Yesterday Gary and Lisa joined us for one of our “looking after your bicycle” workshops. This workshop was a fun couple of hours explaining what your bike needs pre and post ride in the way of safety and maintenance checks as well as teaching them how to sort problems that may occur whilst out cycling either solo or in a group.
The Post and Pre-ride checks are a simple 2-minute check that if you do before and after each ride as I show you, you should have very few problems on your rides. Preparation is everything.
As Cyclists we cannot rely on someone else to “always be there” and we have to be able to carry our minor repairs on the go with minimum fuss and tools. Today Lisa and Gary learnt hands on how to change a puncture “properly” and how to repair a broken or twisted chain as well as tweaking gears and brakes mid ride. None of these things needs to be scary and once you have seen it done and have a play yourself you will be a more confident cyclist and more important will be able to finish your ride with minimal disruption.
We also talked Lisa and Gary about carrying tools and spares whilst cycling, This differ’s greatly depending on where and how far you cycle but the principle items remain the same and most people should carry at least the following in their saddle bag or bidon holder.
- Spare inner tubes
- Pump or inflator
- patch kit
- tyre levers x 2 (I stock a superb European set of these guaranteed to make life easier. ask me!)
- Multi-tool with chain tool
- spare chain link
- emergency tyre boot
- cake money
Please check out our “fix your own bike” section if you want to look after your bike or send me a message here with any questions
