
How to Change Bike Tires
Cycling is a very interesting activity. Aside from being a very challenging sport, it’s also a great workout.
Cycling helps in toning the muscles, burning excess fats, improving cardiovascular health, and even making the body’s blood circulation better. These are just some of the reasons why more and more people are becoming hooked on cycling. It is considered as a moderate workout routine.
Aside from that, it is an environment-friendly means of transport. If you ride a bike to work every day (considering it’s a fair distance from where you live), you will have a lesser contribution to the harmful gasses emitted by burning fuel from car engines. More importantly, you can save money which was intended for gas.
These are just a few of the reasons why cycling is good for your health and budget. If it’s enough to convince you to get your own bike, then you need to know the basics of cycling.
Bike Safety Measures
Cycling may not be considered as an extreme sport (unless you go for a ride on the toughest terrain possible) but it can still cause you injury to some degree if you are not careful enough. That being said, you need to know about the precautions that you need to take before every ride.- Wear appropriate clothing. The best types of clothing you can wear when you go cycling are well-fitted clothes. You don’t want to wear loose clothes as they may get stuck mid-ride and may cause some serious injuries.
- Always do stretching before riding. You need to stretch your muscles, especially if you are going on a long ride. It may not be like the regular exercise you do at home but it’s still going to wear you out. If you haven’t been working out for a while and you go on a ride, you might end up with sore muscles the day after, and you don’t want that.
- Never forget your helmet. Always wear your helmet when you go on a ride. You need to cover your head just in case an accident takes place. While you’re at it, you can try wearing elbow and knee guards for increased protection.
Bike Maintenance
Having a bike is more than just learning how to ride it. It’s also about looking after it and making sure that it’s maintained properly. If you have a bike or plan to get one, you need to know the basic things about maintaining your bike. Here are the things that you need to do.Clean your bike as often as possible
Cleaning it constantly will help prevent corrosion on the bike’s frame and other parts. You don’t have to use a special cleaning solution to clean your bike – just soap, water, and brush will do the job. However, some detergents may contain abrasive salts which may not be good for your bike so you can also use bike-specific degreasers – that’s if you have no issue spending extra on the product. Usually, the part of the bike that needs most cleaning is the chain. You have to clean and lube it afterwards to ensure that it maintains its good condition. Otherwise, your bike’s chain will wear and tear easily. Aside from your bike chains, you also need to treat the gears, brakes, and the exposed cables with a lube. You can use an all-purpose lubricant solution for these parts but you need to use a thicker lube for the chains. Cleaning your bike is not just about making it look good and as shiny as new; it is also one way of checking if every part of the bike is working properly. It’s going to be harder to check on the tiniest nooks and crannies on your bike if it’s covered with mud and grease, right?Inspect the major bike parts
There are three bike parts that need most of your attention. Those parts include the brakes, chains, and tires. These parts are the usual areas that need major repair or fixing. Each component will be discussed thoroughly to give you as much information as you need to be able to do the bike repairs and maintenance on your own or without the help of any professional.Brakes
Number one on your bike checklist are the brakes. A lot of accidents happen because of loose brakes. Before going for a ride, you have to make sure that your brakes are properly adjusted. Faulty brakes are something that you certainly don’t want to have to deal with while riding. Fortunately, it’s actually a very straightforward job. Here’s what you need to do to adjust your bike’s faulty brakes:- Identify what exactly the issue is. If it’s your brake pads that are faulty, you need to adjust them to the correct distance from the rim. Double-check the caliper mounting bolts and see if it’s screwed in tight. Next thing to check is if the tires are placed correctly and if they’re well-aligned to the frame. If not, correct the misalignment.
- If your brake pads are too worn out, you have to replace them. Toe them in correctly by loosening the pad mount bolt while you grip the brake lever to place them onto the rim.
- Check for the adjustment barrel. Grip the brakes with your one hand and turn the barrel in a counter clockwise position in order to ring the pads closer to the rim. Turn it clockwise if you need to move it outwards.
- As soon as your barrel is turned all the way in, check if more adjustments are needed. If everything’s all good, loosen the bolt that holds the cable. Position the caliper to where you want it and then pull the cable to tighten the bolt securely.
Chains
Who wants squeaky chain and gears on their bikes, right? That’s why you need to keep your bike properly lubricated to make sure that you don’t encounter any problems when you’re on the road. Aside from that, keep your drive train in the best condition, making it last longer. Here’s how you can make sure that your bike chains are well-maintained:- Get a rag and a degreaser which you can use to clean the chains. Dab a significant amount of the degreaser on the rag and start removing grime and dirt from your bike. Make sure you cover the entire chain. Then let the degreaser dry up.
- Once it’s all dried up, you can start applying just a small amount of lube on each link. After making sure that you covered every single link, let the lube dry for a bit.
- As soon as it’s dried up, you can remove the excess lubricant. You don’t want your bike chains attracting more dirt now, do you?
- Just lube your bike up when it starts squeaking or when it already looks dry
- Lube your chains whenever you go on a wet ride to keep it from rusting
- Use a cleaning device that you can use without removing the chin from the bike
- Always remember to clean the bike first before putting the lubricant
Tires
The tires are the contact patch to whatever surface you’re riding on – could be concrete, dirt road, or grass. You have to make sure they’re always in a good condition by checking for tears, cracks, embedded sharp objects, and even excessive wear and tear. The most common practice among avid bike riders about bike tire maintenance is making sure that they inflate them regularly. That way, you can make sure that the minor air leaks are compensated for. These leaks can go as much as 8-10 psi monthly – which is a considerable amount to cause droopy wheels. Doing tire maintenance is not as much required for casual bike riders compared to those who are considered as heavy riders. Those who do extreme cycling need to check their bike tires as often as possible because they are more exposed to early tire wear and tear. Doing preventive measures to avoid a flat is very important. You don’t want to be stuck somewhere with a flat tire and without your tools, right? However, it still can’t be helped and sometimes you do end up with a flat tire. So, here are the bike tires basics that you need to know for fixing a flat.How to Change Bike Tires
What you need:
- Spare Tube
- Tire levers
- Repair Kit
- Pump
What you need to do:
- Take the bike wheel off
- Remove the tube
- Identify the reason for the flat
- Replace or repair the tube