Bringing Your Bicycle Out of Storage: Bike Tune Up Checklist

You’ve had your bike in storage for awhile, and now it’s time to dig it out and take it for a spin. But before you head out on your first ride, you need to do a little spring bike maintenance.

When you bring your bicycle out of storage after months away, you may notice new rust and grim on it. You can’t ride your bike in that condition. Follow this spring bike maintenance checklist for a successful first ride.

Spring Bike Maintenance for Your First Ride

1. Give your bike a thorough cleaning.
Keeping your components rust-free helps to lengthen the life of the parts. A longer life for your bike gears means more rides for you and less time in the shop. Use a basic cleaner in water, toothbrush and dry rag to clean the bicycle’s body. Use the rag and cleaner to wipe down the body but be careful to use minimal water. If there are any stubborn spots, use the toothbrush.

2. Complete a tune up.
If you know how to do this, then you’re set. If not, take your bike to a bicycle repair shop. A bike tune up generally includes:

• An alignment check of gears and derailleurs.
• A check of the drive chain for kinking or stretching.
• Wear and grip check on brakes.
• A tire inspection for wear and cracks.
• A wheel and frame alignment.
• Adjustments for cables.
• Tightening headstock, seat and any bolts so there’s no movement.
• Applying oil and grease to moving parts.

A tune up is designed to get your bike in perfect working order. If you store your bike for any length of time, you should do this after each storage.

3. Fill your tires.
If you don’t opt for a professional tune up or they don’t do it during the tune up, fill your tires. This may seem obvious, but you may not think about it until it’s time for a ride. During any cold weather, the air compresses, dropping the PSI in your tires. When you get your bicycle back out, you should notice that the tires are flat. If it’s not visibly noticeable, press your thumb firmly against the tire. Any give means it needs air.

4. Test your breaks.
This is also completed during the tune up process, but you should always double check it. You don’t want to try to slow down while on a hill, only to find that your breaks are worn down. Check to see if they are still intact and that there are no scraping sounds.

5. Ride your bike frequently.
When you ride your bike often, it helps to keep rust from building up. While you should perform a tune-up on your bicycle every year, this helps to prevent more frequent repairs.

Returning Your Bike to Storage with Find Self Storage

When you store your bike again for the off season, you want to choose a storage facility that’s right for you. Find Self Storage offers a storage guide to help you find what you need. Conveniently located in Texas and Louisiana, we position ourselves as experts in storage in the US South.

Reserve a storage unit with Find Self Storage today!