I always do a tuneup with a professional a week before any race...only race 2-3 times a year. Spend all year training, I want my bike in the hands of a professional before a 112 mile ride.

---

“The answer is hard work. What are you doing on Christmas Eve? Are you riding your bike? January 1st – are you riding your bike?”- Lance Armstrong

I taught myself to do a full Cervelo p2c bike tuneup about 2 years ago. Full recable, full BB stripdown, full groupset upgrade, full cockpit upgrade. Online videos were great, but dang it took a LOT of time and trial and error. I thought it would take like 5-10 hrs total to learn/do everything; turned out more like 30-40 since I literally made every mistake possible and then some.

I'm glad I did it, but in retrospect, I don't think it was worth the time investment, as I'm not that hard on my road bikes and I spend 80+% of my bike training time on a Kickr.

Ironically, I do it so infrequently that I literally forget how to do stuff and it's as much of a pain as before to do, except that I already own the necessary tools.

Before that I didn't do a recable or groupset exchange for nearly 10 years. Honestly, the bike still rode as well as it does now; there were no 'glad I looked in that!' moments even after the upgrade as everything was running fine beforehand. (I did change the chains a few times before that.)

I’ve only done a single full IM so if I do one again I probably would still take it in for that. I think for a half distance I’m on the fence. I guess I feel like if everything’s been working to leave well enough alone.

Never done a full tuneup, (except when I built up a frame, so I was doing a tuneup by default)

---

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I perform full tear-downs on my bikes annually and replace all cables/housing and regrease all bolts/threads. Is it necessary? not always, but that way I know when the maintenance has been done and it avoids frozen/seized bolts from all the trainer induced sweat. That being said, I'm a mechanical engineer and ex bike mechanic, so working on bikes is (almost) more fun than riding them :)

Do everything yourself.

About a month before a big race, I would install a new chain and cassette.

Depends on how much and what kind or road/weather you ride in.

All good answers above...For me I rebuild each bike once a year and tune up 1~2 weeks before a big race

I do a complete overhaul, replace cables and housing an install a new (waxed) chain on both road and Tri bikes each winter. After that just do periodic cleaning and adjustments as needed. Re wax chains about every 6 - 8 weeks. Also do this on the wife Tri bike as well.

---

Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
Professional Running, Cycling and Multisport Coaching, F.I.S.T. Certified
http://www.tripower.org

I had to go lookup what a "full tuneup" might even be. I came up with:

0. Clean bike.
1. Check chain, cassette, chain-rings for wear. Replace worn parts as needed.
2. Check brakes for wear. Replace pads as needed.
3. Re-cable.
3a. Adjust brakes/derailleurs.
4. Check wheels for true. replace bad spokes / nipples.
5. Check headset for wear, adjust proper preload.
6. Check bottom bracket.
7. Check all fasteners for proper torque.
8. Lube pivot points as required.

So, I do most of those "as needed" after any ride when I notice something....rather than as one scheduled mass event. That includes #1, #2, #3a, #4, #5, #6. Which I guess is why I was "confused" by the question.

The only ones that fall into an exception category might be #3, #7. But, I wouldn't re-cable right BEFORE a major event---I want time for everything to settle (housing to seat, any cable stretch or slippage that might happen, etc). I do that in the off-season, so at race time all I really might need to do is add a couple clicks to the barrel adjuster.

Before a race I only:

1. rinse bike, so it looks Purdy in Transition.
2. Clean and wax chain.
3. Check fasteners for torque.
4. Lube pivot points.

I go back and forth on how often I re-cable a bike. I'm probably more of a "yearly" guy. But, I'm not religious about it. I've definitely gone 2-3 year without much issue...and, only re-cabled it when shifting started to get sluggish, or the brake calipers wouldn't open instantly.

My road and tri bikes are both 4 years old. Neither have been re-cabled. Tri bike still shifts fine. The road bike seems to require more frequent rear indexing so it may be time. It has tiagra groupset and I’m thinking of upgrading to 105. My gravel bike is a year old. As much beating as it’s had it’s still shifting and braking well. I haven’t learned to re-cable to maybe I’ll try with the road bike.

At a race last year, my rear derailleur cable snapped while i was setting up in transition. Thankfully there was a mobile bike repair service at the race (thumbs up to Velofix!!) and there was enough time to make the repair. But now I make sure to do an off-season tune up every year covering all the major wear items.

I recently upgraded my 2005 Cannondale from a 9 Speed mixed groupset to 11 Speed 105. First time I’ve ever stripped and rebuilt a bike, and I’m happy I did - a good learning experience and the upgrade was totally worth it both in terms of cost and performance. The bike feels both completely new and completely familiar at the same time.

My tri bike is a Plasma 5. I’ll do routine maintenance, have swapped out the rear brake for a tri-rig, swapped extensions a bunch of times, etc. but I’ll still bring it to a shop I trust for a full winter break down, clean, and rebuild. I just worry I’d screw something up on that bike. Plus I race it (the road bike is just commuting and training rides).

I'd much rather it was in my own hands, considering the quality of work I've occasionally seen done to friends' bikes by the hands of a professional. I know there's plenty good mechanics, but there's bad one's too. Simply being a professional doesn't guarantee competence or quality.

I do virtually all my own maintenance. It's relatively easy, I trust my own work more, and I don't always want to be dependent on others. (Only time I've asked an LBS to do something was rebuilding a crash-damaged STI when I couldn't get parts and replacing BB bearings.)

I'm not saying you shouldn't get a mechanic to work on your bike, but I would suggest you don't assume there's some magical difference between the work you can do yourself and the work they'll do.

I'd also allow more than a week before a race, especially if you're doing anything like cable replacements. Unless there is something seriously wrong like a very worn/slipping chain, sticking/badly frayed cable, jumping gear, or obviously a puncture, I would be leaving it until after the race. A service just for the sake of it, very shortly before a race, makes no sense to me.

Servicing increases, rather than reduces the risk of failure in the short term. It's in the longer term that it's beneficial.
If your bike has been capable of surviving your training, chances are it'll be fine in the race too.

Agreed, some definite bad mechanics out there. Takes time to find one that you can trust and can give you consistent tune ups. Thankfully I have two I can go to!

---

“The answer is hard work. What are you doing on Christmas Eve? Are you riding your bike? January 1st – are you riding your bike?”- Lance Armstrong

never..

if there's something wrong with braking or shifting I notice it while riding and fix it asap.

annually and before races I'll wash the bike and inspect everything for signs of wear. Drivetrain gets cleaned and re-oiled because this makes the bike faster.

Not tri, but road STI shifters in 11spd need a new cable every 4k miles or less. Design flaw that eats the end off in the shifter.

This, for me.

I used to use Curtis Henry in Atlanta. He was/is awesome and prices were outstanding.

Then I moved and have been disappointed by the level of service/price in my current city of bike shops.

So about 4 years ago I learned how to build a bike from the ground up and have never taken anything into a bike shop after that.

My model: Clean your bike when dirty. Degrease and the oil chain. Replace anything that is broken or not working well (generally, when bearings don't feel smooth, time for replacement). Get a chain stretch tool and check your chain regularly. Replacement parts are generally cheap.

I always get compliments on how good my bikes look for their age. It comes from just taking care of them.

The secret killer of bikes is SWEAT just as much as usage. Corrodes cables, housing, brackets, screws.... and gums it up.

Depends on how many miles you do.

If you are training and racing sprints, I'd recommend once a year.

Doing a full I recommend once in the spring and if you have a late season IM, 1 month out from race.

Can't tell you how many times they pulled cables out and founds gunk, frays, rust... etc. Last thing I want on race day is a snapped cable cause I didn't see it.

---

Ryan
http://www.SetThePaceTriathlon.com
http://www.TriathlonTrainingDaddy.com
I got plans - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/...dotcom#trainingplans