As you’re aware, I have been advocating bike commuting as an affordable transportation alternative. Personally, I have biked to work for years and love it. Finding an appropriate commuter bike will increase your odds of staying with it while learning basic bike maintenance will keep your costs under control. In this article we’ll also go over some maintenance 101 tips.
Finding a bike that fits is key to keeping maintenance costs to a minimum; however, unexpected problems will likely arise as you rack up miles on it.
Your tire could get flattened, your brakes could wear down and become less responsive, and your chain could start to become loose.
Your tire tread may wear down or crack over time, just like many aspects of life. Once you know how to address the most prevalent handful of issues, 90% of gains will have been realized. Applying Pareto’s Principle, 80-90% of maintenance issues come from just 20% of parts – specifically tires, tubes, brakes and chain.
If you can learn how, just do so:
Simply by learning these four skills – diagnosing and repairing flat bike tires, fine-tuning brakes, cleaning and lubricating drivetrain chains and drivetrains, as well as keeping a spare tube handy – will you save yourself headaches, time, money and keep biking. Just four easy-to-learn skills needed.
On the topic of saving money – I recently heard of a bike mechanic who fixed 60 flat tires in one day in my town (a town with 8 bike shops that I know about). That is an astounding feat in itself and when combined with purchasing their tubes in bulk for less than $1 each it represents $900 in pure profits for one bike shop in one day alone! Every bicyclist should know how to properly address flat tire repairs should they come across one!
Why would anyone remedy themselves on their own? Imagine being stuck out on the road; do you really want to rely on some stranger to come pick you up and transport you back home, or just walk there themselves for hours on end? Wouldn’t it be easier and faster if you could quickly fix a flat yourself and then keep moving with life? In just 15 minutes you could repair a tire yourself and be on your way?
+ There are no comments
Add yours