Please - put air in my tires & keep me clean and lubed!

[DeniseGoldberg]

If you take good care of me, we can have many happy miles (or kilometers!) rolling down the road together. And yes, this really is your bike talking!

Please don't take this post the wrong way - it's quite possible that everyone reading is well aware of the simple things that keep your bike rolling along happily. But I've noticed some posts recently that reminded me that while some of us have been living with bikes for a long, long time, there are many women here who are just getting started and are not thinking of the regular "caring" that should be applied to keep their bikes happy. And while I'd like to think that when a bike decides to go home with a new owner that the folks at the bike shop pass on this information before the bike rolls out of the shop, I suspect that it just doesn't happen.

So, just the basics...

• Air - make sure that your tires have the appropriate amount of pressure. I always put air in my tires before riding. That may be overkill, but I'd rather start with good tire pressure. And it takes very little time at the beginning of a ride to add some air... It's funny, but I had this conversation with one of my work colleagues last week. He's a serious (and fast!) road biker, but he told me that he doesn't want to take the time to check his tires before every ride. He only checks and puts air in his tires once a week. But I still maintain that less than a minute spent with my pump before a ride is time well spent (at least for my peace of mind!).
  
• Lube - apply chain lube on a fairly regular basis (not too much though!). Also apply lube to pivot points on brakes and derailleurs. Wipe off any excess - remember, not too much as it can and will attract dirt!
  
• Clean - Keep both the moving parts and the frame clean. This is obviously easier for roadies, but still... If I ride in the rain, my bike usually gets cleaned and re-lubed before I get my shower (although on really cold days that has to be reversed!) Then again, depending on how wet or muddy the bike is, if you let the bike dry, you might be able to just knock off most of the dirt. For those of you new to cycling, there are chain cleaning devices available out there - and with or without one of these devices you can clean the chain on the bike. If you have a chain with a master link you can also take the chain off of the bike to clean it. (To be honest, my chain gets cleaned on the bike...)

Here's a link to an article by Jim Langley about basic bike care.
http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/basicbikecare.html

I'm sure that there are other forum members who have additional check-list items that can help all of us. More ideas?

--- Denise