Working on your bike at home can seem like a minefield. Luckily the guys from Park Tool are here to help...
Working on your bike at home can seem daunting, and we'd always recommend you take your bike to a qualified mechanic if possible. But the way things are right now means that the 'if possible' caveat is basically a deal breaker for most people, so we've pulled together some of the best instructional videos from our friends at Park Tool to help you keep your bike on the road.
First up is a fundamental skill for bike riders: how to replace an inner tube and change a tyre. This is one of the most important things to master as it's the one that'll help you get home if you're unlucky enough to puncture during a ride.
Adjusting derailleurs is one of the more common issues on a bike, and you'll know if they need adjustment if the bike stops shifting properly or you hear a lot of clicking while you pedal. Derailleurs (or mechs) need adjustment over time as the gear cables stretch, and here Calvin Jones from Park Tool shows you how to keep that front mech working.
And here is how to keep the rear mech working...
This one is for all you rim brake lovers out there. How to keep those dual pivot rim brakes working correctly.
The next two videos show you how to align your brakes if you're riding a bike with disc brakes. The first is for anyone running mechanical disc brakes, and the second is for those who have hydraulic brakes.
Park Tool have an almost exhaustive series of bike maintenance videos on their YouTube channel, which you can check out by clicking here. They cover everything from the comparatively simple things here, all the way up to more advanced tasks like bleeding your hydraulic disc brakes, servicing rear shocks on an MTB, or even removing and installing pressfit bottom brackets.
If you really want to geek out on bike maintenance, they also upload a weekly video called Tech Tuesday, which features a new tutorial every week and will hugely increase your bike knowledge.