Saturday, July 8, 2023 at 9am
Vineyard Hill Reservation - Greenbelt
681 Asbury Street
Hamilton MA 01982
There are no restrooms at the start.

Bathrooms are at Bradley Palmer about 1.5 miles away on Asbury Road

NSC brings you a members only hands-on bike maintenance program by Guenther Anger of Abbey Velo Mobile Bike Services limited to 25 participants.

Our idea is to make the program hands-on (bring your own bike), especially to practice a pre-ride checkover routine, rear wheel removal, and how to fix a flat. We plan to cover issues that commonly occur on a ride (flats, dropped chain, stuck shifting, loose parts, etc.) as well as basic maintenance to do at home. 

Bring: your bike, a multitool, tire levers, spare tube, mini pump or compressed air, floor pump, chain oil and a rag.  Sealant and valve core remover if you have one. 

Here’s a rough program:

1. Practice the pre-ride checkover (ABC quick check) - check Air, tires and wheels; both Brakes levers and pad contact; Chain is in gear and check for lube, QR closed, any loose parts or bags. Check for rattles like a loose headset or bottle cage.

2. What to carry on a ride: multitool, tire levers, spare tube, plug kit for tubeless, mini pump, optional CO2, optional sealant and valve tool if tubeless. 

3. Practice: rear wheel removal.  

4. Practice: fixing a flat (tubed tire) and what to do if tubeless. Tight tire removal and installation tricks. Guenther’s recommendations for when to run tubeless.  

5. Practice: replacing a dropped chain, proper chain maintenance -  lubes, how to oil, drivetrain wear 

6. Verbal review: Wrenching - how tight is right? What’s a torque wrench? Did one come with your bike? Especially important for 5Nm carbon seat posts, stems on carbon steerers, handlebars. Some things are meant to give in a fall, for example brake lever bodies. 

7. Verbal: noisy brakes. Caliper brakes - pad wear, alignment and replacing pads, cable tension, Disc brakes: cleaning rotor, alignment issues, pad replacement 

8. Verbal: derailleurs - limit screws, slipped shifter cable, tension adjusting barrel, what to do if stuck electronic shifting

9. Verbal - basic home maintenance - chain (above), replacing tires and checking rim tape, washing and drying bike, clean rotors and check caliper wear, removing rotor calipers, YouTube resources 

10. Verbal - When is it time for a bike shop or mobile repair service? 

11. Questions