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Need Advice: Ten-minute Tune up

sunny

Grammar Civil Patrol
Jul 2, 2004
1,107
0
Sandy Eggo, CA
Hey gang,

I am teaching a Basic Bike Care Clinic at a local women's event in SoCal. The bike clinic I most often teach is a "How to Clean Your Bike" that mostly familiarizes women with the parts of their bike and gets them used to working on it.

The clinic sponsors would like me to incorporate a "Ten-minute Tune Up" section at the end of my own clinic. I want this to be few steps and easy to remember.

Ten-minute tune-up
A-B-C-D
Air - check your tires
Brakes - make sure your brakes are working and not dragging
Cables - Check your cables for wear or fraying
Derailleurs - Make sure your shifting is smooth across all parts. Your bike should not make noise!


Am I leaving anything out that would be considered negligent? Personally I think "Tune up" is misleading. It's more of a "Check Over," but I would not trust most newer riders to try to tune up anything... let alone in ten minutes. I know I could do a Front of the bike to the Back of the bike thing, but that seems like more info that would only confuse newer riders.

Ideas? Comments?
Thanks!
-Sunny
 

sunny

Grammar Civil Patrol
Jul 2, 2004
1,107
0
Sandy Eggo, CA
That's a good idea.

Question: Do you recommend XC riders keep their brakes clamped onto the handlebar loose enough to be man-handled down or up? Not loose enough to wiggle, but not so tight that it might snap the lever on impact? I've always done this for my own bikes, but I'm not sure what is standard practice for everyone else.

Thanks.
 

sunny

Grammar Civil Patrol
Jul 2, 2004
1,107
0
Sandy Eggo, CA
OK, after additional thought, I think I like this better:


Ten-minute tune-up
A-B-C-4-5

Air - Check your tire air pressure.*
Brakes - Make sure your brakes are working and not dragging
Chain - Check chain for dryness / greasiness. Check your cables for wear or fraying.
4mm - Check that the bolts on the bike are snug.
5mm - Most bolts will be 4mm or 5mm hex bolts.

***Your bike should not make noise.***
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,241
20,021
Sleazattle
Sunny! Good to see you on the Monkey!

Although non trivial I would try to include a check of the headset. It is part of my pre-ride routine.

Not typically fixable by a beginner I would recommend checking for wheel trueness or spoke tension. An untensioned spoke will break if ridden enough, better to have it fixed before it breaks.
 
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sunny

Grammar Civil Patrol
Jul 2, 2004
1,107
0
Sandy Eggo, CA
Hey Westy! Yes... good to be here. :)

I have no idea how people with children and manual labor jobs are able to spend time here. I had much more time when I was at a desk. But I wouldn't trade parenthood for anything. I only wish I'd started sooner. Then again, I think if I had had kids earlier, they would likely need years of therapy.

I'm still somewhat in the industry, doing maintenance clinics and women's rides with the LUNA ambassador team.

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't know if it would be suitable for this audience to say anything more than: If anything wobbles, rubs, or makes noise, take it to a mechanic. But I'll put those things on the list for a clinic when I have more time. Some of these women have never been on a trail ride, so we're staying pretty basic.

I'll pop back in and let you all know how it went.

Here's a pic of my little poster board.


Maybe I'll zip tire tools on the sides or something. Maybe just outline them, like they're supposed to be there... :D
 

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Beef Supreme

Turbo Monkey
Oct 29, 2010
1,434
73
Hiding from the stupid
I agree that check over is a more appropriate name than tune up. I also think the C should refer to chain care as opposed to fraying cables which rarely happens. I'm not sure what exactly is covered in the basic class but I would add that everyone should know how to remove the wheels and properly reinstall them.

Edited as I see you have already made the C change. Good call IMO.
 
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sunny

Grammar Civil Patrol
Jul 2, 2004
1,107
0
Sandy Eggo, CA
Beefy,

Agreed. On all points. Basic class is how to wash your bike, really. We spend a good 10 minutes on remove-replace your rear wheel. Everyone must demonstrate proficiency. Bwahahaha.

I was hoping to incorporate "chain" in the "derailleur" step of the first draft. But I didn't like it. But I like A-B-C-4-5. It's easy to remember, and that's what I'm shooting for.
 

eaterofdog

ass grabber
Sep 8, 2006
8,189
1,431
Central Florida
No smartass suggestions about S for sandwich. They must be scared of you Sunny.

One thing I show people is to check the cranks/bb. Grab a crank at the end underneath the pedal and (with considerable force) try to wiggle it. Do each side separately. If you get ANY play, have it looked at. Usually it's a loose bb or arm, sometimes wasted bb bearings.