I got a gravel bike at the beginning of the year and so far am loving every minute of it. What are the key bike maintenance items that I should be doing that may or may not be different than a tri or road bike? Also what are the frequency of those things? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I just took it in last weekend after getting several spokes fixed and they went through everything while I was there but I would like to make sure I am doing everything to keep it in good working order since it gets a bit more abuse than my other bikes.
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Re: Gravel Bike Maintenance [LSchmitt]
[ In reply to ]
Wipe the dirt off every month or so.
What was wrong with the spokes?
What was wrong with the spokes?
Re: Gravel Bike Maintenance [LSchmitt]
[ In reply to ]
A bike is a bike. For the most part, the only difference is in how often services need to be performed. Filthy conditions can cause drivetrain components like chains and cassettes to wear much more rapidly than they would in clean road rides, for example.
The added vibrations from gravel can cause rapid failure in things like poorly-mounted fenders that rattle, but that's a sort of thing that shouldn't be tolerated regardless of what surfaces a bike is ridden on.
The added vibrations from gravel can cause rapid failure in things like poorly-mounted fenders that rattle, but that's a sort of thing that shouldn't be tolerated regardless of what surfaces a bike is ridden on.
Re: Gravel Bike Maintenance [HTupolev]
[ In reply to ]
I'm in the same boat. New gravel bike last November. I find that I have to wash the bike a lot more and clean the drive train regularly. The other thing (which I haven't done yet), is check the Tubeless tires for sealent. Not sure how often that is needed. Bought the kit and sealent last week. Was told to check every 4-6 months and add more as needed. Not sure of a good way to do so.
Anyone have suggestions?
Anyone have suggestions?
Re: Gravel Bike Maintenance [velocomp]
[ In reply to ]
Re: Gravel Bike Maintenance [jimatbeyond]
[ In reply to ]
One was broken and supposedly several others that were hanging on by a thread.
Re: Gravel Bike Maintenance [HTupolev]
[ In reply to ]
This is more my concern of the drivetrain components. Currently I clean and re-lube the chain after every weekend of riding in addition to giving the bike a general wipe down. Should I be doing something with the jockey wheels, rear derailleur, hubs, etc. is what I don't know. What should I be doing to prolong the life of these items?
Re: Gravel Bike Maintenance [velocomp]
[ In reply to ]
velocomp wrote:
I'm in the same boat. New gravel bike last November. I find that I have to wash the bike a lot more and clean the drive train regularly. The other thing (which I haven't done yet), is check the Tubeless tires for sealent. Not sure how often that is needed. Bought the kit and sealent last week. Was told to check every 4-6 months and add more as needed. Not sure of a good way to do so. Anyone have suggestions?
Remove the valve core and squirt a couple ounces of sealant in.
Re: Gravel Bike Maintenance [LSchmitt]
[ In reply to ]
LSchmitt wrote:
This is more my concern of the drivetrain components. Currently I clean and re-lube the chain after every weekend of riding in addition to giving the bike a general wipe down. Should I be doing something with the jockey wheels, rear derailleur, hubs, etc. is what I don't know. What should I be doing to prolong the life of these items?Wipe the dirt off.
Re: Gravel Bike Maintenance [LSchmitt]
[ In reply to ]
LSchmitt wrote:
One was broken and supposedly several others that were hanging on by a thread.How did that happen?
Re: Gravel Bike Maintenance [LSchmitt]
[ In reply to ]
I ride gravel about 5 days a week. If it is a very dry conditions I could probably clean and lube the chain every other ride. I generally do it every other week though.
Even if I wash the bike very thoroughly, I still tend to find gravel dust in places.
Even if I wash the bike very thoroughly, I still tend to find gravel dust in places.
Re: Gravel Bike Maintenance [LSchmitt]
[ In reply to ]
Pretty much the same routine as my road and MTB bikes - wash the whole bike, deeper clean and lube the drivetrain, check everything over and adjust as needed (e.g. brakes). The gravel bike sits somewhere in the middle frequency-wise as it gets dirtier than the road bike but not as dirty as the MTB.
Re: Gravel Bike Maintenance [jimatbeyond]
[ In reply to ]
Good question that I don't know the answer to. The spoke that was completely broken broke in the middle of a ride. I took the wheel off to take it to the shop rather than taking in the entire bike. Once it was fixed they asked to bring the bike in so they could make sure the derailleur wasn't messed up but everything seemed fine there.
It just gets dirtier. I make sure to wipe the crap off drivetrain after each ride but that’s mostly it. I keep one of those pump sprayers in my car and do a quick cleaning of the bike mainly after particularly muddy rides.