The ideal place is in a garage or shed. It’s out of the sun and weather, so your moving parts, and fittings will last longer. It’s out of sight too, which reduces the risk of theft.