Mountain Bike Maintenance: Basic Procedures

There are a few general things about the engineering of bikes you should know before you begin working on them. I will discuss some basic procedural rules to follow to make things easier on you.

First, make sure to grease all mating surfaces. These include threads, the handlebar stem where it fits into the frame and the seatpost where it goes into the seat tube. Grease stops corrosion and makes things easier to move. The only exception to this is on the surfaces where the cranks fit on the axle; these should never be greased.

Threads are right-handed. With the exception of the fixed cup, left hand pedal, and some internal threads in some Shimano pedals, all bike threads screw in clockwise and unscrew anticlockwise. Practice screwing and unscrewing a simple part like a bottle boss bolt until you can accomplish it without even thinking about it.

Keep things neat and tidy. Clean tools, clean bike parts and especially clean lubricants, all make for longer-lasting, more successful repairs. Don't let your tool-box get full of crud, and if your tools get greasy while in use, wipe them off with degreaser at the end of a session. If your grease gets contaminated, chuck it away and buy a new tub (better yet, use a grease gun or tube of grease). Get into the habit of always ptuting tools back in their place as you use them, and dividing your tool-box up according to which tools go where. A bit of order and tidiness makes any job much easier.

If you're confident enough in your abilities, you might want to investigate the use of Loctite thread-locking compounds instead of grease in placements like cantiever brake anchor bolts. These anaerobic glues hold threads well enough so that they cannot shake loose, yet will still come undone when you need them to. Use light grades like 222 and 242 as some of the higher grades are practically permanent. A good tool shop will be able to give you further advice on the matter.