How to Get Your Bike Ready for Spring

How to Get Your Bike Ready for Spring

Spring is sprung in Northern Wisconsin, and now is the time that everybody is shoveling the slop from their driveways, digging through the garage, and dusting off those bicycles. What do you need to do to get your bike ready for that first slow roll?

1. Air Up The Tires

It’s normal for bike tires to lose pressure over time. Unlike your car tires, bike tires have relatively little volume. The oxygen atoms in that air are under pressure and will very slowly escape through the valve or through the rubber compound. The smaller volume your tire is, the more you’ll notice little bits escaping. 

It’s a good idea to check your tire pressure before every ride, but you especially need to top it off after many months dormant.

1. Get a tire pressure gauge, air compressor, or floor pump.
2. Determine your needed tire pressure. This should be on the side of your tire, often an elevated rubber print.
3. Pump up very slowly. Make sure the tube isn’t pushing out the sidewalls.
4. Check for cracks and dry rot. If the rubber is beginning to crack, crumble, or look less rubbery, it’s time to replace them.
5. Time to go for a ride! 

If your tires go flat after just a day or two (or less), you probably have a small puncture in the inner tube or your tubeless sealant is dried out. It’s time for a patch, a new tube, or a sealant refresh.

2. Check Your Brakes

Brakes are essential safety items on your bike. If you go, then you need to stop. Brakes are easy to overlook, but small problems can lead to catastrophic consequences either for safety or for repairs. 

Make sure your brakes are ready to go at the start of the season so you are too.

1. Squeeze the brake levers a few times. Are they pulling smoothly? Did you make sure they don’t go to the handlebars? When you roll the bike and squeeze, does the bike stop? If the answer is “no” or “not quite” to any of these, it’s best to get it looked at now.
2. Pick up the front wheel and spin it. Do the brakes rub against the wheel or brake pads/rotor at any point? Can you hear it? Repeat on the rear. If it rubs at any point, you might need a brake adjustment or wheel/disc truing.
3. If you have hydraulic disc brakes, inspect your brake levers and calipers to make sure there’s no oil or liquid coming out. Hydraulic disc brakes should be bled about once a year, so it may be time for a bleed anyway.

3. Check Your Chain

Your chain is essential for making your bike propel forward. It’s also one of the pieces which wears just as much as your tires, and failure to maintain or replace your chain can lead to expensive replacements of other parts like derailleurs, cassettes, and chainrings. Keeping on top of chain maintenance is always worth it in the long run.

1. Wipe off your chain and check for rust, too much, or too little grease.
   1. Rust? Some rust is okay, as long as the chain links move freely. 
   2. Black and greasy? Your chain probably needs to be deep cleaned with a degreaser to prevent that nasty dirt from wearing the chain more and getting all over you.
   3. Dry and squeaky? Your chain needs a bicycle lubricant, such as Finish Line, White Lightning, or Tri Flow.
2. Measure your chain with a chain checker. Most chains last around 2,000 – 3,000 miles, so if you’ve been clocking hours in the saddle or it’s been many years, your chain might be stretched. A stretched or worn chain can wear the teeth on the cassette cogs, and if those wear too far, then you need to replace them too. A Park Tool CC-3.2 Chain Checker is handy to have if you put on a lot of miles, or ask your local bike shop to measure your chain.

When all else fails – or if you’re just inclined to not do the check yourself – bring your bike into your local bike shop! Most shops like ours have tune up packages which cover the full run of checks, adjustments, and care that your bike needs to get ready for spring.