Spring Checkup

The spring skies are spilling sun, the days are staying light longer, and bikes all over the world are being brought out of hibernation and hitting the road! If your bike's been out of commission (or even if you've been riding all winter), it's the perfect time for a little spring checkup to make sure everything will keep spinning smoothly all season long!

Pre-Ride Checklist

First thing's first, you want to make sure all the nuts and bolts are tight, the spinny bits are suitably spinny, and the sturdy pieces are reliably stable. We've whipped up a handy pre-ride checklist for you to run through to make sure everything's dialed in and ready to roll!

It's a good idea to revisit the list regularly so you never ride out on an unready bike, but it's extra important if you've taken some time off riding. You never know how many times your roommates knocked over your bike, your kids "borrowed" your brake pads, etc... 

First Year Maintenance

And if you rode all last season but hung the bike up once things got a bit sticky - you may have some maintenance waiting for you. You've probably got a week before the bike shops really get swamped with spring check-ups, so either rush over to your favorite LBS for a little spring tuning or, if you're handy with a wrench, watch Christian walk you through the most common component complaints before rolling into the new season.

(Re)Learn to Lock it Up

And once you're roll-ready, you want to make sure your ride's not going to "walk away" the first time you stop for beer, coffee, or tacos (or beer, coffee, and tacos!). Even though you'll never forget how to ride a bike, the act of locking one up effectively has the weird ability to totally slip from your mind once your holding two halves of a u-lock and staring at a web of frames, wheels, and bike rack tubing. Brush up on your lock-up knowledge, so you can relax and enjoy that mid-ride snack without the stress.

And now you're ready to hit the road! Enjoy that springtime sun, these ever-longer days, and we'll see you out there. Happy riding.