How To Make Your Road Bike Last Longer - Bike Maintenance Tips

Bikes can be expensive to replace. Maximise your bike's lifespan with these tips.

Fundamental to any bike's longevity is keeping it clean and well lubricated. Excess dirt will wear away at your drivetrain, and you'll have to replace components more frequently.

If you've got a carbon road bike, it can certainly pay dividends to invest in a torque wrench. Over-tightening bolts can potentially damage carbon components, which are certainly not cheap to replace. Making sure you store your bike in a cool, dry, secure place will further lengthen the lifespan of your bike.

Music:
Aroop Roy - Told Me (Lay-Far remix)

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[BoxCarBoy]

I'm stuck with a clamp-style stand, so I get around that by keeping a cheap aluminum post around. I take my fancy carbon post out and insert the cheap one whenever I want to clamp my bike in my stand to work on it.

[kerryblueher]

JUST bought a new CF bike. My previous "good" bike is 30 years old (my standby bike is 41 years old), so I know about making a road bike last! I have never washed by bike(s)! My "good" bike has Dupont Imron paint, which would make todays green weinies gast if they knew about it. BUT it's is durable, not like today's milk toast paint. Lubrication: I have replace the bearings several times, the last time (2 years ago) with ceramic hybrids, oh, and Phil Wood grease. Torque wrench: what a hoot in the old days. Fact is wrenches of a given size are engineered to provide the proper torque with an "average" pull (what ever that is). I do us torque wrenches on my CF bike. I get mega miles out of my chains.... which I use with a personally mixed formula (canning wax, PTFE, Talc & synthetic gear lube). In 30 years, 4 chains, and many thousands of miles I've only replace my chain rings twice and rear cassette NEVER! But this is a tale of a dinosaur, an endangered feces. Enjoy your world of endless obsolesce and marketing replacement.

[JWKEL]

Hi, anyone can advice how often to clean the bike if in busy lifestyle? What lubrication to use for wet/ dry condition? Thank you

[clintmarshall]

i would love to see a video of your bike workshop area. how you organised things and what you feel is the most important things to have in it. I'm just about to start setting my own up in my house and would love some ideas.

[zeekf.]

Oh, I didn't know subscribing to GCN was free, thank goodness, now I will never miss another maintenance Monday!
Thanks Daniel!

[woozertoo]

Mock Matt's inability to stay upright with wooden obstacles strewn in his path all you like, but he took the brunt of that fall to spare his carbon bike like a champ.

[mikes]

Is there a full clip of the Matt crash including the aftermath?

[andrewmurphy]

Si at 5:00 is me everyday, even when I haven't ridden

[Hanpotatoneus]

Does the temperature of the room where you keep the carbon fibre bike matter?

[TimothyBates]

Would love some product comparison videos on replacement brake pads and tires. These are the the two things we mostly change, and there's not a lot of great info out there. PS: tx 4 all the great shows!

[MA-hwxh]

Can you make a video showing that workshop? It looks very cool. Nice work!

[MrIvanPe]

I love that second seat post clamp. So good for travelling. What is it called?

[AlexandarHullRichter]

Getting a good set of mud guards can also help to keep a bike clean, especially on wet roads.

[psilk]

I have a steel bike with paint nicks exposing the metal. What process should I follow for cleaning?

[philb]

Any ideas what brand the stand is in the bath at 1:08 or is a home made job?

[jamesa.]

I have a problem with front brake grinding on the brake pads, I try card method to get it to work, but I still have the disk grinding on the brake pads. Can you please give me some advice!

[laurencehunt]

Any tips on how to keep a matt black frame clean without causing white like markings (like a misty water mark)?

[billyabernathy]

I wonder how much "Muc-Off" Dan has to use on his hair to keep it clean?

[MarcusChingYong]

What is that clip on the bike that identifies the preferred saddle height called?

[bernardibrahim]

Can you guys make some sort of bike detailing video? Preferably including cleaning gumwall tires. Just to have something to do in winters