When I bought my new bike I told myself that I wouldn’t need to ride it to work because I’ve already got a hybrid bicycle that I bought nearly a decade ago. But this bike hasn’t seen any action in a couple of years, and even when it did it was neglected from a maintenance point-of-view. The only time it was serviced in its lifetime–at all–was a couple of months after buying it. It’s so bad that I even thought about just plain buying a new hybrid bike to replace it.
I didn’t buy a new bike, and yesterday–keen to learn about bicycles and avoid studying–I decided to give it a bit of a health check. It is in rough shape, but it is better today than it has been in years. It was a marathon event, taking more hours than I’d like to admit, but the result is a machine that I plan to ride to work today (despite the fact that the weather is great for motorcycling).
The Tyres
I rotated the tyres between the front and rear wheels. They use the same tyres so this was okay to do. Unfortunately they’re both in fairly poor condition, but they haven’t caused me any flats in the previous time I’ve used them so I will keep using them. I also don’t really have money to replace them at the moment.
The Chain
With the wheel removed I also decided to remove the chain to clean it. This chain has never been so much as lubricated, so it most certainly has to be replaced. But, again, I’m doing a lot with a little so cleaning is the best it got. Lots and lots of grease was removed in the soak it got in the degreaser. The chain is old/cheap enough that it didn’t have a quick link to remove, so I had to use a chain tool to do that.
When I did later re-attach the chain I did, of course, apply a good amount of lubricant to it. This was also well after the degreaser was cleaned off, and the chain was allowed to air dry.
The Chainrings and Cassette
The chainrings and cassette were coated in dirt and grime. I spent a lot of time cleaning these. The cassette had a lot of dirt caked in between the sprockets; if I had a proper cleaning tool this would have been no problem, but I don’t. I cleaned this dirt with whatever tools and twigs I could find to squeeze in there.
Both the chainrings and cassette are in rough shape; the sprockets teeth look like an Englishman’s and are in desperate need of replacement. It will only make sense to do the chainrings, cassette, and chain all at the same time.
The Derailleurs
I cleaned the jockey wheels on the rear derailleur, and reset everything you can on each of the derailleurs. The front derailleur came down a bit and had its high/low re-adjusted. The rear derailleur had all of it’s b, h, and l screws re-adjusted. It shifts like a dream now, compared to what it once was. This process took forever because I don’t have a bike stand.
Overall the derailleurs are in surprisingly good shape. I’d consider replacing them, but they’d be among the last things to replace. They’ve certainly worn over the years, but have held up well. Shimano quality, for you. The front derailleur is a Nexus series part, and the rear derailleur is a Deore series part.
The Seatpost
The seatpost has a little suspension it in that has barely functioned in years. With a little light grease and some tweaking of the screws I was able to bring it back to life. I cleaned up the rest of the post and applied some new grease to it. It now slides better than ever. It used to be that the seat was held in place by friction between the frame and the post, but not anymore.
The Brakes
I have V-brakes on my hybrid bike and do you think I’ve ever replaced the brake pads? No. I didn’t this time either but I re-aligned them and adjusted them to increase the spring-back. Their application is smoother now. My front brake has a significant “bump” to it when using it, but I think this is because the wheel is far from true. I’d love to true the wheels in the near future.
The Brake Levers and Trigger Shifters
In all the years of owning this bike I never correctly adjusted the brake levers and trigger shifters. They were angled down a bit to fit my riding position, and adjusted for a comfortable level of firmness.
I lubricated all of my cables and pivot points in the braking and shifting systems.
What Didn’t Get Done
Bearings. Bottom bracket, headset, and hubs. These require special tools to do, which I don’t have (yet), but are also bigger jobs than anything I’ve done today. When I do get to it, it will be a lot of fun.
Wheel truing. Again, a special stand is required which I don’t have. This is surely needed, and will be quite an adventure when it gets done.