Road bikes can be considered specialized bicycles.

Parts degrade with daily use, so routine maintenance is essential.

If you perform maintenance incorrectly during your daily routine, you can worsen the bike's condition or, in the worst case, break it.

Here, we've highlighted common mistakes beginners tend to make when maintaining a road bike.

Rather than adopting a condescending tone like, "I bet you'll mess up here," these are embarrassing records of the author's own past failures.

Please read through this to avoid making the same mistakes.

■Over-inflating tires

When inflating bicycle tires, beginners often get the pressure wrong.

The appropriate tire pressure is indicated on the sidewall of the tire.

For example, the recommended tire pressure on the sidewall might be "90-125 psi / 6.2-8.6 bar."

Road bikes require high tire pressure.

While 700x23C wheels were once standard, slightly wider 700x25C wheels are now more common.

In any case, road bike tires are designed to be thin and used at high pressure.

Tubes constantly lose air, to varying degrees.

Therefore, you should not overinflate the tires beyond the indicated pressure just because air will eventually escape.

By inflating them to a higher pressure than intended, you can make the air escape more easily or damage the valve.

Cross bikes have slightly lower tire pressure than road bikes.

For example, 110 PSI / 7.7 BAR.

Mama-chari (utility bikes), also known as city cycles, have even lower tire pressure.

MTBs (mountain bikes), with their wider tires, may also have lower tire pressure.

In any case, continuously riding with tire pressure lower than the recommended level can increase the risk of punctures and worsen ride comfort.

Not only that, but the tires deform more when starting to pedal, increasing pedaling resistance and making you tire more easily.

Of course, it also makes it harder to pick up speed.

There are only disadvantages to not maintaining the correct tire pressure on your bicycle; there are no advantages.

■Over-tightening bolts

This applies to all maintenance tasks, but bolts are often either overtightened or too loose.

Bicycle bolts typically come in sizes M3, M4, M5, and M6, where the number indicates the outer diameter of the threaded part in millimeters.

For M3 and M4 screws (with thread diameters of 3mm and 4mm respectively), if you force them in, the threads can strip and ruin the screw.

For M5 and M6, it's usually fine if the receiving material (threaded hole) is iron, but if it's aluminum, there's a similar risk of stripping the threads.

This is where it gets tricky: screws can't be too tight or too loose.

General tightening torques are specified for each screw diameter, and if special care is needed, instructions will be provided in the bicycle's manual.

To tighten to the correct torque, using a torque wrench is the most reliable method.

However, honestly, using a torque wrench can be cumbersome, so you should learn to tighten common parts without one.

With a little practice, you can learn to gauge it by feel.

However, practicing on your bicycle might damage the screw holes, so it's better to tap threads into a suitable iron or aluminum plate and practice on that.

■Unable to wrap bar tape (handlebar tape)

Bar tape is the anti-slip tape wrapped around the handlebars.

The ends of the wrap can peel off, or the handlebars might show through gaps in the tape, especially around curves.

This tape is a consumable item, so once it degrades to a certain extent, it needs to be peeled off and re-wrapped.

When you peel it off, adhesive residue might remain, so be sure to clean it thoroughly with adhesive remover from a 100-yen store or parts cleaner from a home center before applying new tape.

There's a knack to wrapping it, so you'll have to watch YouTube videos for guidance and actually try it yourself.

■Too much chain oil

The chain is also a consumable part of a bicycle.

Chain oil helps prevent its degradation, but people often apply too much because they don't know the right amount.

Too much oil can splatter due to centrifugal force, staining clothes, which is not ideal.

There are various types of chain oils, such as wet and dry, and the appropriate amount varies by oil, so it's not possible to give a definitive answer. However, a light sheen on the chain's surface is usually sufficient.

It's likely more effective and less wasteful to apply oil regularly in small amounts rather than a large quantity all at once.

■Misaligning the derailleur adjustment

Derailleurs can often be adjusted with two adjustment bolts, but sometimes people tamper with these settings and end up breaking them.

This adjustment is surprisingly difficult, and it's unlikely you'll master it just by watching videos.

While videos are good for understanding the principles, practice (trial and error) is also necessary. Therefore, it's advisable to get guidance from a bike shop at first.

■Overlooking brake pad wear

Brake pads are also consumable items.

Every time you brake, they wear down slightly.

They should be replaced when only about 1mm of material remains, but it's actually recommended to replace them before they are completely worn out.

As they wear down, the gap between the rim and the brake pads widens.

You might notice this during your weekly inspection or when you feel a difference in your brakes during daily riding. Adjust them to maintain optimal braking performance.

Above are 6 common mistakes beginners tend to make during routine maintenance.

Please be careful not to make the same mistakes.

 ICAN Carbon Wheels

External Writer: Koichi Okuno