DIY Series: A Typical Tune Up

January 3rd, 2009 by Guitar Ted

For the next several weeks, I am going to walk you step-by-step through a typical bicycle tune up procedure. Along the way, I will stop and give some suggestions on tools, techniques, and little tricks that seasoned shop mechanics might know.

Keep in mind that I am going to be using a standard issue mountain bike as a subject to work on. Your specific bicycle’s needs may be a little, or a lot different! I will possibly make a couple of side tracks into some other particulars, but we shall see how it all unfolds as we go.

For now I leave you with the following steps that we will be covering. In my next post, I will list out some tools that will be use in this tune up. I alsom will be covering some pre-tune up diagnosis. As always, if you have any questions, please refer to the comments section and leave them there. By the way, there will be pictures!

1. Set up bicycle in repair stand
2. Shift drive train into fastest rear gear
3. Release brake mechanism,Remove both wheels
4. Clean entire bicycle
5. Check over wheels
6. Replace wheels in dropouts
7. Adjust derailleur, front and rear, lube
8. Adjust brakes, front and rear
9. Check bottom bracket, and headset
10. Check nuts and bolts for tightness
11. Check any accessories
12. Air up tires
13. Test ride
14. Re-adjust as necessary
15. Retire to a comfortable chair, beverage optional- Job well done!

Stay tuned for Part One: The tool list and diagnosis of your bike.

4 Responses to “DIY Series: A Typical Tune Up”

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1 Marc on Jan 3rd, 2009 at 7:09 pm

Thanks Guitar Ted,

I am new to the Mountain Biking arena. I just got my first bike for Christmas and can do alot of the basics. Fix a flat etc. But the thought of being able to go thru the checklist that my LBS would in tuning up my bike would be cool. Are you going to go into fork maintenance or disc brakes, manual and hydraulic?

Just a couple of thoughts and questions…

Thanks,
2 Guitar Ted on Jan 3rd, 2009 at 7:51 pm

Marc: Thanks! I think for this series we’ll stick close to the list here. Typically fork maintenance, disc brake maintenance, and the like are outside the scope of a tune up procedure.

I may touch on some adjustment techniques in my posts, so stay tuned. If your bike is new, you shouldn’t be needing maintenance beyond adjustments for awhile yet anyway.
3 Marc on Jan 3rd, 2009 at 8:14 pm

Thanks for the response and I know it may be a little premature. But I want to be able to fix it if I need to , even tweek it.

My maintenance and repairs for the first year are free at my LBS , but like I said, it doesn’t hurt to know. I need to get to the shop this week to replace a couple of reflectors that broke the other day , my front when I went over the top so to speak, an ender. It was a great ride with one of my sons though.
4 Larissa on Jan 12th, 2009 at 4:56 am

Tips for guitar tuning given here are very informative………

DIY Series: A Typical Tune Up

4 Responses to “DIY Series: A Typical Tune Up”

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