Elmhurst Bicycle Club, Elmhurst, IL

©03.31.2004

Bicycle Maintenance & Repair

EBC Bicycle Safety Series:

Bicycle Maintenance

Overview

Sometimes in an effort to get

out there and enjoy cycling we
overlook basic bicycle main-
tenance. In so doing we leave
ourselves vulnerable to trip inter-
ruption or worse. Here are some
ideas on what kinds of tools to
own and maintenance checks to
make on a regular basis.

Top 9 Bicycle Tools Guide

Picks

[e-mail], H. Weiss,

Ph.D.

Every cyclist needs to carry

some basic tools on a ride or
keep in your “bike shop” at
home. Whether you’re a pro at
fi xing your bike, or you simply
need to use the tools for main-
tenance, you will at some point
need a tool box of basics. Here
are my favorites for the person
who has little need for tools in
general.

1) Allen Wrenches
Allen wrenches are handy to have.

I keep a 5 mm, 6 mm and 7 mm
around. You can also buy them in a
set or as a part of a basic set that
might include other products.

2) Box Wrench
Get a set that has as many options

as possible. I have 5 mm, 6 mm, 7

mm, 8 mm, 9 mm, 10 mm, 11 mm
and 12 mm. In a mutli-tool set you
can put it in your seat pack.

3) Hub (Cone) Wrench
Unless you have sealed-bearing

hubs, you’ll want to have the follow-
ing sizes around: 13mm, 14 mm,
15 mm, 16 mm.

4) Chain Remover
This is a must for those broken

chains or chain problems on the
road.

5) Third Hand
This tool is used to hold brake

shoes closed while taking out cable
slack.

6) Spoke Nipple Wrench
This tool is used for truing wheels,

replacing spokes, lacing wheels.

7) Tire Tube Patches
Ah, fl ats are a fact of life. You know

you’re riding hard when you blow
two tires in one ride! You’ll always
need a spare patch kit.

8) Headset Lockring Wrench
You should choose the size and

brand that fi ts your head set.

9) Pin Pliers
For your bottom-bracket adjustable

cup.

All-In-One Tools

Kevin’s list is pretty good. I

carry single tools for the most
part as he suggests. But the all-
in-one tools have raised the bar
for would-be roadside mechan-

By the way, frame mounted

pumps are choice items for
stealing. Make sure you take it
with you when you park your
bike.

If you ride in winter

You should still keep your tire

pressure up. You may want to
give in a little bit on the tire pres-
sure (fi ve to ten pounds below
the maximum recommended
pressure is as far as you should
go). Your aggressive tire should
be in the front, not the back.
An aggressive tire is a tire that
grips the road. You want some
traction on the driving wheel, of
course, but in terms of security,
your best tire should be in the
front.

You can survive a back wheel

skid quite easily; in fact kids
often make it a game of skidding
the back wheel. A front wheel
skid, however, is a different story.
It is almost impossible to an-
ticipate and when it happens, it
happens quickly and you can’t
recover from it. If it’s an “either”
“or” situation, stud the front tire
rather than the back.

Questions

If you have any problems with

this document or just want
to provide feedback you can
reach me via E-mail at eric_
[e-mail]

They will say: “OFF ROAD 45
PSI ON ROAD 65 PSI”

Commuters have a good

reason to keep tires hard. A soft
tire picks up little bits of gravel
and glass off the road, these get
imbedded into the tire, and chew
away at the inner tube. Sooner
or later the tire goes fl at.

If you have a skinny (narrow)

tire, say 1.5” (or less), you have
to be really careful with the pres-
sure. Its possible to run a fat
2.5” tire at 40 psi but if you run
the skinny ones at low pressure
you’ll destroy the rims.

You often see people squeeze

the tire. Squeezing can tell you if
the tire is too soft, not if its hard
enough. You need a proper air
gauge to check the tire pressure.
You can’t use a run of the mill air
pressure gauge on your bicycle
unless you operate in the 45
- 60 psi range. Buy a gauge that
will read to 120 psi.

Get a good pump

Most compressors won’t give

you the 80 or 90 PSI you need,
in fact, you’re lucky if you get
more than 35 PSI from a gas
bar compressor. If you don’t
have a source of high pressure
in your neighborhood you must
buy a high pressure hand pump.
There are several models avail-
able, ask for a demo and make
sure it can stand the pressure.

Elmhurst Bicycle Club, Elmhurst, IL

©03.31.2004

Bicycle Maintenance & Repair

ics.

Tools include:

• 8,9,10mm Box Wrenches
• 2,2.5,3,4,5&6 mm Allen Keys
• Phillips and Flathead Screwdriver
• Universal Chain Tool
• 2 Spoke Wrenches
• Torx-25 bit for disc brakes
• 8mm. open end wrench for disc

brakes

• 2 Tire Levers
• Stainless Steel Knife
• Bottle Opener
• Pedal Wrench
• Nylon Carrying case w/ velcro clo-

sure

• Weight - 220 grams

As you can see all you need to

add are tire tube patches and
a pump to be a self-sustained
rider.

Tire Repair

Patch kits are essential but not

quite as practical for quick flat
“repairs” as spare inner tubes.

You can carry them wrapped in

cloth as Ted Sward does to keep
the rubber oxide off your hands
and the tubes from sticking to
anything else in your kit.

But if your flat count exceeds

that of your spare inner tubes,
you will appreciate that patch kit.

Pumps

As with everything else pump

technology has improved as
pumps have gotten smaller and
lighter.

I prefer the ones which convert

to floor pumps and yet take up
very little space. Regardless of
your preference in style of pump
make sure you carry one with
you at all times.

Compressed CO

2

cartridges

are small and lightweight and
for most rides can supplant a
pump. But if you flat count ex-
ceeds the number of cartridges
you will need that pump!

Maintenance Training

Sheldon Brown has an exten-

sive web archive on all things
bicycle (including tips on repair.)
You can find some of his tool
tips here:

• http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/

index.html

• http://sheldonbrown.com/begin-

ners/index.html

Jeff Napier has produced an

extensive collective of online
articles about bicycle repair that
can be found here:

• http://members.aol.com/biketune/

Whatʼs A Good Tire?

http://edmontonbicyclecommuters.ca/

(by Vincent Cheng)

One of the most overlooked

topics for bicycles is tire selec-
tion. Many people assume that
all tires work the same; however,
this is not the case.

For optimal performance when

road riding, one of the key fac-
tors is low rolling resistance. To
reduce rolling resistance, most
tires that are aimed for road rid-
ing are very narrow and are rela-
tively smooth. There is still some
tread to channel out water if the
tires are used in the rain. These
tires are great if the roads are all
perfectly smooth. In Edmonton,
we have some of the roughest
roads. To reduce vibration, wider
tires can be used, just be sure to
pick ones with relatively smooth
treads.

On the trail, the general rule

is that the softer the trails are,
the more spaced out the knobs
should be. With more spaces
between the knobs, the tire will
be able to “self-clean” by throw-
ing the dirt off. Generally speak-
ing, back tires should have more
horizontal bars to get better trac-
tion for acceleration and braking.
The front tire should have more
pointy knobs running along with
the tire. This offers more trac-
tion for turning. There are some
companies that are offering soft

compounds for their tires. This
offers great traction for dry, hard-
packed trails, but will also wear
out very quickly.

For the winter time, most agree

that the back tire should be
wider in order to leave a bigger
“footprint” on the snow to get
maximum traction. If there is
ice, try using studded tires. For
the front tires, some believe that
skinny tires will allow the tire to
“cut” through the snow instead
of plowing into it. Others believe
that wider tires is still good in the
front. Again, if there is ice, stud-
ding in the front will help a lot.

My favorite tires are:

• Road:

‟ IRC Paperlite
‟ Avocet Cross

• Trails:

‟ Panaracer Smoke and Dart
‟ Specialized Team Master and

Team Control

‟ IRC Missile

• Winter:

‟ Studded tires using the Edmon-

ton Bike Club instructions

How much air?

http://edmontonbicyclecommuters.ca/

(by Bernie Jacques)

Bicycle tires have a pressure

rating stamped right on the wall.
Look for the words: “INFLATE
TO 90 PSI MAX”

Some tires indicate a minimum

and a maximum tire pressure.