Home bike checks with Park Tool

Home bike checks with Park Tool

Keeping your bike working properly from home isn't that hard, but it doesn require a little bit of work. Whether that's maintenance or prevention, spending some time looking after certain details will mean that you bike stays on the road performing as it should for as long as possible. We've gathered a few more of Park Tool's fantastic videos here that touch on a couple of different ways to see whether your bike needs some care and attention, all without leaving the garage. 

Cable Creep

Over time, the cable on your bike stretch and the housing begins to wear from the strain and movement of the cables being shifted. When the housing starts to creep at the ends, the wire part of the housing is exposed from the casing and that can begin to rub on the cable themselves, which will shorted their lifespan. In the video above, Calvin Jones from Park Tool shows you a couple of easy ways to check on your cable housing and decide whether it needs replacing. 

Loose hubs

Every now and then most bikes develop some kind of noise. Not only are noisy bikes incredibly annoying (ask your riding buddies if you don't believe us!) but noise is almost always a sign that something is a little off and, if left that way, can eventually cause wear or damage. A loose hub has the potential to throw some quite important aspects of a bike like disc rotor alignement or rear shifting, but checking the rear hub when those symptoms occur isn't always the first place you look. Here the guys from Park Tool show you how to identify and remedy a loose hub. 

Bedding in disc brakes

Continuing on the disc brake theme, anyone who's ever jumped on a brand new disc-equipped bike, or tried a bike with brand new rotors and pads has had the sensation that the braking is a bit, well, underwhelming. That's because new disc brakes need to go through a process called 'bedding in' which is essentially transferring some of the pad onto the surface of the rotor, and also removing and residue that might be on the new rotor. Doing that dramatically increase braking performance and means that your brakes will be operating exactly how they're supposed to. Watch the guys from Park Tool demostrate the way to bed in brakes in the above video. 

If you're enjoying the Park Tool videos and find them useful, head over to Park Tool's YouTube channel where there are literally hundreds of informative and practical videos on bike maintenance. They've even sorted the Repair Help videos into separate playlists in case you need a bit of advice to get your bike back on the road again. 

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