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BACK ON AND GET YOU YOUR BIKE!

Expert tips to resurrect that rusty old cycle...

By Toby Walne

WITH spring finally here, many of us will be rooting out rusty old bikes from the shed. There are an estimated 16 million bikes in Britain gathering dust in storage and 20 million in regular use.

But if you get that two-wheeler back on the road, you may be sitting on a potential death trap if you haven’t carried out some basic checks and maintenance first.

We ask cycling expert Phil Hollins, from the Hertfordshire pop-up repair shop Cycle Positive, to share his secrets of getting your bike roadworthy, without having to spend £50 on bike shop repairs or hundreds on a new machine. all these steps should be straightforward to do at home — but if you need help, finding an expert is money well spent.

INSPECT YOUR TYRES

THE most common problem with bikes left in storage is their tyres — and the trusty dawes galaxy I have owned for the past three decades is no exception.

Phil is not impressed as I proudly wheel it out from winter hibernation. The pressure in my tyres is woefully low.

I need a £10 pump with a pressure gauge to do the job properly. Checking pressure with a thumb is imprecise and not good enough, Phil says. you can find the required pressure level on the side of the tyre.

I have to wipe dirt from the rim to find ‘70psi’ printed on the side. This means I must pump the tyre up to a rock-hard 70 pound-force per square inch on the pump gauge — not the ten I thought was adequate. low tyre pressure means cycling is much harder, bad for the wheel and more likely to get you a puncture.

Fully pumping up the tyre helps to reveal cracks in the side walls that are dangerous because if you hit a pothole it could lead to a blowout — throwing you off the bike. you can buy a new tyre for as little as £10, but Phil warns against skimping.

Use teaspoons as levers to get the tyre off. Place them underneath the tyre and slide them around the metal rim of the wheel — taking care not to catch the inner tube, that can also be removed if it is punctured.

Fortunately, I have no punctures. But if you do find one, you will need a bucket of water. By submerging the inflated tyre, you can see where the holes are because bubbles will rise.

a basic £3 puncture repair kit is always worth having. Phil says people often put the patches on wrong — and that before applying the glue and plaster, you must scrub the rubber around the puncture with sandpaper to make sure the glue sticks.

FIX WOBBLY WHEELS

WHILE checking the tyres, you should also ensure that none of the spokes are loose or broken by twiddling them by hand.

If they are loose, a £2 ‘nipple spanner’ can tighten them up. a new spoke is £1 and easy to change once the tyre is off.

Buckled wheels are spotted by spinning the wheel and seeing whether it stays in a totally straight line or rubs on the brake pads. Often, a buckle can be sorted out with spoke adjustments.

you should also check the wheel hub, which holds the bolts that attach the forks to the wheel. There is a bit of play in the hub when I try to push the wheel side to side with the forks firmly clamped into the bike stand that Phil has brought along — it moves a couple of millimetres.

He shakes his head when I admit I am not willing to buy a new wheel, as this could cost £60. Phil says if it gets worse, I could get new bearings with a professional wheel service for £30.

CLEAN THE CHAIN

MY IDEA of maintenance used to be squirting oil on the chain and hubs. Phil says this is the opposite of what should be done and I must clean it all off with water.

Just a light spray with the garden hose or a plant sprayer is enough to clean off gunk and dirt around the main cog and gears. a degreaser such as £8 Muc-Off should then be used to loosen any remaining grime.

But just passing the chain through a tightly held old rag works for me and costs nothing.

Once cleaned, a light oiling around joints on the chain is required. a lubricant such as TF2 is best but a cheap bottle of 3-In-One oil will work. Wd-40 should be avoided, as it cleans off lubricant.

This washing also allows me to look at the gears. They were previously ‘clicking’ when I changed gear — Phil tells me this was just because they were dirty with too much oil and they didn’t need adjusting. He then whips out a fancy £10 ‘chain checker’ tool to measure whether the chain is stretched and needs replacing.

Wearing gloves, I could also have pulled on the chain sitting around the ring wheel to find if I could see daylight between the chain and teeth of the cog. If so, it might be time to bite the bullet and buy a new £10 chain.

you may also need £5 ‘chain link pliers’ to remove extra links and tie the chain together. Videos on websites such as YouTube and Cycle UK have guidance.

SCRUB BRAKES

CLEANING the bike is often all that’s needed to solve problems.

Mud often collects around bike brake blocks, making them rub against the wheel. Scrubbing with an old brush and water can solve the problem.

Had the pads been worn down, I could have bought a new set for £5 on the internet.

Cabling is another concern. Rusting or frayed ends on wires sounds serious but is a simple fix, with two metres of cable available for as little as £2 from a specialist sports parts shop such as Wiggle (wiggle.com).

again, tools are necessary, including a £5 pair of pliers to pull cabling through, plus a £3 multi-purpose bike spanner to ensure it is tied tightly at both ends.

CHECK STEERING

THERE is a danger with bikes left to rust that nuts and bolts seize or loosen over time, and Phil suggests going round the bike with a multi-tool spanner to check tightness before heading out.

a major concern is loose steering with the handlebars — this means that if you turn the handlebars, the wheels may not follow suit.

Holding the front tyre firmly between my knees, I try to move the handlebars.

If they were loose, I would have had to tighten the bolts that attach the handlebars to the stem of the front steering column using the multi-tool spanner.

■ Halfords offers a ‘free 32-point bike health check’. action group Cycle Confident promotes dr Bike pop-up events across london for free bike checks and adjustments. Visit cycleconfident.com/courses/dr-bike to see a list of events. see also cyclepositive.co.uk

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