News & Tips
How to check your chain
Chain “stretch”, combined with cog tooth wear, is the most common cause of clunks or skipping under load. Fortunately, it’s also one of the easiest problems to diagnose.
There are many different designs of chain checkers on the market, but they all work by simply measuring the distance between a number of chain links and indicating the amount of elongation the chain has experienced in its life.
Chain and drivetrain life varies greatly, but leaving your chain to stretch too far, accelerates the wear to your chainring and cassette teeth.
The general rule of thumb for drivetrain wear is: 2-3 chains per cassette, 2-3 cassettes per set of chainrings.
Lube your chain
… Weekly! Use a good bicycle chain lube (dry for dry conditions, wet for wet conditions), run it through the entire length of the chain and wipe off the excess with a rag.
Literally a one-minute job to avoid this kind of situation!
A quick word on gear changes
Unfortunately, the gears on your bike aren’t quite as robust as you’d find in your car, nor can they shift smoothly under acceleration forces like a modern automatic car can.
There are a few things to remember when changing gears on your bike to ensure efficient power transfer, prolong the life of your drivetrain, and not cause a catastrophic failure!
– Reduce power/ force to your cranks. When changing gears in a “manual” car, we all know to lift the accelerator to allow the gears to mesh properly before applying power – and it’s no different on your bike. Any weight on your pedals adds a huge amount of tension to your chain and your derailleurs have to fight directly against this tension to be able to shift to another cog. This is a very common cause of breakage and damage to parts on even the most well maintained bikes.
– Keep pedalling and maintain your cadence (Think RPM). This might be a no-brainer but it’s amazing how many people try to shift while coasting along without moving their legs. Apart from a few internally geared hub systems, almost all drive trains require rotation of the cranks in order to shift.
– Plan your shifts. Mostly relevant when approaching an incline, it is important to anticipate which gear you should be in early, and make your shift under low-load, just before power is needed.
– Don’t cross-chain! Probably the most common mistake people make while riding is to use the full range of gears on one shifter (normally the right) and forgetting they have another shifter in their other hand. Remember; if the chain is on a SMALL chainring at the FRONT, it should be on a LARGE cog at the REAR (and vice-versa).
Keep your tyres inflated!
It seems obvious, but it’s something most riders forget as they’re rolling their bike down the driveway; check your tyre pressures! Aside from the higher risk of punctures, pinch-flats and blowouts, under-inflated tyres will exhibit poor traction and increased rolling resistance.
Rolling on a tyre this flat will likely cause irreparable damage to your rim.
Pre-ride checks
It’s easy to think you can just jump on your bike and go for a ride without a second thought. In most cases this is true, but to ensure you don’t become a cycling statistic, take a few minutes for a pre-ride check!
In much the same way as an airline pilot checks their aircraft before each flight, we suggest checking your bicycle before each and every ride, even if it has been recently serviced (whether by us or by any other bicycle mechanic), as things like cable tension or bumps in storage/transport can greatly affect a bikes ability to perform safely. It is the rider’s responsibility to ensure their bike is in good condition before riding, and a simple check-over and test-ride in a safe area (checking for any issues with the quick-release mechanisms, brakes, drive-train, cockpit area and wheels etc.) should be performed regularly. If any component is suspected not to be working optimally, we suggest abandoning the ride and having the bike checked by a professional immediately.