SELF REPAIR

Every time you ride, you have an opportunity to help encourage a cycle friendly culture

DO IT YOURSELF

Basic bicycle maintenance is achievable by even the most tool squeamish. Real repairs are a different story and for that you can take your bike to a shop.

There are a few legends out there who have done a better job of online maintenance and repair then I can:

• Videos & Notes Bicycle Tutor
• A clean-cut guide from a great tools company Park Tools
• Just plain awesomeness Sheldon Brown
• A free downloadable PDF Free PDF

Or just get a book out of the library.

My main advice is to just give your bike a simple once-over each week like you would your car, home or lover: clean, tweak, inflate and then lube up. 30 minutes to an hour of basic maintenance a week will ensure your safety and a sweet ride.

TOOLS & KIT

Under $100 at the right place will set you up with a decent enough start-up kit. With that $100 I would buy:

• Allen keys or Y Hex wrench key (4mm,5mm,6mm & 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm)
• Tyre levers
• Puncture kit (easy and light self adhesive patches for on-the-go repair and old-school rubber cement kit for permanent repair)
• Monkey wrench
• Pliers with cable cutting/stripping blade
• Cross-head and Flat-head screwdriver

• Mini-Pump (with built-in valve piece)
• Wet chain oil (for bikes - not car oil)
• Teflon-based light oil (for all the little parts)
• Degreaser or (if used sparingly) turps or diluted washing up liquid
• Cassette & chain cleaning brush set

Don't forget to check out the BUYING NEW/USED pages to get some of these 2nd hand or at least at a good price. If you have a little more money and want good tools then I recommend Park Tools.

Tips

Here's just a bit of extra advice I've picked up here and there.

• A good guide to find the problem on your bike is to listen to all the pops, squeeks, clicks then consult this guide: Listening to Noises
• As well as a good listen have a good feel to help locate problems
• A bike is relatively simple mechanically and the more time you spend trying to fix it yourself, the more you will know for next time
• If you've got some rust here and there, spray on some WD40 or similar and go at it with a wire brush or one of those green pan scrubbers and it'll be like new shortly.
• If you're looking for the puncture in a tyre, don't bother with a tub of water just yet, just spit on it and you'll see bubbles where the leak is. Or use your cheek/chin to feel the air escaping
• Standing a bike upside-down on a stand or against a wall will be good enough for basic repairs, rather than buying a bike stand
• Use your repair skills to do friends/families bikes for beer or favours.

Hands-On Training

There are a bunch of places you can go in Wellington to get basic hands-on bike maintenance and repairs training for free or at a low cost, especially considering the savings you'll make on taking it to a shop.

• Leo, resident mechanic at Rocket Bikes in Rongotai, is running a basic bike maintenance course on the 6th of April at 6:30 pm, and on the first Wednesday of the month thereafter. You’ll learn how to do things like change a tire, lube a chain, and all that sort of thing for a mere $15.

Call 387 3900 to book

• Mechanical Tempest in Aro Valley (see BUYING USED guide) will help you learn your way around a bike for free

• A few other bike shops around town also do mini workshops free from time to time so keep your eyes open.