{"id":177175,"date":"2020-03-13T10:33:36","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T10:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=177175"},"modified":"2020-03-13T10:35:20","modified_gmt":"2020-03-13T10:35:20","slug":"preparing-your-bike-for-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing Your Bike for Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spring came early this year \u2013 probably the only benefit of global warming \u2013 and it\u2019s almost warm enough (in Prague, at least) to take your bike for a spin. But before you do, you should make sure that the two-wheeler is as ready for a ride as you are. Here are some tips to prepare your beloved bicycle for another season of cycling.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Of course, check the tire pressure. All bike tires lose pressure when they are idle for a time. If you don\u2019t have a good air pump, buy one. The best ones have large bases to stand on and large, easily readable gauges. (If you\u2019ve got a large cycling family, your best bet is an electric air pump.) And always follow the tire manufacturer\u2019s recommended pressure levels<\/p>\n

\"\"
Pump it!\u00a0\u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. Adjust the seat. Make sure that it\u2019s tight and secure. If you have a growing child or teenager, adjust the seat for a comfortable ride. If you\u2019ve grown too big for the bike, no matter how you adjust it, get a new one (bike, not the seat). If the seat cover is worn out and the springs are exposed, replace the seat immediately.<\/p>\n

3. Check the spokes. They keep your wheels straight and true. Make sure they\u2019re tight. If they\u2019re not, use a spoke wrench to tighten the spoke at the base. (If you don\u2019t have one, buy one that is the correct size for your wheels.) Don\u2019t overtighten. And remember to check the spokes every few months, even if nothing seems wrong.<\/p>\n

4. Check the brakes. Pull on the brake levers and make sure they engage both sides of the brake pads on each wheel. Make sure the pull is okay. If it\u2019s too long, loosen the barrel adjuster a little and test again. The brakes should not stick and should fully stop the wheel in motion. Buy a new brake cable if the one you have is frayed or sticky. Then check the brake pads to make sure that they press fully against the rim when braking, don\u2019t wiggle or are loose. Adjust the cable if the pads are too far from the rim, and replace the pads if they are worn.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Just a regular cycling shed. \u00a9 Profimedia, AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

5. Adjust derailleurs and shifters. Using a bike stand or prop your bike upside down, and run it through the gears as you spin the pedals. Make sure it hits the shift points smoothly; adjust the front and rear derailleur to keep the chain centred on each gear. You’ll need a small Phillips-head screwdriver for that.<\/p>\n

6. Check the chain. Press your fingers against the top chain. It shouldn\u2019t move more than a 0.5\u20131.25 cm. If it\u2019s too loose, it can come off while you are riding, which is never fun and occasionally dangerous. If it\u2019s too tight, it can bind and damage the gears. Loosen the rear wheel nuts on each side to pull the rear wheel back to take slack out of the chain. Chains can stretch over time so replace it if necessary.<\/p>\n

7. Lube the bike. Apply a dry lubricant to the rear set of gears, the front gears, the chain, and all moving parts of the crankset. Also, apply a little dry lube to the front and rear wheel bearings on each side. Dry lube is preferred because WD-40 and standard 3-in-1 oil pick up dirt, which you don\u2019t want on these parts.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Lumos!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

8. Finally, make sure your lights and reflectors work. You want to be visible while riding at night, so check the condition of the batteries, lights and reflectors.<\/p>\n

You might as well start doing all that now. My weather app says that we\u2019re expecting nice weather tomorrow!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spring came early this year \u2013 probably the only benefit of global warming \u2013 and it\u2019s almost warm enough (in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":177184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[328,329,334],"tags":[1690,3988,3989],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-177175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-outdoor-mountain","category-road-cycling","category-socialising-and-culture","tag-bike-maintenance","tag-cycling-spring","tag-spring-cycling","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nPreparing Your Bike for Spring - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Spring came early this year \u2013 probably the only benefit of global warming \u2013 and it\u2019s almost warm enough (in Prague, at least) to take your bike for a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Preparing Your Bike for Spring\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spring came early this year \u2013 probably the only benefit of global warming \u2013 and it\u2019s almost warm enough (in Prague, at least) to take your bike for a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-13T10:33:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-13T10:35:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2020\/03\/Bike-Lubrication-CVR-profimedia-0378507161.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Siegfried Mortkowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/\",\"name\":\"Preparing Your Bike for Spring - \u0160koda We Love Cycling\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2020\/03\/Bike-Lubrication-CVR-profimedia-0378507161.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-13T10:33:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-13T10:35:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"description\":\"Spring came early this year \u2013 probably the only benefit of global warming \u2013 and it\u2019s almost warm enough (in Prague, at least) to take your bike for a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2020\/03\/Bike-Lubrication-CVR-profimedia-0378507161.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2020\/03\/Bike-Lubrication-CVR-profimedia-0378507161.webp\",\"width\":900,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Lubing a bike\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Preparing Your Bike for Spring\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/\",\"name\":\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\",\"description\":\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling magazine\",\"alternateName\":\"\u0160koda WLC\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/author\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Preparing Your Bike for Spring - \u0160koda We Love Cycling","description":"Spring came early this year \u2013 probably the only benefit of global warming \u2013 and it\u2019s almost warm enough (in Prague, at least) to take your bike for a","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Preparing Your Bike for Spring","og_description":"Spring came early this year \u2013 probably the only benefit of global warming \u2013 and it\u2019s almost warm enough (in Prague, at least) to take your bike for a","og_url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/","og_site_name":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling","article_published_time":"2020-03-13T10:33:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-03-13T10:35:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2020\/03\/Bike-Lubrication-CVR-profimedia-0378507161.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Siegfried Mortkowitz","Est. reading time":"7"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/","url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/","name":"Preparing Your Bike for Spring - \u0160koda We Love Cycling","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2020\/03\/Bike-Lubrication-CVR-profimedia-0378507161.webp","datePublished":"2020-03-13T10:33:36+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-13T10:35:20+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"description":"Spring came early this year \u2013 probably the only benefit of global warming \u2013 and it\u2019s almost warm enough (in Prague, at least) to take your bike for a","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2020\/03\/Bike-Lubrication-CVR-profimedia-0378507161.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2020\/03\/Bike-Lubrication-CVR-profimedia-0378507161.webp","width":900,"height":600,"caption":"Lubing a bike"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/03\/13\/preparing-your-bike-for-spring\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Preparing Your Bike for Spring"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/","name":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling","description":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling magazine","alternateName":"\u0160koda WLC","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177175"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":177186,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177175\/revisions\/177186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177175"},{"taxonomy":"global-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/global-categories?post=177175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}