Servicing a bike - is there a particular order you should follow?

[summerdays]

The bike is going in for a service at the end of the week to complete any jobs I don't tackle. I'm trying to do a small service of it first but I wondered what order do you do things when servicing the bike or just which ever bit you want to tackle first?

 

[FreewheelingUK]

Personally, I follow a two step process...

Step 1: Is the bike working?
Step 2: If not, call the bike shop.

Not much use to you, I know; but I figured your post could do with a bump

 

[Peteaud]

The bike is going in for a service at the end of the week to complete any jobs I don't tackle. I'm trying to do a small service of it first but I wondered what order do you do things when servicing the bike or just which ever bit you want to tackle first?

1. Rear derailleur gear cable in good condition
2. Front derailleur cable in good condition
3. Gears outer casing in good condition
4. Front derailleur checked for damage
5. Front derailleur H+L set
6. Front derailleur mounting bolt torqued
7. Front derailleur cleaned, oiled and debris free
8. Acceptable cage rotation
9. Cage height to spec
10. Chainrings in line
11. Rear derailleur checked for damage
12. Rear derailleur H+L set
13. Rear derailleur mounting bolt torqued
14. Rear derailleur cleaned, oiled, greased and free from debris
15. Rear derailleur hanger in line
16. Rear derailleur cable and housing in line
17. Jockey wheels checked for wear, debris free and oiled
18. Gear shifter mechanism operating freely
19. Gears indexing accurately and smoothly
20. Tyres in good condition
21. Rim/discs wear below limit
22. Brake pad wear indicator visible
23. Front brake pads in line with rim
24. Front brakes operational and lever travel to BS6102
25. Rear brake pads in line with rim
26. Rear brakes operational and lever travel to BS6102
27. Brake adjustment screw and lock nut reset
28. Brake lines in good condition
29. Brakes inner cable checked for condition
30. Chain cleaned using bio degradable degreaser
31. Cassette wear checked and cleaned
32. Chainring wear checked and cleaned
33. Forks in line
34. Spokes in tension and in good condition
35. Wheels true
36. Chain wear < 1
37. Front wheel lock secure
38. Rear wheel lock secure
39. Rim/discs wiped clean
40. Handlebar in good condition
41. Handlebar grips/tape secure and in good condition
42. Brake and gear levers mounting bolts torqued
43. Cable pinch bolts torqued
44. Calipers mounting bolts torqued
45. Calipers spring tension screws adjusted
46. Stem clamp bolts torqued
47. Fork rotating freely and no play
48. Handlebar binder bolts torqued
49. Seat pin secure
50. Saddle bolt torqued
51. Accessories and mountings secure
52. Mudguards secure
53. Luggage holder secure
54. Side stand secure
55. Pedals secure, spin freely and bearings oiled
56. Chain ring mounting bolts torqued
57. Crank bolts torque
58. All joints and pivots lightly oiled
59. Chain oiled


from
http://stationcycles.co.uk/index.php/servicing-checklist/



From

 

[stargazer]

No particular order, I normally start with whatever is causing a problem or that I have noticed requires attention. Having recently done some servicing on my bike including replacing gear cables and brake pads I've noted some of the things that over time I've paid insufficient attention to:

Clean underneath bottom bracket​

Clean & lube F & R brake pivot points​

Lube & turn F & R brake barrel adjusters​

Clean & lube F & R derailleur pivot points​

Lube & turn R derailleur barrel adjuster​

Lube & turn downtube barrel adjusters​

​

As I tend not to use the rear brake so much, and rarely the front derailleur, these were clean on the outside but had got clogged quite badly internally over time. The front derailleur and associated barrel adjuster wouldn't shift / turn at all. Now stripped, cleaned, reassembled, reindexed and working perfectly, but I'll put these on a checklist so that they don't get into the same state again.

 

[gavroche]

1. Rear derailleur gear cable in good condition
2. Front derailleur cable in good condition
3. Gears outer casing in good condition
4. Front derailleur checked for damage
5. Front derailleur H+L set
6. Front derailleur mounting bolt torqued
7. Front derailleur cleaned, oiled and debris free
8. Acceptable cage rotation
9. Cage height to spec
10. Chainrings in line
11. Rear derailleur checked for damage
12. Rear derailleur H+L set
13. Rear derailleur mounting bolt torqued
14. Rear derailleur cleaned, oiled, greased and free from debris
15. Rear derailleur hanger in line
16. Rear derailleur cable and housing in line
17. Jockey wheels checked for wear, debris free and oiled
18. Gear shifter mechanism operating freely
19. Gears indexing accurately and smoothly
20. Tyres in good condition
21. Rim/discs wear below limit
22. Brake pad wear indicator visible
23. Front brake pads in line with rim
24. Front brakes operational and lever travel to BS6102
25. Rear brake pads in line with rim
26. Rear brakes operational and lever travel to BS6102
27. Brake adjustment screw and lock nut reset
28. Brake lines in good condition
29. Brakes inner cable checked for condition
30. Chain cleaned using bio degradable degreaser
31. Cassette wear checked and cleaned
32. Chainring wear checked and cleaned
33. Forks in line
34. Spokes in tension and in good condition
35. Wheels true
36. Chain wear < 1
37. Front wheel lock secure
38. Rear wheel lock secure
39. Rim/discs wiped clean
40. Handlebar in good condition
41. Handlebar grips/tape secure and in good condition
42. Brake and gear levers mounting bolts torqued
43. Cable pinch bolts torqued
44. Calipers mounting bolts torqued
45. Calipers spring tension screws adjusted
46. Stem clamp bolts torqued
47. Fork rotating freely and no play
48. Handlebar binder bolts torqued
49. Seat pin secure
50. Saddle bolt torqued
51. Accessories and mountings secure
52. Mudguards secure
53. Luggage holder secure
54. Side stand secure
55. Pedals secure, spin freely and bearings oiled
56. Chain ring mounting bolts torqued
57. Crank bolts torque
58. All joints and pivots lightly oiled
59. Chain oiled


from
http://stationcycles.co.uk/index.php/servicing-checklist/



From

Blimey! Are we still talking about a bicycle?

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

The bike is going in for a service at the end of the week to complete any jobs I don't tackle. I'm trying to do a small service of it first but I wondered what order do you do things when servicing the bike or just which ever bit you want to tackle first?

I try to cut the inner cables last, sometimes after road test, because it is a PITA to re-thread a cut cable without fraying it.

There is little point tackling the bb before deciding on the chainset.

Truing is the last step when I work on wheels. Toasted fixed cup(s) within a hub requires either the hub or the wheel to be replaced, so is a toasted freehub that is difficult/uneconomic to replace.

It is worth starting the trickier, longer lead items first, things like selecting/sourcing/servicing rear shocks.

 

[Peteaud]

Blimey! Are we still talking about a bicycle?

saves £90.


Me - i just keep a check of things in general.

 

[summerdays]

I sort of attacked it in a random fashion. Cleaning a bit first so that I didn't get so mucky and could see what I was doing. And I managed a couple of things such as new cassette (learning in the process that a random round ring was not put in by accident), and disassembled the rear derailieur (I was impressed when it went back together again), and learning that there was a lot dirt hiding when I thought I had cleaned it previously - I might do that more often. Then took it out for a quick run and wondered why I had left it so long to do it - the difference was fantastic!

I took it in for it's service on Friday, where they replaced one of the chain rings - I couldn't work out which one to buy, a new tyre, and a new axle/cone on the front wheel.

Thanks for the information I will save it for next time!

 

[potsy]

Never really do a specific service on my bikes, just keep them ticking over with regular cleaning, chain and brake pads checked for wear once a fortnight maybe, tyres de-glassed weekly.
Major jobs get done as and when they need doing.

 

[numbnuts]

Start with the bit's that fell off last week....

 

[fossyant]

Never really do a specific service on my bikes, just keep them ticking over with regular cleaning, chain and brake pads checked for wear once a fortnight maybe, tyres de-glassed weekly.
Major jobs get done as and when they need doing.

Regular cleaning..... hmmmmm

 

[400bhp]

Never really do a specific service on my bikes, just keep them ticking over with regular cleaning, chain and brake pads checked for wear once a fortnight maybe, tyres de-glassed weekly.
Major jobs get done as and when they need doing.

 

[kedab]

Bike Servicing Order:

1: Go to hole in wall
2: Withdraw 40 of the Queen's finest English Pounds
3: Go to LBS with bike in need of service
4: Tell Mark @ LBS what's been bothering me about the bike
5: Leave it with Mark for half a day
6: Go back to LBS, see Mark, give the bike a ride around.
7: Pay Mark, leave LBS with a perfectly fettled and clean and shiny bike (cos Mark likes to clean the bikes he services, bless him)

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Never really do a specific service on my bikes, just keep them ticking over with regular cleaning, chain and brake pads checked for wear once a fortnight maybe, tyres de-glassed weekly.
Major jobs get done as and when they need doing.

That would be once a year?

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I just start at the top and work my way downwards. Any other direction tends to be a bit frustrating, when dirt falls onto a newly-cleaned spot .