Guides

Pick what you want to do, or filter by part of the bike. Every guide lists the tools it needs and what can stand in for them.

• Check

  Check rim brakes

  Brake blocks, their position on the rim, rim wear and lever feel — a full round of your rim brakes in ten minutes, with hardly any tools.

  Easy · 10 minutes

• Check

  Check disc brakes

  Pads, rotors, lever feel, caliper alignment and leaks — a full round of your disc brakes in fifteen minutes, with hardly any tools.

  Easy · 15 minutes

• Check

  Check the drivetrain

  Chain wear, cog and chainring teeth, derailleur hanger and shifting — enough to know in fifteen minutes what needs replacing or adjusting.

  Easy · 15 minutes

• Check

  Check a hub gear or a belt drive

  Adjustment marks, slipping gears, chain or belt tension — the check for city drivetrains, without opening the hub.

  Easy · 10 minutes

• Check

  Check wheels and tyres

  Tyre wear, pressure that holds, tubeless sealant, buckled wheels, hub play and axle security — everything that connects you to the ground.

  Easy · 15 minutes

• Check

  Check the headset and fork

  Play under braking, notchy steering, a misaligned stem and a damaged fork — ten minutes to check what holds your front wheel and your handlebar.

  Easy · 10 minutes

• Check

  Check the crankset and bottom bracket

  Loose crank arms, play or rough bearings in the bottom bracket, loose chainring bolts — hunting down the creaks that spoil every pedal stroke.

  Easy · 10 minutes

• Check

  Check pedals and cleats

  Bearings with play, bent or loose pedals, worn cleats and tired toe clips — the parts that pass on every pedal stroke.

  Easy · 10 minutes

• Check

  Check cables, housing and hoses

  Frayed or sticky cables, split housing, pinched or weeping hoses — the links between your hands and your brakes and gears, checked one by one.

  Easy · 10 minutes

• Check

  Check an e-bike battery and motor

  Battery condition and mounting, clean contacts, motor noises, speed sensor and error codes — an outside check of the assist system, without ever opening it.

  Easy · 15 minutes

• Check

  Check suspension and dropper post

  Stanchions and seals, sag, play in the bushings and pivots, the rear shock and the dropper post — a regular check, without taking anything apart.

  Intermediate · 20 minutes

• Check

  Check the frame, cockpit and bolts

  Frame cracks, stem and handlebar bolts, bar tape or grips, saddle and seatpost, accessories — a lap of the bike with an Allen key in hand.

  Easy · 15 minutes

• Check

  Check lights and safety equipment

  Front and rear lights, aim, reflectors and bell — what makes you seen and heard, and what the law requires in France.

  Easy · 5 minutes

• Adjust

  Adjust the rear derailleur

  Check the hanger, set the H and L limit screws, re-tension the cable, fine-tune indexing with the barrel adjuster, then the B-screw. Crisp, quiet shifting.

  Intermediate · 30 minutes

• Adjust

  Align a disc brake caliper

  Find where the rub comes from, loosen the caliper, centre it over the rotor and tighten it to the right torque. Ten minutes for a wheel that spins silently.

  Intermediate · 20 minutes

• Adjust

  Adjust the front derailleur

  Set the cage height and angle, adjust the limit screws, re-tension the cable and check the shifts. For a chain that no longer drops off between the chainrings.

  Intermediate · 30 minutes

• Adjust

  Set suspension sag

  Measure how far the fork and shock sink under your weight, then adjust the air pressure or the spring preload to land in the right range.

  Intermediate · 30 minutes

• Adjust

  Adjust electronic shifting

  Charge the system, enter adjustment mode and trim the derailleur step by step from the shifters or the maker’s app. No cable to tension.

  Easy · 15 minutes

• Adjust

  Centre a rim brake

  Line the blocks up on the rim, toe them in slightly, centre the arms with the spring screws and re-tension the cable. For a brake that rubs or touches on one side first.

  Intermediate · 20 minutes

• Adjust

  Adjust brake lever angle and reach

  Angle the levers in line with your arms and bring the blade closer to your fingers. To brake with one or two fingers without letting go of the bar, small hands included.

  Easy · 15 minutes

• Adjust

  Adjust headset preload

  Remove play from a threadless headset by setting the preload with the top cap, without making it stiff. For a fork that knocks when you brake.

  Intermediate · 20 minutes

• Adjust

  Adjust cup-and-cone hub bearings

  Remove side-to-side play from a cup-and-cone hub by setting the cone and locknut. Cartridge bearings are replaced in a workshop instead.

  Advanced · 40 minutes

• Adjust

  Adjust clipless pedal cleats

  Put the cleat under the ball of your foot, set its angle to your foot’s natural position and adjust the pedal’s release tension.

  Intermediate · 30 minutes

• Clean

  Clean and lube the chain

  Degrease, dry and lube the chain so it shifts quietly and lasts twice as long. Do it again every few hundred kilometres.

  Easy · 20 minutes

• Clean

  Clean the whole drivetrain

  Degrease the cassette, chainrings, derailleur jockey wheels and chain, rinse, dry and lube again. The deep clean to do a few times a year.

  Intermediate · 45 minutes

• Clean

  Clean disc rotors and pads

  Degrease the rotors with isopropyl alcohol, remove and lightly sand contaminated pads, then bed them in. For brakes that squeal or lose bite.

  Intermediate · 30 minutes

• Clean

  Clean the rim braking surface

  Remove the black grime from the rim sidewalls and brake blocks, pick out embedded metal chips, then test the brakes. For rim brakes that squeal or slip.

  Easy · 15 minutes

• Clean

  Wash the frame

  Rinse, wash with soapy water, dry, and use the moment to spot cracks, deep scratches and loose bolts. A clean bike shows its faults better.

  Easy · 30 minutes

• Clean

  Cleaning an e-bike: dos and don’ts

  Remove the battery, wash without a strong jet, clean the contacts dry and dry everything before refitting the battery. What keeps the motor and electronics safe.

  Easy · 20 minutes

• Replace

  Replace disc brake pads

  Take the wheel out, remove the worn pads, push the pistons back, fit the new pads and bed them in. Half an hour and a few tools are enough.

  Intermediate · 30 minutes

• Replace

  Replace rim brake blocks

  Open the brake, remove the worn blocks or their inserts, fit the new ones at the right height with a slight toe-in, then adjust the cable. Twenty minutes and an Allen key.

  Intermediate · 20 minutes

• Replace

  Replace an inner tube or a tyre

  Take the wheel out, remove the tyre with two tyre levers, find what caused the puncture, refit tube and tyre without pinching, and pump back up. The repair everyone should know at the roadside.

  Easy · 25 minutes

• Replace

  Fit a tubeless tyre and refresh the sealant

  Remove the tubeless tyre, clean the rim, refit the tyre, add sealant through the valve and seat the beads. This guide is still being written.

  Intermediate · 40 minutes

• Replace

  Replace the chain

  Pick the right chain, break the old one, cut the new one to length, thread it through the derailleur and close it with a quick link. Half an hour, and a drivetrain that lasts twice as long.

  Intermediate · 30 minutes

• Replace

  Replace the cassette

  Take out the rear wheel, undo the cassette lockring with a chain whip, swap the cassette and tighten it to torque. This guide is still being written.

  Intermediate · 30 minutes

• Replace

  Replace a brake cable and housing

  Remove the old cable, cut new housing, thread the new cable, tension and clamp it at the brake, then crimp an end cap. This guide is still being written.

  Intermediate · 40 minutes

• Replace

  Replace a gear cable

  Pull the old cable out of the shifter, replace damaged housing, thread the new cable, clamp it at the derailleur and adjust the shifting. This guide is still being written.

  Intermediate · 40 minutes

• Replace

  Replace the bar tape

  Remove the old tape, clean the bar, wrap the new tape with even tension around the hoods and finish neatly. This guide is still being written.

  Easy · 30 minutes

• Replace

  Replace the grips

  Remove the worn grips, clean the bar, slide or clamp on the new ones and check that they no longer turn. This guide is still being written.

  Easy · 15 minutes

• Replace

  Replace the saddle

  Record the old saddle's position, remove it, clamp the new one on its rails and restore height, setback and tilt. This guide is still being written.

  Easy · 20 minutes

• Replace

  Replace the pedals

  Tell the left pedal from the right, unscrew them the right way, grease the threads and tighten the new ones. This guide is still being written.

  Easy · 15 minutes

• Replace

  Replace a brake rotor

  Take the wheel out, remove the worn or bent rotor, fit the new one the right way round and to the right torque, then bed in the brakes. This guide is still being written.

  Intermediate · 30 minutes

• Measure

  Measure and set saddle height

  Measure your inseam, work out your saddle height, set it and check it with your heel on the pedal. The single setting that matters most for comfort and knees.

  Easy · 30 minutes

• Measure

  Measure saddle setback and position your cleats

  Level the saddle, measure how far behind the bottom bracket it sits, check your knee over the pedal and put your cleats under the ball of your foot.

  Intermediate · 40 minutes

• Measure

  Measure saddle-to-bar reach and drop

  Measure how far and how high the handlebar sits from the saddle, compare with typical values for your kind of riding, then adjust with spacers and the stem.

  Intermediate · 40 minutes

• Measure

  Find and set your tyre pressure

  Read the tyre width and limits, weigh the bike and rider, work out a starting pressure, inflate with a gauge, then fine-tune on the road.

  Easy · 15 minutes

• Measure

  Measure chain wear

  Measure how far the chain has stretched with a wear checker or a steel ruler, and know when to replace it before it wears out the cassette and chainrings.

  Easy · 10 minutes