Given the number of bikes I need to do to keep me and my household happily pedaling along, I can spend a good chunk of a Sunday afternoon with what is, for me, the pleasant task of getting things ready for the season. Note, that if you have been keeping your bike "in good nick" (as the Brits would say) you may not have to do some of the more detailed things, or may spend only a moment or two on them. Ideally, you did this stuff before putting the bike away for the winter, or have been doing it monthly if you ride in winter weather.
As time permits, I will stick in links to other articles that serve as a "how to" for the repair aspects. If you have time to peruse the best resources of bike-mechanic lore on the interwebs, you will do well to start with one of these two:
- http://www.sheldonbrown.com/ One of the wise old heads of cycling, who started putting his knowledge into basic web pages back when html was a new thing. I never met him in person, but conversed with him via e-mail and web forums, and was glad to be one of the many called "a friend of Sheldon's." His kind demeanor and willingness to help even the annoyingly clueless won him many friends, even among those who disagreed with him about some detail or another. Sadly, he first was struck with Multiple Sclerosis some years back, then passed away in 2008. However friends and family keep the site up-to-date with the latest changes in technology.
- http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help The official site of one of the big names in bicycle-specific tools, they produce some of the finest bike-specific tools available. (The only exception is the equipment produced by Campagnolo for working on their own stuff, which is both exquisitely crafted and insanely expensive, but I digress...) The link above is to their website for repair techniques.
