Free Advice and Information
Free tip sheets to download and print out
What to spend (PDF document - 50 KB) - How much money to spend when buying a new or used used bike
Basic maintenance (PDF document - 46 KB) - A basic guide to the routine maintenance of your bike
Locking advice (PDF document - 45 KB) - How to lock your bike securely
Cycle Touring Kit (PDF document - 43 KB) - Tools and equipment for longer cycling trips
Recommended Books and Guides (PDF document - 67 KB) - Further reading
Below are a few other hints and tips which may be used in future tip sheets:
Do not use an expensive bike as your everyday city bike
If you have the storage space available, why not buy a used (approx. £100) second bike for everyday use around the city? It can be used and abused on a daily basis without loosing too much of its value, and it can be left locked up almost anywhere without undue concern about it being stolen. A cheaper bike is not only less attractive to thieves, but it also matters less if it is stolen.
Fitting very sensible accessories such as mudguards and a luggage rack can also make the bike less stealable because it will be less easy to sell: the sort of person who buys a stolen bike from a dodgy bloke in the pub for £20 is the sort of person who wants a shiny-looking mountain bike, and would not even consider an old road bike with mudguards, a child seat and a bell fitted.
If you do use an expensive bike on a regular basis you absolutely must use at least one expensive lock - and preferably two of different types, so that even a thief equipped to cut a cable lock will be defeated by the D-lock, or vice-versa. Also, do not lock an expensive bike in the same place every day. Much better to lock it in a variety of places in order to defeat a pre-planned theft.
Brakes which start grinding or scraping
If your brakes start making a grinding, scraping or hissing noise, check the brake blocks immediately. They will either be worn right down to the metal, or there will be a small stone or piece of glass embedded in the rubber material of the brake block.
Worn blocks must be replaced immediately. Continued use of a brake block which is completely worn out will very quickly wear out your wheel rim as well, a much more expensive problem to repair.
Debris in the brake block can normally be removed fairly easily using the tip of a very small screwdriver or similar. Often a stone or piece of glass will be obvious and can just be scraped away. But sometimes the brake block will look as though it has small flecks of metal embedded in its surface: these are in fact an accumulation of aluminium rubbed off the wheel rim by some piece of debris lodged underneath. Scrape these off the brake block as well as the offending stone or piece of glass underneath.
If the brakes have been grinding for a while and you have worn a groove into your wheel rim, get it checked immediately. A worn out wheel rim is not strong enough to safely support the pressure of a fully inflated tyre and can crack or even explode.
Chain wear
Cycle chains wear out with use. In turn, a worn chain quickly wears the teeth on your cassette and chainrings. Once the teeth are significantly worn they will not work with a new chain, and the whole drivetrain must be replaced.
There are essentially two choices: replace the chain regularly, e.g. every 6 months, in order to preserve the cassette and chainset; or run the whole lot into the ground and then replace it all, e.g. every three years.
Neither approach is categorically right or wrong, it is simply a matter of weighing up the pros and cons. On a fairly new and fairly expensive bike, spending e.g. £15 on a chain every 6 months might be a price worth paying to save £150 worth of drivetrain. On a cheaper bike, the drivetrain might only be worth £50 in which case it could well be cheaper to replace this every three or four years rather than spending a total of e.g. £90 on new chains over the same period.
There are several disadvantages to a worn chain. It is less efficient, making the bike a little slower and harder to ride. It is also more likely to snap under pressure, although this is probably only a problem with very worn chains or very clumsy gear changes. The real problem with a severely worn drivetrain is that it will become impossible to ride, with the chain slipping when pressure is applied to the pedals allowing them to jump forward alarmingly. At this point the only option is to replace chain, cassette and chainrings.
To confirm whether your chain is worn, change gear into the largest chainring and then pull the foremost chain link forwards, away from the chainring. If it lifts away from the chainring enough to almost reveal the tip of the tooth underneath the chain is worn. Check with a mechanic whether it needs replacement before the rest of your drivetrain also becomes excessively worn.
Chains can take anything from 500 and 5,000 miles to wear out. How quickly the chain wears depends on several factors including how clean the chain is kept, whether it is properly lubricated, and whether the bike is typically used only in dry weather or is regularly used in filthy, wet, gritty conditions. The design and quality of the chain can also effect its longevity: a narrower chain will wear out quicker than a wider one assuming all else is equal, so 9-speed chains typically wear out before 8-speed ones, for example. Wider old-style single-speed chains last longest of all, and even when very worn will continue to work acceptably well. On old bikes where the chain is kept clean by having a full chaincase the chain can last for decades. Modern 8, 9 and 10-speed bikes have a nice big range of gears, but they do wear out quickly, especially if not kept clean and lubricated.
Loose bearings
Any turning or spinning part of a bike normally requires ball bearings for it to run smoothly. They are used in the wheels, the pedals and bottom bracket (for pedalling), the headset (for steering), and the freewheel. Ball bearings are an ingenious invention, already common on bicycles over 100 years ago, but still in use today virtually unchanged in their design. Without them, a bicycle would be slower, harder to ride and would require much more maintenance.
After a while, most types of ball bearings need adjustment and a bit of new grease. With correct maintenance of this type e.g. every 6 or 12 months, most bearings will last for years. However, if a bearing is used without grease it will wear quickly and will probably rust as well. And if a bearing is a bit loose but continues to be used, all the weight and forces are placed on only one or two balls instead of shared equally among all of them. At best this causes rapid wear and at worst can cause almost instant damage.
It is almost always cheaper to fix a bearing problem early than to leave it until later. If spotted in time, a wheel bearing rebuild costs £12, and if all it needs is a little adjustment it will be even cheaper. But if the bearing surfaces of the wheel itself are damaged from continued use with dry or loose bearings, often the only option is to replace the whole wheel for anything between £50 and £150. The same is true for headsets, bottom brackets and most other ball bearings. Now is the time to check!
Stand beside your bike, grab one of the tyres at a point where it passes through the frame or fork and pull it a little towards you, as if you were trying to pull the bike sideways. Then push the tyre in the opposite direction. Repeat this back-and-forth motion a few times in quick succession. Then check the other wheel in the same way. Is there a little click or rattle? Does either wheel feel a little loose? If so, you probably have loose wheel bearings.
Now take one of the cranks (the arm that connects the pedal to the rest of the bike) and pull it towards you as though you were trying to pull the bike sideways, and then push it away in the opposite direction. Repeat several times in quick succession. Does it rattle or feel loose? If so, you probably have loose bottom bracket bearings.
Stand over the bike, apply the front (right-hand) brake, and push the handlebars back and forth several times. Can you feel a rattle or looseness? If so, you probably have loose headset bearings.
If you have discovered any loose bearings, or if in any doubt, please consult a mechanic soon. Loose bearings do not normally make the bike unsafe to ride, but in terms of cost: a stitch in time saves nine!