Winter Bike Servicing

Preparing Your Bicycle for Winter Riding

As summer ends and autumn begins, it's important to prepare your winter bike for the colder season ahead. If you only have one bike, then it's even more important to take the time to have it professionally serviced before the salty roads and wet weather take their toll!

Here are our top four reasons to get your winter bike serviced before the summer ends:

Safety First!

Winter riding often means encountering challenging conditions and it's crucial your bike is performing at its best throughout the winter months for your own safety and those around you. During servicing, a professional mechanic will inspect your tyres, brake pads and drivetrain components for wear and replace them with parts appropriate to the conditions where necessary. They'll also ensure that your brake and gear cables are properly tensioned and adjusted for optimal control. We can advise you - based on your daily mileage and the current state of your bike - of a good time to book your next service.

Address Potential Issues Before They Escalate

A worn brake pad may seem like a small issue, but it can quickly turn into a very dangerous and expensive one if the pad backing comes into contact with your wheel or brake rotor. The same goes for a slightly bent derailleur hanger, worn wheel rim or a fraying brake cable. We pay close attention to these smaller things spotting what the average cyclist might not - hopefully helping you to avoid expensive knock-on costs and keeping you and your family as safe as possible.

Fine-Tune Your Gears for Smooth Shifting

Especially in the winter when visibility, conditions (and quality of driving!) can all be at their worst, its really important that you can select and shift to the gear you need quickly and easily. It doesn't take much to knock a derailleur out of line and while the gears might just not feel “quite right”, the results can be catastrophic! As part of every service, we perform a precision indexing of your gears to get them working as well as they can. We align the hanger using the proper tools and set the limit screws to ensure there is no way the chain can jump off the cogs.

Ensure Visibility and Lighting

With shorter daylight hours during winter, evening commutes, and early morning bike rides often either start or end in darkness. It's crucial to have effective lighting on your bike at all times and too often the “flat battery” is used as an excuse. We can test your batteries for “juice”, charging them or fitting replacements if you wish. We supply a range of lighting products to suit your budget and cycling habits. We can source high visibility clothing too so please get in touch if you want to make yourself unmissable this winter!

Get Your Winter Bike Serviced Before the Summer Ends!

As people get back from their holidays and school starts up, we often see a rise in demand for servicing. By servicing your bike in August you can often get a quicker lead time and turnaround. Not only that, if you're ahead of the curve you know your winter bike is ready and raring to go as soon as you need it. There's nothing worse than getting on your bike in autumn, only to be reminded of how bad it was riding when you put it away in the spring and having to sit on a steamy bus while it's being serviced!