What gets serviced on a service?

Miggins

I've had my bike about a year now and want to get it serviced when the better weather arrives. I'd like to tackle most of it myself, but what should I be servicing?

Devastazione

One year now service at all ??? Man,I want that bike !!!

I would replace most of the cables and new latex in the wheels if you use that. If you kept the transmission well lubed the whole time you should be ok.

Miggins

Devastazione wrote:

I would replace most of the cables and new latex in the wheels if you use that. If you kept the transmission well lubed the whole time you should be ok.

Result. Cables have just been replaced, no latex in wheels and the transmission is hosed down and re-lubed after every ride. Every few rides the chain gets removed, thoroughly de-greased, rinsed and dried and re-lubed and both mechs get de-greased, rinsed and re-lubed. Should I remove, clean and re-lube the jockey wheels? Might do that anyway.

For the service I'll be changing the hydraulic fluid in the brake lines too. Pedals have just been upgraded so I won't be touching them. What about wheel hubs (cup and cone)? And spokes? The LBS will be taking care of the shocks. Anything else not mentioned that shop mechanic would do?

bike-a-swan

If you're feeling bold/bored, take the whole thing apart, clean it all up and put back together. Good chance to tweak any of the things like bar angle you've been thinking about tweaking but putting off.


Some more specific things I'd think about doing for the end of winter-
-BB out, check for crud fallen down seat tube
-Clean out headset
-Cassette off, good clean, refit.
-If hubs are shimano you may want to think about opening up for a good clean.
-Cables! (I've done shifters before now when they were feeling a bit nasty, amazing how smooth everything feels from a full clean)

Miggins

Thanks Bike-a-swan. Cleaning out the headset sounds a bit scary, though. YouTube, here I come.........

Andy!

headset is easy. Just make sure you keep all the bits safe.

Check any bearings you remove for grit/play.

Hubs are a must if shimano - will last for years if looked after. Get some decent waterproof grease and strip them and clean them out - look for a guide. Might be worth getting new balls in as old balls will damage the cups quickly, good balls will make them last ages.

Also take some times to get the hubs bolted up right - you want as free as possible but with no play - there are some good online guides.

Make sure you re-treat any threads of stuff you take out and clean. Some bits will be greased/anti-seized and some will have (normally blue) theadlock. Don't clean it off and then put it back together without or you could run into trouble.

Give your chain a proper measure for wear and check all the gear teeth.

I go over my derailleurs with a fine toothed comb and clean out all the crap and check for damage.

I don't touch my wheels myself in terms of truing and spoke tension. My local place charges £10 a wheel for redishing and retruing so if I notice anything suspicious I get them to adjust. Just not worth me messing it up until I have more experience with some cheap wheels. But you can do the checks for damaged spokes, rims etc as part of cleaning.

Be careful dismantling gears etc as you don't want to mess with things like front mech height if its working okay.

Also check/re-index the gears.

Miggins

Thanks Andy, your advice will be taken on board!