Tri Talk Tuesday- Bike Maintenance

Once again I'm excited to join in on Tri Talk Tuesday with Cynthia, Courtney and Miranda. For those who are new to TTT: each we several triathlon blogs get together and link up with one another to discuss a topic related to triathlons. If you got to one if the pages I mentioned above you'll be able to check out the other links. To go back and read my previous TTT posts click Tri Talk Tuesday at the bottom of this post under "label."

Thus week's topic is BIKE MAINTENANCE. I have to admit I'm not really one to be discussing bike maintenance. The extent of my "bike maintenance" goes like this: "Honey something's wrong with one of the gears on my bike!" My awesome husband is the one to fix it and if he can't, the bike gets a visit to our local bike shop. With this post I felt I should leave up to the High Gear experts so I called in Cindy Alward who runs one the best bike shops in town; Here are some important tips on bike maintenance:

• Before any event/race have your bike mechanic evaluate and adjust your bike. Make sure everything is well tuned and nothing needs replacing.
• Inspect your chain, gears, tires, etc. Last minute orders can be very stressful if you wait until the last minute before a big race.
• Check your seat pack make sure your spare tube is good. If you use co2 make sure you have plenty. Things to carry tube, tire boot, tire levers, small multi tool, patch kit. Pump/and or co2 inflater or refer to my previous post  here.
•  The night before check tire pressure (proper psi is usually stamp on tire and hard to read) clean and lube your chain (lube usually needs dry time). 
• Most importantly practice changing tire ahead of time, know how to remove and replace your wheels.

And here is a little graphic I found that will help you get familiar with all those confusing bikes terms. Start using them to really impress your friends! Thanks again to Cindy on this post and be sure and like her Facebook page! High Gear

Credit: Aaron Kuehn

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