It’s always appreciable and in fact, inspiring to find a passionate bicyclist taking care of all the repairs and maintenance task of his bike all by himself. However, for an amateur, it is all too common to make a few repair mistakes which can actually ruin the experience for you eventually. Today, we’d like to take a bit of time and inform you of 5 such mistakes that you must avoid while addressing the repair and maintenance tasks of your bike. Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at such mistakes.
5 Bike Repair Mistakes Every Cyclist Should Avoid
Get The Right Tools:
The first and the foremost thing that you need to avoid is making use of the wrong tools to address the maintenance and repairs tasks of your bike. It goes without saying that you did spend quite a bit of money on your bike, why not spend a little more on a premium quality toolbox and stop using that cheap low-quality Allen key that is making it difficult for you to repair your bike efficiently.
Know Your Limits:
Even with the right kind of tools, remember that you are not a professional who can deal with all sorts of repair and maintenance jobs of your bike. There’s a lot more that it takes to handle such tasks than the right toolbox. For instance, you must be knowledgeable enough about the kind of problem at your disposal, you must have the required parts to fix it by yourself. If you are in doubt, it’s always recommended to stop experimenting and take help from an expert.
Over Tightening:
Remember that the loose nuts and bolts are not the only thing that ruins the experience and even puts you at risk. Over tightening the nuts, bolts, or any component of your bike can have the same effect as well. Majority of the high-quality components have manufacturer’s instructions about how tight it should be screwed, given in Newton Meter Torque. Tightening the component further can result in cracking or even failure.
Choose The Right Cassette:
It is to be kept in mind at all times that choosing the right cassette is essential to have a flawlessly smooth ride on your bike. If you have a 9-speed bike, opting for a 10-speed cassette to upgrade the gears is going to be a disaster since you will then be destined to complain about the improper shifting of the gear.
The Brakes:
Last but not the least, a fairly large proportion of the bicyclists make the mistake of keeping the quick release on your brakes in the open position rather than closing it up. If you find that the brakes on your bike are either too loose or too tight to the wheel, make sure to use the clamps in order to fix the cable accordingly.
While the above-mentioned mistakes may sound a little too simple, you’ll be amazed to know how often bicyclists make these mistakes. Now that you are fully aware of how such mistakes and their respective fix, make sure that you avoid making such mistakes to have the best experience out of riding your bike.
