maintenance

Bike Wash Zen

There’s no chore that is more therapeutic and gives me more satisfaction than the bike wash. I usually wipe my bike down after every couple of rides with baby wipes but once a month or so I’ll roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty. You don’t really need much except for a few […]

Check Your Skewers!

I’ve seen in dozens of times and have been through it myself. Your bike is making a mysterious creaking noises and it’s hard to pinpoint where it’s coming from. You dismantle half your bike and swap a bunch of parts only to find that the noise is still there. What can it possibly be??? You […]

The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Unless you’re new to cycling I think most people know the difference between tubulars and clinchers. I don’t want to drag you into yet another yawn inducing debate trying to convince you one way or another. I think this has been point has been beaten to death. If you’re not familiar with the benefits of […]

Cycling Twips

First and foremost, I want to thank each and every reader who comes to this blog. It’s grown exponentially and I’m grateful that you have a couple minutes of your busy day to give your attention here. I know you have a dozen other cycling websites to visit while you’re supposed to be working so […]

Going Through The Gears - A Key Move

Wherever you are, there will always be a handful of pro level mechanics who have made careers out of their trade. They’re talented, respected, well informed and experienced. If you’re new to cycling you might have to search around to find one - experienced cyclists know who they are and where to find them. Most […]

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Hutchinson Fusion 2 Tubless Tires

A very well kept secret in the world of tires is that you can use the Hutchinson Fusion 2 Tubeless Tires on a regular set of everyday rims. “But I thought they could only be used on specially made like Dura Ace or Falcrum Zero wheels?”, you ask. Not so. Me being me, I got […]

Tips From The Ghetto

If you ever end up out on the road with a dry chain due to multiple hours of rain/mud/snow, and didn’t happen to carry a bottle of chain lube with you, here’s a tip for where you can find some oil. Find a gas station and look in the garbage cans near the pumps. You […]

Easy Way To Check For Chain Wear

One of the most common drivetrain problems is ‘chain skip’. This is when your chain slips forward while pedaling under pressure. There could be a few problems that are causing this. Sometimes a stiff chainlink causes this, and other times a worn freehub body. A very common problem is a worn chain. Chains will ’stretch’ […]

What Is The Optimal Tire Pressure?

When I started looking into this topic I thought it was gonna take me 10 minutes to find a definitive answer. Four hours later I’m neck deep in graphs, formulas, research papers, etc. It looks like a lot of cycling nut PhD students have done their thesis’ on researching the optimum tire pressure for a […]

Better Braking Performance In The Wet

The job I most admire in the pro peloton are the mechanics. They have the toughest job by a long shot and have heaps of ingenious tricks to get the most out of their gear. Check this out: Barloworld mechanics hand-etched the sidewalls of these Mavic R-SYS wheels to get better braking performance in the wet […]

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