Bicycle Maintenance

Bike Awesome Poster found on internet

Maintenance of your bicycle is very important if you want to keep both your bike & yourself healthy. By keeping the your bike clean it’ll last longer, because the gravel & dirt that sticks to the different parts will eventually wear them down. Two days ago I changed the cassette on my bike because the cogwheels were worn down. While I was at it I also changed the brakes, brake wires & chain.

The first thing I did was to thoroughly clean my bike, but the photos of the cleaning were shot last year. I’ve added the photos so that those who are interested can see how to clean the cassette properly. It’s always good to keep your bike clean and especially when you have to make adjustments or change/repair different parts.

clean between the cogwheels

clean the chain with an old rag

Made in America

old chain & old cassette

the old cassette

I want a new one but can’t afford one…

chain whip and lockring tool

the purpose of the chain whip and lockring tool

a clean hub

clean the hub after you’ve removed the old cassette

the sparkling, shiny, new cassette

the sparkling, shiny, new cassette

old vs new breaks

old vs new breaks

take a break – make yourself a cup of chai masala

Chain tool – A tool used to press the rivet pin of a chain partway out of a link, in order to disconnect (“break”) a chain to shorten it or to remove it from the bicycle.

adjust & make sure everything is tight

new chain & new cassette

new chain & new cassette

brakes

change the brakes often

If my explanations are too difficult, you can follow these instructions instead…

bicycle topheader 960×260 pixels

Bike Awesome Poster found on internet

Here’s an attempt to explain how to change the cassette. To do this you’ll need a Chain Whip (Chain Whip – A metal bar with a short length of bicycle chain attached to it.):

• Place the chain whip around one of the largest sprockets to keep it tight.
• Insert the cassette key (with a ratchet or wrench) in the center of the lock ring.
• Force them together.
• When the lock ring is loose you can unscrew it.
• Pull out the loose sprockets and the cassette.
• Clean the hub that the sprockets have been on.
• Place the new cassette/cogwheels into correct position.
• Now, the instructions told me to tighten with the force of 40 Newton (I know! 40 Newton!?! I had to go to the bicycle shop so they could show me how much force 40 Newton is).
• Put the wheel back on the bike and remember to adjust the breaks (change the brakes & brake wire if you have to).

Remember to lube!

Cogwheel
1. A toothed wheel.
2. One of a set of cogged wheels within a mechanism.

Related articles

• Trail biking in Oslo (cardinalguzman.wordpress.com)
• Sheldon Brown’s Bicycle Glossary (sheldonbrown.com) – Horrible designed website, but useful if you need to know the name of the different parts).
• What’s on a bicycle? (www.jimlangley.net)
• Praise for The Bicycle Trip (gasstationwithoutpumps.wordpress.com)