Racing Ironman Florida and I’m curious what everyone else does with regard to a pre-race tune-up.
Perhaps it is because Florida is my first, but I’m thinking of doing a full overhaul with new cables etc (im overly afraid something will go wrong that will end my day). I’m not mechanically inclined, please share what your typicaly pre-race tune-up looks like!
New tires w/ 50ish miles on them. Lube your chain.
There shouldn’t need to be a major overhaul before race day - especially if your bike works fine. I figure the less I mess with, the less there is for me to screw up before race day.
I do like to have a professional do a quick tune-up before the start of the season and then I can make little tweaks when needed.
I do a minor tune up 2 weeks before a big race and will put new tubes/tires on shortly thereafter. The tune up just gets the drive train dialed in, lube up everything, and a wipe down to look pretty. If the chain is up there in miles, I’ll swap that as well, as $30-40 is worth avoiding a chain issue during the race.
If you are going to do an overhaul, do it a few weeks out at least. You will want to make sure all of the cables stretch properly and that the shifting/brakes work correctly. The only way to do this, in my opinion, is to go on a longer ride where you put the bike through its paces. New cables stretch out a bit and may need some additional tweaking after the overhaul, so just keep that in mind.
I’m a big believer in “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Before most races (and after any kind of dirty/nasty weather riding) I wash my bike, clean the drivetrain, lube the chain, polish the frame, and check everything over including the tires. In fact, I’ve had my used bike a whole season now and haven’t had it tuned up. It’s running great. Big knock on wood…
I train all year then put on a new cassette and chain and shifter cables on three weeks before IM. I figure a few thousand miles for cassette and chain they probably should be replaced. I had one chain break years ago going up Richter pass and once had the shifter cable break in a half.