If you ride around on a single speed bike or a BMX, then once every one to two years you need to replace the freewheel cog. It became apparent that my freewheel needed replacing on my bike after I kept hearing a clonking sound, each time I’d be ...
Bicycle maintenance
How to restore your old bike
Not all Londoners have access to a brand new, top of the range bicycle. Many, have a 10 year old hand me down mountain bike from their sister. One such person is my friend Laura. She recently asked me: What do you think of the bike? As someone who ...
When Should You Replace Your Bike Chain? Chain Wear Advice
Like it or not, bike chains “stretch” over time. Only by a small amount, but multiply that by the number of times each link passes over your chainrings, cassette and jockey wheels and you’ll quickly wear them out, if you don’t regularly replace your ...
Give your bike a comprehensive service and clean for 50% less than what most cyclists would pay
Just a few months ago I had a bike that was: Squeaking each time I pedalled up hill With brake pads that needed replacing A wobbly back wheel Full of road muck that I hadn’t found the time to clean off. Then, I took it in for a visit at Lunar ...
Five of the Most Common Bike Maintenance Tools You’ll Need
If you want to be able to look after your bike yourself, you’ll need a basic set of tools to start off with. Allen Keys Also called hex keys, Allen keys are an essential for bike maintenance. Everything from adjusting your brakes, to tightening ...
The tennis ball trick for single speed bikes
This is one of those little bike maintenance tricks that I just had to share! For a while I struggled with punctures on my single speed bike. The problem was, it was difficult to pull the wheel back to get the chain adequately tensioned and at the ...
Replace gear cable
Over time gear cables can stretch. This will make gear shifting less smooth. If your shifting is feeling sluggish then it can be a good idea to replace the gear cable. Note that it’s very important to not attempt this repair with a cheap pair of ...
Bottom Bracket Removal Guide
One of the repairs being added to our Bike Doctor app (iPhone and Android) is how to remove your bottom bracket. Why, oh why, would you want to do that? The bottom bracket is often the source of many irritating creaks on your bike. If you hear ...
Stopping your bike from squeaking
A persistent squeak, creek or click can be a torturous experience for a cyclist. All bikes suffer from them, from time to time and they are a good wake up call that something isn’t quite right. Today, I’ll be sharing part of the maintenance section ...
What goes in to a bike service?
Today, I took my bike in to Lunar Cycles to discover what goes in to a bike service. Something that has always been a bit of a mystery to me. This is the service frequently used bikes should have at least once per year. Lunar Cycles charge £65 for ...
How to Clean Your Rims and Brake Pads
If your bike is anything like mine then after a couple of bike rides in the rain, the rims and brake pads will be fairly caked in road muck. This greatly reduces braking performance and speeds up the wear on the rims and the pads. To get them ...
The London Cyclist guide to cleaning your bike even when you’ve not got the room to do it
Keeping your bike clean when you’ve not really got the room to do it is a pain. However, it is something that should be in your calendar at least once a month. It should be one of those things, you shouldn’t even think about having to do. “Oh, it’s ...
How I learnt to love punctures
I’ve never been a big fan of getting a puncture. I prefer to blissfully ignore the fact that it is an inevitable part of cycling. However, on a recent rainy ride, after 6 months free of punctures, they caught up with me with a vengeance. With my ...
Bike lube: What’s all the fuss?
Keeping your bike well lubricated is probably one of those maintenance tasks that too frequently gets forgotten. But why does it matter? Which lubricant should you be applying? How frequently? Where? How much lube does a bike need? Why should I ...
Free bicycle maintenance classes in London
If you want to learn the basics to bicycle maintenance then a number of free courses and workshops exist in London. They can help you reduce the cost of your bicycle maintenance by completing basic tasks such as replacing brake pads. Below is a ...
5 big sticking points that put people off maintaining their bikes themselves
Recently, we ran a survey on the topic of bicycle maintenance. I wanted to know more about readers thoughts so I can better serve them on this blog. The results of the survey are private (won’t be shared with any nasty marketers etc.) but I wanted to ...
I need your help: 4 minute survey (finished)
Ever so often I like to reach out to readers of London Cyclist to hear about their feelings on a certain topic. In the past that has led to the London Cycle Routes eBook which was highly requested. This time I’d like to find out everyone’s thoughts ...
Setting up your bike for winter
Winter cycling needs no introduction. It’s chilly and demotivating at times. But most of all, it’s a whole lot of fun, just like cycling the rest of the year. To keep riding through our English winter a few simple tweaks to your bike will make things ...
Best bicycle toolkits
If you are getting more into your bicycle maintenance you’ll quickly discover you need a few extra tools that are not included in your standard B&Q toolbox. Especially when it comes to more advanced maintenance tasks such as hub bearing ...
Suspension fork sag adjustment
One of the new repairs shortly coming to Bike Doctor is suspension sag adjustment. This is something that all mountain bike riders should do on a new mountain bike to account for their weight and riding style. It should also form part of an ...