How to prepare your bike for the Change Gear Sportive
The Change Gear, Vale Sportive is a great way to see South Wales at its best on two wheels. Sportives are a fun way to push your skills and fitness, but only if you’re properly prepared, and your bike is top condition.
Don’t let worn components, a blown tyre or poorly aligned brakes put a dampener on your day. A well maintained bike will ride faster, smoother and easier. To help you get the most from your experience, Tredz Bikes has put together this essential bike maintenance checklist.
Some checks should be made a couple of weeks ahead of any sportive event as you may need a qualified bike mechanic to fix the issue. It’s no good spotting your wheel bearings are shot, or your rear cassette is worn down the night before your race - you’re unlikely to get it fixed in time.
Check for worn components
Now is a good time to check for wear on your chain and rear cassette. Are the cassette teeth worn down or the chain links stretched? Does the chain drop regularly? If so it may be worth investing in new components. It’s always good to give plenty of time for delivery if you order online.
It’s also worth taking a look at your wheels now. Are all your spokes at an even tension? Do your wheels sound clunky when spinning or slow quickly? If so then your hub bearings need attention. In either case, unless you’ve got the specialist equipment and wheel building knowledge, then you’re going to have to book your bike into a workshop.
A week before the sportive event, you’ll want to give your bike a little TLC. A clean bike ensures all the moving parts work smoothly so you can ride faster, easier. Depending on the condition of your bike you may just need to lube your chain. Or, you may need to spend a couple of hours getting right into it.
Remember to check your hubs, derailleurs and brake surfaces. Grab an old toothbrush and some degreaser and really go to town. You’ll be amazed at what this can do for your ride performance - especially if you don’t deep clean your bike regularly.
Tyres with incorrect pressure or worn down tread pattern will slow you down and can potentially cause an accident. Make sure you give them a once over, and start by looking at tyre pressure. The correct pressure needed will be printed on the sidewall of your tyre.
Once you have the correct pressure check for damage to the tyre. Are there any cuts to the carcass that could cause a flat? Is the tyre still round? A tyre which is worn down takes on a square profile shape. Spot either of these issues with your tyres and you’ll need to replace them.
The night before your race, you’ll want to have a final check of your bike. Now is the time to make those finishing touches.
First, check your brake pads are aligned. If the pads are rubbing against your rim then this is going to slow you down. If one side hits the rim before the other or doesn’t return properly you can adjust this by tightening small grub screw on the side of the calliper (some brakes may need adjusting via the main centre bolt).
You want both pads to make contact with the braking surface at the same time.
It is also worth checking that the brake blocks are aligned with the rim properly and not touching the tyre. Adjusting this is simply a case of loosening the fastening bolt and re-adjusting the pads so they are parallel to your rims, and then tightening the bolt again.
Adjust the bite point of your brakes
Pull your brake levers. Are they too twitchy or sluggish? If so you’ll need to adjust the bite point of your brakes. All you need to do is lengthen or shorten the cable using the barrel adjuster. Or, loosen the nut where the cable attaches to the calliper and pull the cable through. The shorter the cable, the quicker the brake bites.
We covered spoke deep cleaning earlier on, but it’s always worth giving your chain a little extra attention. Grab an old toothbrush, a bucket of soapy water or proper bike cleaner like Muc Off and give the chain a once over. If your chain is particularly dirty you will need proper degreaser and maybe a chain cleaning tool.
Drip lube onto the inside of your chain (between the chainrings and derailleur) as you turn the pedals. Hold a rag to catch excess lube and get full coverage. Drip a touch more on the chain and turn the pedals to lube the inside of the chain links too.
Now you're ready. Whether you’re riding the short, medium or 95 mile long route you’ll want to be ready for any emergency maintenance tasks. The last thing you want is a puncture up in Blaengwynfi, miles from help, without the simple tools needed to fix it.
Below is an essential maintenance kit you should take on any sportive.
At the very minimum take these items with you to fix most road-side maintenance emergencies.
An optional puncture repair kit - just in case you get 2 flats
These things aren’t big or heavy, in fact, a good quality saddle bag will be capable enough to carry most if not all these items. Or, you can use your jersey pockets for extra storage.
It might be worth packing a few cable ties and some gaffer tape (you can always wrap a bit around your pump) just in-case something unexpected happens. These additions aren’t going to add much weight and might just get you out of a sticky mechanical situation.
Now you’re ready. We look forward to seeing you at Penarth Leisure Centre on Sunday 21st June.
If you don’t feel confident identifying and carrying maintenance tasks then you can book your trusty steed into a workshop and let a qualified mechanic take a look. Just remember to leave plenty of time to book an appointment. Tredz Bikes’ Cardiff branch is only a mile away from Penarth Leisure Centre (on Penarth Road), with a fully kitted out workshop run by Cytech-qualified mechanics.
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