For me, an author who loves bicycles and owns several, "maintenance" is a source of concern.

I love riding, but I basically dislike maintenance.

In particular, I dislike daily maintenance.

Since I'm in a position to tell people on this blog, "You should do maintenance," I thought it would be wrong not to offer any suggestions, so I'd like to share a maintenance method I came up with myself.

First, I'll talk about "daily checks" and "periodic inspections."

What is a daily check?

This is a simple check you can do before riding your bicycle.

Since it's a daily routine, the goal is to quickly perform only the minimum necessary checks to ensure you can ride your bicycle safely.

This isn't just about the morning.

There's a possibility that someone tampered with your bike while it was parked during lunch, causing something to loosen.

These are items you can easily check when you start riding your bike.

According to the Japan Bicycle Association, it's good to remember the areas for daily checks using the phrase "BUTAHASHABERU" (pig speaks).

"BU" (Brake)... Check if the brakes are working and if the wires are not slack (front and rear).

"TA" (Tire)... Check if the tires are inflated (front and rear).

"HA" (Hanshasha)... Check if the reflectors are clean.

"SHA" (Shatai)... Check the frame (handlebars, saddle, chain). Are the handlebars and saddle straight? Are they loose? Is the chain not excessively slack?

"BERU" (Bell)... Check if the bell rings.

While it might be a bit forced, it could be a good way to remember what to check.

Personally, I'd like to add "lights" to the above.

In fact, when you look up daily bicycle checks on police websites, lights are included.

What is a periodic inspection?

A periodic inspection is a more detailed check than a daily check, to ensure that each part of the bicycle is functioning correctly.

Simply put, you can consider it an inspection performed by a professional.

The idea is to resolve potential problems that users might not be able to find themselves.

By taking your bicycle to a bicycle safety maintenance shop at least once a year for professional servicing, you can ride your bicycle more safely.

For me, I'd like to add a "weekend check" between the daily check and the periodic inspection.

Weekend Check

This mainly involves correcting any issues found during daily checks, wiping down the frame which gets dirty daily, and greasing up parts.

・Tire pressure check

・Chain slack check and greasing

・Derailleur smooth operation check and greasing

・Wiping down frame dirt

This is what I personally do.

Checking tire pressure is easy if you use a pump with a gauge; you just need to inflate the tires.

While there are products specifically for checking tire pressure, in my experience, they sometimes don't measure accurately or the readings are unstable (the values vary significantly with each measurement), so caution seems to be necessary.

Checking chain slack and greasing can be done quickly by visual inspection and by feeling the chain when you push it.

Since machine oil or CRC (Kure 5-56) will mostly fly off due to centrifugal force with rotation, I recommend preparing a specialized product for grease.

Checking if the derailleur is functioning correctly and if it's operating smoothly are similar but different levels.

"Smoothly" indicates a higher level.

However, adjusting it to shift smoothly through all gears is surprisingly difficult, so for users, it should be fine if they can adjust it so that the frequently used gears work comfortably.

And now, the problematic "wiping down frame dirt."

In the machinery industry I experienced, there was a saying: "Cleanliness is part of performance."

Dirt is the starting point for all sorts of trouble, so by keeping things clean, you can prevent potential problems from occurring.

Simply wiping with a cloth or rag will clean it.

For stubborn areas, just spray a little CRC (Kure 5-56), and the surfactant effect will make the dirt easier to remove.

I'm currently riding a white-framed bicycle, and I've learned something from it.

Brake pad dust from braking tends to accumulate on the upper part of the front fork, near the brake shoes.

I had often ridden bikes with darker frames before, so I hadn't really noticed it.

Thanks to that, I now have more areas to clean.

Since rags are hard to reach in that area, I've also discovered that it's easier to wipe if you take a pair of chopsticks and tie a rag to them.

As for me, I dislike cleaning wheels.

The reason is that they have uneven surfaces, and no matter how much I wipe them, they never get perfectly clean.

So, I found this part.

It's originally for motorcycles, but it's a resin cover for spokes.

When installed, it looked like this.

This hides the nipple parts of the spokes, making it easier to wipe them during cleaning.

The cleaning time has been reduced by more than half.

If you need to adjust the nipples, you can easily slide them out of the way, so there are no particular maintenance drawbacks.

Since 72 of these are installed on the front and rear, it might not be suitable for road bikes where lightness is a priority, but for cross bikes, not many people are that particular about weight.

It also makes the appearance more interesting, and if it makes maintenance easier, I think it's worth considering.

It was about 1000 yen on Amazon, so it's not that expensive, and ICAN products are also available on Amazon, so take a look while you're there.

By cleaning, you can notice small cracks or changes in the frame and potentially prevent problems before they occur.

External Writer: Koichi Okuno