Life In The Saddle

You have started cycling and have your first proper bike. As with many a new toy though, there are a few niggling problems—such as skipping gears, misaligned handlebars, or annoying punctures. You will need some home bicycle workshop tools—to avoid making a trip to the local bike shop every five minutes. These are your workbench essentials. Before getting on to the tools themselves, it is worth mentioning a good maintenance book—so that you have a reference point before getting to work. I have the Park Tool Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair —an in-depth tutorial of all the jobs you are likely to attempt, as well as lots of colour photos. Another excellent choice is Leonard Zinn's Art of Road Bike Maintenance and Leonard Zinn's Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance books. Make sure you know what are taking on, before you start work. In this post, I outline my recommendations for a starter bicycle maintenance tool kit. These are the kind of tools that every cyclist should have ...

Tubeless tyres offer a huge number of advantages over their tubed counterparts – including greater grip, puncture resistance, and a lower rolling resistance. To find out more about the benefits of tubeless, have a read of my post ' Going Tubeless on Road Tyres '. However, tubeless tyres can be a right pain... most notably to fit, but also when they do not seal out on the road or trails. After fitting more tubeless tyres than I care to count, and having plenty of dramas of my own, I thought I would share some Top Tips for Tubeless: for mounting, repairing and maintaining the tubeless system. 1. Mounting – Use two wraps of tubeless rim tape Most tubeless conversion kits recommend one compete wrap of the sealing tape (such as Stan's Yellow Tape). I recommend doing two wraps. You will use twice as much tape, and add a tiny amount of weight; but the added friction on the tyre bead and the better coverage of the rim bed makes it far easier to inflate the tyre. It also ...

Your bicycle chain is the link between the power you put down through the crank arms and the cogs on your rear wheel—that when turned, propel your bike forwards. That means your chain gets a tough time; it transmits all that power as it bends and stretches around your drivetrain. A bicycle chain is composed of inner plates and outer plates, held apart by pins, and with a bushing/roller on the pins that allows the chain to roll around cogs. All these metal surfaces touch each other as the chain works, which means friction. Bicycle chain lube goes a long way to helping reduce the friction on a bicycle chain (read my previous blog post on ' How to Choose Your Bike Chain Lubricant '. But, over time that friction will wear away at the inner-plates, pins and bushings of your chain, causing it to streeeetch… Chain stretch is a bit of a miscommunication of what is actually happening with your chain as it wears. Your chain does not stretch as such, but the distance between two bushings/...

There are bike racks, and there are bicycle stands. The first can be considered just a bicycle storage solution; the second doubles up to present and display you bike. The Pro Bike Tool Bike Floor Stand (for one bicycle) is a quality example of the latter; safely and securely holding your bike for presentation or storage. The collapsible bike stand uses an innovative spring-loaded three-point hold of the bicycle's wheel. You roll the front or rear wheel into the self-adapting lower cradle, and the spring-loaded arm locks around the tyre to give a secure three-point upright hold. It is a far better way of storing a bike than leaning it against a wall and it keeps delicate drivetrain and disc brake components away from potential knocks and drops. The Pro Bike Tool Bike Floor Stand is compatible with road bikes, cyclocross bikes, mountain bikes, hybrid bikes and kids' bikes—with any tyre size up to 2.3 inch. It is not recommended for heavy e-bikes though. The stand is made...

I have a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife that has featured in my 'every day carry' for almost a decade; it still performs like new and is an invaluable asset. I recently discovered that the Swiss brand makes a bike tool, and I was keen to see if it lives up to the same exacting Swiss standard. The Victorinox Bike Tool is effectively a mini socket set: the magnetic 5mm hex key detaches from the tool holder and then you fit any bit piece to it: the range includes 2-6mm hex keys, a T25 Torx key, and flat and cross-head screwdriver bits. All the bit pieces are made from high tensile stainless steel and have a very good fit in bolt heads—promising not to round off fittings, if used correctly. The body of the tool also features two clip-in tyre levers that are made from strong plastic composite, and do a good job of levering stubborn tubeless tyres from wheel rims, as well as having a nice rounded profile to protect the tube. The whole bike tool weighs just 92 grams and is 100mm ...

In my Workshop Focus series, I have so far considered Essential Workbench Tools  and Intermediate Workshop Tools ; in this post things get advanced—with wheel truing and building. It took me quite a while to pluck up the courage to give wheel truing/balancing and then wheel building a go; they are certainly two tasks that take quite a bit of time and skill. As with most workshop jobs though, wheel tuning is something that is far easier with quality tools. With this in mind, I opted for the Feedback Sports Pro Truing Stand and the Master Wheel Building Kit from Unior Tools .  The Feedback Sports Pro Truing Stand Wheel building is an art, yet the Feedback Sports Pro Truing Stand is almost a work of art in itself.  I developed a bit of a lust for this anodised red stand the moment I set eyes on it. The quality, durability and performance of the products from the American brand Feedback Sports are second to none. The Pro Truing Stand has a unique ...

In my first  Home Workshop  blog piece, I wrote about  Essential Workbench Tools  that every bike mechanic should have; whether you are new to cycling or an experienced home workshop enthusiast. In this second piece, I look at the next set of tools in the spectrum—those required to perform 'intermediate' level maintenance on your bike; such as fitting new cables, cassettes, chains, and bottom brackets. These are recommendations for products that I would add to your wish list as you become more confident at servicing your own bicycle. Workstand – Feedback Sports Sprint Workstand A workstand is a vital investment as you increase your volume of home bike maintenance; it makes jobs far easier and will save your back from constant stooping.  I reviewed the Feedback Sports Sprint Workstand  in 2013, and it has remained in my workshop to this day. It folds up super small, it is made of lightweight non-rusting aluminium, and I am a great fan of...

Can a bottle of chain lube ever be worth a 100 GBP expenditure? The new absoluteBLACK GRAPHENlube claims that yes, it can. The most scientifically advanced bicycle chain lube on sale today, this new graphene based dry lubricant can offer serious friction reduction, efficiency gains, and reduced component wear rates. Before I tell of my experiences with absoluteBLACK GRAPHENlube, here is the science bit (taken from the absoluteBLACK website)... GRAPHENlube – 5 Claimed Advantages 5 Watt efficiency gain over 900 kilometres, in dry conditions Extend the life of your drivetrain Repels water and does not attract dirt  Dry paste-like coating stays on the chain for up to 1800 kilometres in dry conditions Does not contain harmful solvents GRAPHENlube – The Development and Product GRAPHENlube is a wax-based water emulsion with a special mix of high-purity graphene. It is liquid when you apply it, but becomes almost solid when it dries on the chain. Wax-based lubricants show far greater to...