What’s In A Bicycle Service?

A friend says to you, “when was the last time you serviced your bike?” After the initial shock, you’re left thinking, “ha, I don’t know. Do you need to service a bike?”

Well, yes, yes you do! So, what happens in a bicycle service?

The service starts when you drop your bike in. We take a look at the bike with you and give you a detailed run through of what condition it is in. We’ll show you clearly what parts are worn, out of alignment or in need of some extra attention. We’ll give you an idea of potential costs and time we’ll take to get it done.

Once we’ve agreed and you’ve left us the bike, we get started on your repairs.

The General Bicycle Service

Removing the wheels.
We’ll pull the wheels out to inspect the bearing tension, check the rims are straight and tyres have grip and pressure. While the wheels are out, we’ll inspect the frame and fork to ensure there’s no issues and once they’re back in, we get to adjusting.

Lubrication.
Like we mentioned in another post, your bike needs lubrication so, next we ensure proper levels of bicycle lube are on the chain, cables and anywhere else needed. This is done now so it can spread throughout the next steps.

Nuts & Bolts.
As you ride your bike, vibrations can wobble bolts loose. This is a pretty major safety issue so, early on, we go over your bike and inspect all nut and bolt tensions.

Gears.
Tuning your gears comes up next and we take time to ensure everything is moving as designed. We check all the derailleur (things that make the gears change) limits so no chains are dropped into the spokes or frame and adjust the cable tension. If the cables are moving freely, the limits are adjusted and lubrication is where it’s meant to be, we should have smooth operating gears!

Brakes.
Well, now we have your bike moving, best we help you stop! Brake pads have wear lines and, if we mentioned it during the booking process, we’ll replace them when needed. Then we check to see if they’re hitting the rim or rotor properly when the lever is pulled but not when it’s not. Your wheel should rotate freely when the brake lever isn’t being operated.

Final Check.
We go back over the entire bike and double check everything we’ve just done. Every single nut & bolt, every gear change, every brake lever squeeze. Top to bottom, front to back, everything is double or triple checked.

Test Ride.
Well, there’s got to be perks of working in a bike shop and one is that we have to test ride every bike. This is the real life, out of the workstand test that makes sure the practical assessment matches the theory.

Done.