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Weekend Wrenching - Bike Maintenance
Setting Up Your Workspace
"Your Home Away From Home"
This week is the start of something new. I have preached for a long time now about doing your own bike maintenance and tuning without any real direction given. Now...on weekends...you will see articles titled "Weekend Wrenching" that is going to include bike maintenance tips and videos. To stay up-to-date with all of these bike maintenance tips, subscribe to the rss feed or have posts sent directly to your email. Are you a shop or rider who would like to have their maintenance tips or video posted on MTB by 198? Contact me and we will get you involved!
Setting Up Your Workspace
As with any home project, an organized workspace is vital for successful weekend wrenching sessions and general bike maintenance. It is also your first step on the way to being bike self sufficient. Can you imagine the day that you are able to do all of your bike maintenance and tuning on your own? Maybe you already do...or maybe that seems impossible, but with a proper workspace...you are on your way to becoming that wrench you always wanted to be.
The honest truth...not everyone has mechanical ability. That is ok. For most of your bike maintenance needs, only a basic ability to operate normal tools is required. In your house or garage, you need a place to store and organize these tools. On top of that, you need an area that is easy to work in.
Why Do I Need A Specific Bike Maintenance Area?
Bikes...for the most part...are clumsy to work on. You have to remove wheels and components that the bike requires to stand upright. You will also have specialized tools and stands that take up some room. With a dedicated area to work on bikes (that might mean moving the car out of the garage while you are working), you will be much more successful in your attempts to work on your bike correctly.
You also need an area to store these specialized tools where they are safe and easily accessible. A lot of bike maintenance requires you to have multiple tools at your disposal at once, so the easier it is to reach the tools you need...the better.
Ideally, you need to have enough square footage for a bike stand, a stool/chair and a flat work bench/table. For most of your tuning and inspections, the bike will be in the stand. This allows you to access all areas of the bike easily, and you can do most of it seated for greater comfort.
What If I Want A Full Out Bike Shop?
So you have the room and money to really do it right...
Take a trip to your local bike shop and see how they have their bike maintenance area set up. Here are some "add-ons" that you might see and want to incorporate into your bike maintenance area.
- Marble Slab - For cleaning chains and other greasy components.
- Wash Tank - Again...cleaning those items that you wouldn't put in your wife's favorite kitchen sink (I have done this one...)
- Bolted Down Bike Stands - Most consumer bike stands are portable. Some of the pro-level stands from Ultimate and Park actually bolt into the ground for increased stability.
- Peg Board Backing - Nothing keeps everything more organized and accessible than peg board!
- Air Compressor - No floor pumps here! Air and air tools at your disposal!
- Duplicates Of Most Tools - Why have one when you can have two?!
So there you have it! Find a place in your garage, basement or formal dining room to get some bike maintenance done. Once you really start to get the hang of working on your own mountain bike, you will be really glad you took this first step to mountain bike self sufficiency!
Up Next Week - The Tools That Any Biker Can't Live Without - So subscribe to the RSS Feed or have the posts delievered straight to your inbox so you don't miss out on this one!
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November 15th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Great idea for a series. I look forward to reading the posts as they come out.
November 19th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Wifey no likey grease in sink, even after promises for complete restoration.
Hmm, I just have a wooden workbench which seems to work fine, not clear on the advantage of a marble slab.
November 19th, 2008 at 10:03 am
@tenbsmith: A small marble slab on either end of your workbench gives you a perfect surface for scrubbing, cleaning and degreasing chains, cassettes and other greasy parts.
Imagine laying a chain on the marble…spraying on the degreaser…scrubbing the chain clean and then wiping off the marble.
November 25th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I can’t afford a quality stand. I use two bike storage hooks screwed into the rafters of my basement and two nylon cinch straps around my bike. Not the most stable platform, but it gets the bike off the ground, and its infinitely height adjustable! The nylon is easy on my bike frame too.
It works well along with the beat up wooden bench that was there when I bought the place.