Assuming Spring Comes, What Do We Need to Change in Bikes and or Equipment

[brendan]

Give it a nice wash to get the winter salt and grime off.

Clean the grime and muck off of and out of the chain, chainrings, cassette and derailleur assemblies.

Check to make sure your wheels are aligned and properly/safely bolted/cammed onto your fork and dropout.

Manually check for loose/broken spokes and a wheel out of true.

Check your brake pads and tires, looking for signs of excessive wear or misalignment with respect to the rim and/or braking surfaces.

Check cables, especially ends, for dirt and fraying. Check cable housing for signs of end of life.

Check for chain stretch plus cassette and chainring wear.

Check your bottom bracket and headset for slop/looseness.

Make sure your handlebars (and stem, if applicable) are properly positions and that the associated bolts are torqued to a reasonable tightness. These can come loose over time, I’ve found out the hard way.

Adjust and/or replace anything problematic above as necessary.

If you or you and your friends are comfortable doing all of the above, then no, you don’t need to get it professionally tuned this season.

If not, you can bring it to a shop and leave it there for a full tune up for some number of days. Or you can come by The Bike House clinic in DC any Saturday and if you get there early enough, you can learn how to do many of these things using your bike and their tools! Well, except maybe the full wash, but you can figure that one out on your own.

Oh…helmet? No, unless you’re a heavy sweater (vs. wearing one) or need to shave 2 seconds off your hill climbing (well, really hill descending) in the french alps. Though, if it looks *really* cool…

B

[GuyContinental]

Everything he said- that’s a nice checklist to use every 3 months BTW.

Only other one that I’d add that you really need to do is:
-Repack clipless pedals with grease (very easy with a cheap syringe)

Some others that I’ll do because I’m slightly OCD
-Pull bottom bracket to clean and relube
-Full-on sonic degrease and relube of chain
-Pull cassette for sonic cleaning

@brendan 47188 wrote:

Oh…helmet? No, unless you’re a heavy sweater (vs. wearing one) or need to shave 2 seconds off your hill climbing (well, really hill descending) in the french alps. Though, if it looks *really* cool…
B

A more expensive helmet generally buys you less helmet- as in it’ll be lighter and have more holes in it for better airflow. If you don’t have a hot head in summer with your current lid, then don’t worry about it. If you do, then it’s something to consider.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Arm and knee warmers are nice for the transitional days, where it’s cold in the morning and then warms up…they are easily stuffed into a jersey pocket when not needed. Also, on those types of days, I find using a sleeveless base layer takes the edge off the cold without heating me up dramatically. Makes a good combo with the arm warmers.

Oh, and regarding helmets…I bought a new helmet that was a bit higher-end than my previous helmet (but kept the previous helmet) and I actually can’t wear it on colder days because it vents so much better than the old helmet. I’m sure there are cheap helmets that vent well, but IME venting will probably be the thing you notice most day-to-day about a more expensive helmet.

[FFX_Hinterlands]

Eyewear is important, particularly when the Cicadas are coming… http://www.businessinsider.com/17-year-brood-2-cicadas-2013-3

I have a set of Smith glasses with interchangeable lenses. They’ve lasted me two years of bike commuting. I use clear & yellow lenses in the winter, brown in the spring/fall and polorized superdark in the summer. They’re one of my only high-tech non-retrogrouchy pieces of gear.

[Mikey]

Extra water. Although I usually drink a bottle about every 25 miles in the winter, It’s more like every 10 in the summer.

[Brent]

@FFX_Hinterlands 47191 wrote:

I have a set of Smith glasses with interchangeable lenses. They’ve lasted me two years of bike commuting. I use clear & yellow lenses in the winter, brown in the spring/fall and polorized superdark in the summer. They’re one of my only high-tech non-retrogrouchy pieces of gear.

My Smith glasses are fantastic. I’ve probably had mine close to 7 years, and I usually get new lenses every couple of years when they get too scratched up. I use the superdark polarized most of the time, but the clear lenses are a god send at night, and the brown lenses work wonders when I’m mountain biking through heavy tree cover.

[krazygl00]

@acc 47183 wrote:

As I write this crouched next to a space heater, I’m trying to imagine warmer weather.

So what do I need to do with my bike? Anything in particular I need to check?

It’s as good a time as any to do a good cleaning, lubing, check up. If you check nothing else, check chain length and replace if necessary, check brake pads and adjust position, check tire wear and finally wheel true-ness and spoke tension (actually more important). Other good things include hub bearings, headset and bottom bracket for proper adjustment.

Do I really need to have it tuned professionally for the season?

If you’ve been riding it regularly and keeping it relatively in tune…probably not. I tend to be pretty attuned to what is happening on my bike, so things rarely stay out of adjustment for too long before I fix them. However if you’re someone who can happily ignore wobbles, creaks and clicks you may want to take it to a shop for a sales opportun — err, check up

Any suggestions for adjusting to warmer weather in terms of clothing.

Nothing specifically apart from less of it Oh! My new favorite summer accessory I discovered last year is Craft sun covers because I sunburn easily. They’re like arm warmers except paper thin.

Anyone have eyewear they particularly like right now?

I bought my $20 Uvex Blaze Inter-X glasses from Dept of Goods (one of those deal sites) well over a year ago now, and they’re still some of the best cycling glasses I’ve used (and I’ve owned Native, Smith and Oakleys). They’re out of stock via the deal sites but they’re about $28 from that Amazon link.

Is a high-end helmet worth the money?

Definitely. A more comfortable helmet is one of those things that, after you do it you’ll never go back to an entry-level again. My most recent is a Giro Prolight and although the next smaller size might fit me a little bit better, I always wear a cap under it which makes it fit fine. It is about as close to not wearing a helmet at all that I’ve ever worn. I actually have to double check sometimes to make sure it’s up there

Actually, there are several things that Performance carries that are IMHO some of the best deals in cycling. One of them is the Scattante Spyder helmet which is (was) routinely on sale for $70 or so. It is branded a “BBB” in Europe which has been worn by Tour Riders. I’m not saying that makes it the most fantabulous badass ELITE helmet in the world; only that if a Tour team wore it it cannot be that bad. I just checked and it looks like Performance doesn’t carry it anymore, but it may be one of their newer Scattante models is the current BBB equivalent.

[KLizotte]

I have the Specialized Prevail helmet and love it. It is incredibly light with great airflow (but obscenely expensive unless you find a deal somewhere). I don’t use it in the winter because my head gets too cold but it is my “must have” in the summertime here in DC.

I’m slowly realizing how much I’ve spent on cycling gear over the past 2.5 years. I think I’m gonna go sit in a corner and cry a bit…..but at least the stuff gets used!

[DismalScientist]

I have a Schwinn helmet I bought at Target. I tie a cheap Chinese Ebay flashlight to it with a piece of bicycle tube. I have a BikeArlington blinkie on the back.

I go real slow.:rolleyes:

[fuzzy]

I’m not happy about these damn cicadas. This will be my first summer for riding & commuting and aside from the challenge of being a beginner I’ll have these things smacking me in the forehead/face as I ride. Cicada guts crunching all over my tires, they’ll be exploding all over my eye protection and handle bars! Acckk I can already feel the little hooks on their legs snagging my lip and making crash and do a bike-copter on the ground

[mstone]

Tmi

[Riley Casey]

Snort, probably works better than my helmet mount.

@DismalScientist 47227 wrote:

I have a Schwinn helmet I bought at Target. I tie a cheap Chinese Ebay flashlight to it with a piece of bicycle tube. I have a BikeArlington blinkie on the back.

I go real slow.:rolleyes:

[hozn]

In addition to being lighter and better venting, nicer helmets tend to have great retention/size-adjustment systems that make for a comfortable fit and are easy to adjust. I particularly like the Bell or Louis Garneau dial tightening system since it is easy to adjust with one hand (while riding). During the winter and shoulder seasons I find I am constantly adjusting helmets as my headwear fluctuates with temps. Some helmets also make it easier to tighten chin straps. These are the sort of features that you will appreciate regularly. And by “nicer” here, I just mean in the $60-$70 pricepoint; above that you’re looking at pretty diminishing returns.

If/when you do get a new helmet, consider whether you plan to mount a light on it. Some helmets lend themselves much better to this than others (shape/profile of helmet top, vent spacing, etc.).

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

[vvill]

@hozn 47278 wrote:

In addition to being lighter and better venting, nicer helmets tend to have great retention/size-adjustment systems that make for a comfortable fit and are easy to adjust. I particularly like the Bell or Louis Garneau dial tightening system since it is easy to adjust with one hand (while riding). During the winter and shoulder seasons I find I am constantly adjusting helmets as my headwear fluctuates with temps. Some helmets also make it easier to tighten chin straps. These are the sort of features that you will appreciate regularly.

Agreed. I had two ~$20 helmets that worked fine. Then I “splurged” on a $50 (on sale) LG helmet which is my go to now. I love the dial and use it a lot in winter. It is a bit bulky looking though so for my next helmet I might upgrade.

[fuzzy]

Buy screen-door mesh for the helmet vents or they’ll get clogged by cicadas.

[Author]

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