Maintenance Schedule

At Avanti Plus Nelson we carry out most major repairs. If you suspect your bike is in need of some repair but are ensure feel free to call and ask us – the problem may be corrected over the phone and it’s free! If you ride frequently through mud or harsh conditions you may need to adjust this schedule accordingly.

EVERY RIDE

• Check quick release mechanism on wheels
• Oil chain (in winter)
• Check alignment of brake pads

EVERY WEEK

• Oil chain (in summer)
• Check tyre pressure
• Check brake pad wear (replace as required)

EVERY MONTH

• Strip and degrease chain
• Wash your bike
• Oil pivots in front and rear derailleurs
• Check all bolts including crank, handlebar and brake bolts
• Check that the rear derailleur is not bent

EVERY SIX MONTHS

• Have wheels trued and tensioned
• Grease all cables
• Check tension on all cables including stops on derailleurs
• Regrease front suspension forks
• Check air pressure in front and rear air shocks
• Check wear of chain (replace before you need to replace chain and chain rings)
• Check cones for play

EVERY YEAR

• Regrease hubs, headset and bottom bracket
• Strip and service front suspension forks
• Replace all brake and gear cables
• Bleed and service hydraulic disc brakes
• Check for wear on tyres
• Regrease pedal bearings
• Regrease brakes at pivot

Cleaning Your Bike

If you look after your bike it will look after you and give you many years of pleasure.

To keep your bike clean and reduce unnecessary wear on its parts, you will require the following items:

• A bucket of warm soapy water
• a good degreaser - we recommend an environmentally friendly degreaser
• brushes - a car brush and a toothbrush will do the job nicely
• a soft dry cloth
• a chain cleaning tool
• some polish

How to clean your bike

Start by hosing it down the same way you would your car, rinsing all the mud and dirt off with a hose down using low pressure and keeping the flow away from bearing surfaces such as the hubs, headset and bottom bracket.

Use the degreaser to remove the old grease and oil from the cluster and chain, chain rings and derailleurs. Use the warm soapy water to wash the bike from top to bottom. Make sure to clean the brake shoes and remove any foreign objects that may have found their way into the pads.

Dry the bike down with the soft cloth, apply bike polish to keep its bike shop shine. After you have cleaned the bike you will need to re-lube its components.

Lube Your Bike

After you have cleaned your bike you will need to re-lube its components.

Lube the chain - use only a chain lube designed for bicycles, many lubes that are designed for motorcycles and cars are too "thick" in their viscosity for use on bicycles.

There are two types of chain lube available known as wet or dry. Wet Lube is used for harsh wet weather conditions and Dry Lube for summer’s drier riding conditions.

Lube the chain by slowly pedalling the crank backwards, applying the lube to every chain link as you go. Try to keep the lube in the centre of the chain and away from the cluster (you will lube the cluster later as you use the gears and the lube moves off the chain). Leave the lube for 10 seconds to settle into the links and then wipe the outside of the chain with a rag to remove any excess lube. This stops dirt collecting on the chain at a later stage.

Apply a small amount of lube on the jockey wheels of the rear derailleur and on the pivots of the front derailleur.

Lube the cables - you will need to lube your cables from time to time as dirt can make its way onto the outer cables causing poor shifting or braking.

It is important to try and lube your bike before every ride, especially in winter. A chain is better to be over lubed than under. You can never over lube your chain, as long as you keep the chain clean.

Don’t use CRC on your chain, this type of lubricant is not designed to work under pressure where bike chain lubes are and will stay working for much longer.

Adjusting the Derailleurs

Your gears should shift cleanly and easily if they aren't then you might need to adjust the derailleurs.

Front derailleur

Problems shifting with the front derailleur can be fixed in a similar way as to the rear. Look closely to find which limit screw does what since their positions vary on different models of derailleurs.

Adjusting the front derailleur

Make sure the front derailleur cage is parallel to and above the largest front sprocket by only about three millimetres. With the rear derailleur in high (smallest sprocket), tighten the front derailleur high gear screw until you cannot shift into high gear (large front sprocket). Back out the screw while turning the pedals and operating the shifter until you just get a clean shift every time. Repeat this procedure for shifting down to the smallest front sprocket, but with the rear derailleur engaged in low gear. Check all combinations of front and rear gear selection. You may have to compromise the adjustments a little to get a clean shift in all cases. Because the chainwheels (front sprockets) are probably not perfectly flat, try all combinations of shifting when the pedals are at varying angles of rotation. Sometimes front derailleurs will require a little bending to get proper function. If the chain sometimes falls off even though the adjustment seems correct, try bending the front edge of the derailleur cage in a little bit. If the derailleur is reluctant to engage high or low gear, the cable may need adjustment. Shift toward the largest sprocket, pushing the shifter all the way in its travel. Loosen the cable inner wire anchor bolt, pull the slack out of the cable and retighten.

Rear derailleur

If the gears are firing the chain off between the freewheel and the spokes or down onto the frame and you have checked the straightness of the derailleur you will need to adjust the limit screws on the derailleur. Notice the two small screws on the body of the rear derailleur - the high gear limit screw stops the derailleur from shifting past high gear and the low gear screw prevents it from going past low gear. If a limit screw is too loose, the chain will fall off. If too tight, the system will not engage the gear.

Adjusting the rear derailleur

Tighten the high gear screw, the one that hits a cam when you shift to the smallest sprocket, until you can no longer shift into high gear. Put the shifter in high gear position and while turning the pedals, unscrew the high gear screw until the system engages high gear again. Shift between high gear and the second smallest several times, backing the screw out a little more, just until the derailleur shifts smoothly. Tighten the low gear screw until you no longer get first gear. Repeat the process for this low gear limit - back the screw out just until the bike shifts smoothly from the second largest to the largest sprocket. If you cannot engage high or low gear, or if the above technique does not work for high or low gear, the cable may be improperly adjusted. Shift into high gear and push the shifter all the way to the end of its travel. Loosen the cable inner wire anchor bolt. That's the bolt with a hole through which the derailleur control wire is clamped. Pull the slack out of the wire, and retighten the anchor bolt. If you have done everything right, but the bicycle does not shift reliably, the most common reason is that the chain and freewheel are too worn to work properly. If you replace one, you must replace both. A new chain on an old freewheel or visa versa usually skips, and the new part wears out very quickly.

Use and Care of Brakes

It is important that you are aware of what brake lever, the right or left side, controls which brake on your bike. Make sure that your hands can reach the brake levers comfortably, if your hands are too small to operate the lever you should be able to adjust the lever in.
Keep your rims and brake shoes clean of lubricants, waxes and polishes. In order to work efficiently your braking systems require your wheels to be in good condition.
If the wheels are not true or your brake pads are rubbing against the rims, you'll need to have your wheels trued. Truing a wheel is best performed by Avanti Plus Nelson and costs around $15.00 a wheel and should be carried out approximately every six months.

Disc brakes

With the increase in technology, we are seeing advances in brakes that now include disc brakes. Many models come with discs standard but nearly all models have mounts if you wish to install disc brakes in the future. Two different types of disc brakes are available Hydraulic and Cable Actuated. Both systems require the following items to be checked:
Disc brakes need to be broken in before they will give maximum performance. You will also need to do this when you are replacing the pads. Ride the bike on a flat and apply the brakes 20-30 times. Increase the force of the brake power each time you apply them, ending up with strong breaking pressure.
Disc brakes should be inspected and kept clean at all times. If oil or grease has contaminated rotors or pads, a thorough cleaning will need to be done. Begin by removing the brake pad and either clean or replace them.
The rotor may also need cleaning, use an automotive brake cleaner for both. Check rotor for deep scoring, grooving or damage to the surface - replace as required.
Check the brake pads have not become smooth or glass like from over heating, chipped or imbedded with debris - replace as required.
Check to see if brake pads are wearing uniformly and that they move in and out smoothly.
Make sure the rotors are running in the centre of the brake pads. If the rotor is hitting the brake pad you will need to loosen the calliper fixing bolts, squeeze the brake lever lightly and then re-tighten the calliper fixing bolts. Check the spoke tension and condition of your wheels.

Depending on what brake system you have, you should also check the following.

Hydraulic disc brakes

Check the brake lever action. If the lever feels mushy, air has made its way into the system and will need to be re-bled. Avanti Plus Nelson should carry this out. Inspect the lines for cracks, kinks or leakage. A faulty line will need to be replaced, special tools are required, have this done by the workshop at Avanti Plus Nelson.

Cable actuated disc brakes

Make sure the lever does not touch handlebar, re-adjust as required. Check all the cables are in good condition and have no kinks. A seperate manual for your disc brakes should be supplied. There are also websites produced by manufactures of disc brakes that are useful for getting information.