5 TIPS I Wish I Had Known When I Started Cycling

Are you new to cycling and not sure how you should maintain your bike for the long run?
Well, Ollie is here to share some useful tips on how you can avoid some of the more common mistakes any beginner cyclist would do when starting out on two wheels!

00:00 Maintenance tips I wish i’d known as a beginner
00:29 Resting your bike driveside down
01:25 Not applying or applying too much lubricant
02:29 Cleaning the drivetrain
02:58 Incorrect tyre pressure
04:30 Incorrectly repairing punctures
06:31 Bonus mistake we all do!

Useful Links:

Do you do any of the mistakes Ollie pointed out? 🧑‍🔧❌

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[gcntech]

What has been the worst mistake you've made while maintaining your bike? ⚙

[XxTwistFakexX]

One important one is also to never use your hydraulic brakes when the wheel isn't atached to the bike, this will misalign the brake pistons and its a mess to fix after that if you are a beginner. Just did it last week, needed to go to my local bike shop 😅

[tonythomas]

I found that when replacing an inner tube, putting a little air in it b4 putting it on helps ot seat better and prevents pinch flats

[KNURKonesur]

I would definitely recommend avoiding a Pinarello Dogma when you first start cycling, probably also for quite a long time after you start

[AnvilAirsoftTV]

Most common mistake I come across is not checking chain wear and running the worn chain for far too long causing more wear issues.

[Hur]

Not exactly a beginner move but sometimes beginners try to adjust things without completely understanding what they’re doing. I'm a fairly experienced home bike mechanic but I'm not afraid to admit that biggest mistake I’ve made recently is in setting the limit screw incorrectly on my rear derailleur. Later, when I shifted into the biggest cog in my cassette, the chain went over the top into the spokes and ripped the derailleur off the hanger. So I had to buy a new SRAM Force AXS rear derailleur for something like $450 (and a new derailleur hanger).

[petercarparelli]

The doctor is in. Ollie's the best.

[JasonSheehy]

Here's the full bingo card of rookie mistakes that i've either made or helped friends recover from:
WD40 on the chain and cassette, including overspray onto discs.
Replacing gear cable inners only, keeping the old outers.
Mixing up dry and wet lubes.
Relying on a CO2 cartridge for inflation.
Not following the torque specifications on bolts.

[Cycle.every.day.]

Biggest mindset mistake is the "oh, it's just one scratch" or "oh, i'm just leaning bike against harled wall or bush this once" or "i'm only not going to clean the bike this once" problem is 100 onces is, well 100..i think.

[l.d.]

Me: cyclist for 6 years and has worked in a workshop for some time
Also me: I really need to watch this video for beginners maintenance
But seriously, good video with important tips that can help many cyclist

[ellipticalsoul]

Lining the tyre logo up with the valve has another benefit besides looking good: if you get a puncture you can easily check the same place on the tyre where the inner tube was punctured and find any thorns or debris that caused it.

[aveedub]

Recommending the use of a track pump is all very well, however, I'm not convinced the gauges that some are supplied with are accurate enough! I bought a cheapish one from Lidl/Crivit as an experiment and found the pressures were well off compared to those recorded with manual and topeak electronic gauges! Imo placing faith in some track pumps could prove detrimental to tyre life as well. I have suggested testing pressures on track pumps before and maybe GCN could consider this now? I feel that would be a really valuable study!

[mfergie]

While riding in a charity event I got a puncture, I had kept note of the inner tube placement when I removed it (this is a good tip) so I knew where the issue was approximately. I ran my fingers on the inside of my tire and could not find the reason for the puncture. I ran a tissue on the inside and it snagged on a piece of filament of an electrical wire that had poked through the tire and caused the puncture.

[jacktuber]

Not maintenance, but when you ride bring a spare tube, a pump and two tire levers. Bring water when you ride too

[BikeCoffee-Cake]

Have made all these mistakes, but mostly in the days before the internet 😂

[nm]

According to Josh at Silca in a recent video, a big mistake people do is use a clamping bike stand with their carbon bike frame/seat post (e.g. Ollie in this entire video). I guess it can cause carbon cracking!! It's recommended to use a mounting system that the bike can sit on (fork/dropout mounts, or something like the silca hirobel).

[ianboylan]

Reseating tyres without levers is a nice theory but often extremely difficult/impossible with modern rim and tyre combos. Might be helpful for GCN to show tips for selecting and correctly using tyre levers as part of a video like this.

[caffeineisking]

I wish I'd known it was more addictive than crack. My bank account wasn't ready for the beating it was about to receive

[mrflaxtv]

Grinding Paste! Bingo! God I love Ollie ❤

[linaslinas]

Higher pressure means less rolling resistance. Period. This affects any width tyres. Just wider tyres get less penalty reducing pressure. And lower pressure means more comfort. Reducing 2 bars in pressure increase rolling resistance just 2 watts on average.