How To Track Your Bike Maintenance & Save Money

Staying on top of your bike maintenance can be tough! Luckily, Alex has a penchant for planning. In this video he shares his bike tech and admin wisdom. From using Strava to keeping notes, to aligning your calendar with your rides.

00:00 Intro
00:15 Everything you need to keep on top of your bike wear!
00:48 How do I add your bikes to Strava?
02:25 How do I check a bike chain for wear?
03:30 How do I use a calendar app for bike admin?
05:03 How Important is it to track your bike maintenance?

Useful Links:

Do you have your own method of keeping note of your bike maintenance ?

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[gcntech]

Share your own method of keeping track of your bike maintenance? 📲

[_hasz]

Actually when going into gear section of Strava on your web browser, you can add specific parts of your bike (like chain or cassette). It will calculate mileage for you. You can retire a part as well. Dates when new part was added and retired will be stored. So it is even easier than keeping your personal log.

[JMecc]

Use pro bike garage - syncs with Strava and allows you to change a wheel on the carrying the cassette and tire with it too.

[joelweinberger]

You smashed it using the calendar on my phone! I will start logging maintenance not just for the bike but also my vehicles, furnace filter replacement, filter on the fridge’s waterline and the list goes on.

[jhoff]

One thing that holds the Strava feature back for this purpose though is if you have two different sets of wheels, or if you're alternating between multiple waxed chains. Since it does the wear per bike, then the component information would be wrong in these cases.

[matt_acton-varian]

I try to check my chain regularly but I think I should do so more often, thanks to this video! It is also worth noting that even if you do replace your chain on time that even cassettes and chainrings won't last forever but they do last longer, especially if they are made from a softer material than the chain. I have TA Specialties alloy chainrings on my winter bike which have seen off 4 chains, and I am currently running my 5th, but the teeth are just starting to lose their flat edge and morph into shark teeth. I will need to check them when the current chain wears out as it's only a few hundred miles old but they may need replacing at the same time as this chain, if not definitely the next one. The cassette was installed new with previous chain so should still be good for a while.

[michelelle]

@gcntech In strava you can actually (after adding your bike), add single components like for example a chain or cassette to keep track of it. When it is worn or you replace it, you just retire it and at a new one to the bike just like in real life.

[papaonyx]

I keep a spreadsheet that counts kms for chains, pads, tubes, tires and that I update with issues, buys, maintenance etc. I also had an application (can't remember which but it was from a component brand) that was very good in doing exactly this, connected to Strava or Garmin to get kms and reminded you it is about time to change something but at the end I found the spreadsheet easier to get a whole view and more straightforward.

[thereisnospoon]

I use pro bike garage with strava, tracks everything for me, can even remind me when I've reached the maintenance schedule, by time, distance, or ride time. Much more practical and automated.

[Kimberlietriracer]

Great idea for sure. My strava automatically tracks my shoe wear, It didn't occur to me to track my bike wear as well. You can use a small notebook/ logbook to do the same including receipts that way when you sell your bike, the logbook goes with it

[robbijay]

You can log all your components on the website. Been waiting for this to come to mobile for ages. Hopefully this video will make it happen!

[andrewmcdonald-pritchard]

Good tip! For those with BMC bikes, the BMC app allows you to specify all your components and as notes/replace components as required. As your rides are uploaded the mileage is set against all components, including chain and hardly have to do anything!
Also, for those with sram flat top chains, standard chain checkers don’t work.

[smithpauld]

Yesterday I spent an amazingly long time listening to Adam at Zero Friction discuss chain checkers. They are absolutely not all created equal.

[awhite]

These are good tips. Especially with 12 speed cassettes that a blooming expensive!

[rocketroadster_ash]

On my road bikes with waxed chains I check the chain before I take the chain off (so the layer of wax doesn’t throw out the reading). On my mtb I check it when I wash it or roughly monthly. This can be too often but for 30 secs work it can’t hurt.

[stevegoodfellow]

I check my chain every couple of weeks. I'm a bit of a spreadsheet geek so I have one where I keep track of all my rides (both indoors and outdoors), any repairs that I do and parts that I buy. Whenever I replace something like a chain, inner tube or tyre [tire] I write a note in a comments column. It's then a simple task to highlight the cells in the distance column from that date onwards to let Excel add up the mileage since the last chain replacement. Yeah, I know, I need to get a life 😁

[_SpaceDad]

Strava has a + button on the mobile home screen for adding manual activities, photos and posts. The post feature is a great way to store maintenance logs for all your bicycles. Just add the specifics of all the changes and mileage for the bike. Be sure to designate which bike you rode for every activity otherwise it's pointless.
Also works great as a tubeless sealant top-off record

[chesteryap]

nice to be reminded to check chains once in a while. keep the videos coming :)

[SystemParanoia]

I can't help but feel a spreadsheet and a spare 30mins every week may be the best solution if you're tracking the entire families bikes!

[robertmcfadyen]

Zero Friction chain wear tests are helpful but other people around the world were doing tests before Adam . The indoor tests in Adelaide aren't typical of real life usage environments though .