Who checks their bike before a ride?

[pwa]

Rolling quite fast (about 45mph) down a longish hill the other day it suddenly dawned on me I'd not checked the skewers or nipped the bolts on the brakes for a long, long time. So I pulled over, and sure enough the front skewer was loose enough it could've popped the wheel out of the safety retainers at any time...

Does anyone give their bike a good once over every time they ride out? Paranoia has gripped me and I've checked just about every bolt and nut on the bike, twice! Is it only me!

How do you end up with a Quick Release skewer in place but not secured? Don't you always secure it when you pop the wheel in, automatically? That is one thing I never need to check on my bikes. When I reach for the lever of a QR I just hope I haven't done it up so tight that it is a struggle to release. But I only ever use the standard Shimano QRs, which have proved very reliable over many years. If you use a QR that needs constant checking, I'd swap it for something better.

Edit. I've just seen your post about your titanium QR skewers and their quirks. My view is that the weight loss isn't sufficient to justify the reduction in safety. There may be a very good reason that Shimano QR skevers aren't any lighter than they are.

[Dingdong]

Of course the above doesn’t consider tampering; that hasn’t been a concern for me for a very long time but there are ‘foolish folk’ who, for what ever reason, are glad to place others in danger. There are occasions and places where an extra check over before use is wise.

There’s always a degree of luck in life, but minimising the odds helps. YMMV.

You're not wrong! I left my bike outside a cafe one time and came back to find my front tyre down and my rear cantilever unhooked. I only noticed the brake just as I was about to set off! I'm kind of hoping it was a potential thief who was unhappy not to get their mitts on my shiny new bike, and not some local lunatic...

[deeferdonk]

my go to bike has a couple of foibles that mean i check it more than i would otherwise.

Its an alfine hub gear and the bolts on the rear wheel have a habit of coming loose over time so they get a check and nip with a spanner occasionally before a big ride. Also the crank bolts have previously come loose so i'll have a go at them at the same time.

[Stevek76]

The first way is constant monitoring; whilst cycling, and even when just looking at it, I’m mentally checking that everything looks right and is operating as it should.

Glad I'm not the only one doing this! I've always found it's fairly apparent if somethings working loose.

Never bothered with loctite though, I used to just standard grease on stuff like that to stop it seizing though finally got some copper paste more recently. The only things that I've fitted that I've had work loose that shouldn't (i.e. not freshly installed shimano cranks or the similar pinch style mechanism on stems where a retighten after a bit of riding is advised and expected) is the various pivots on my full sus MTB, should really look up the correct torque for those, suspect I'm babying them a bit. And when they have they're immediately apparent when moving the bike as there's slight 'play' in the rear half the bike when lifting it from the ground.

Of course the above doesn’t consider tampering; that hasn’t been a concern for me for a very long time but there are ‘foolish folk’ who, for what ever reason, are glad to place others in danger. There are occasions and places where an extra check over before use is wise.

Even there I can't think of anything tampering that might result in critical failure that isn't obviously apparent within the initial process of getting the bike out form the stand, wheeling it around and possibly cycling a few meters to a main road.

I don't think I've ever got on/shuffled about/got comfortable without holding both brakes at some point, flats are obviously (and depressingly ) visible simply approaching the bike, loose wheel QRs/axles clear when moving the bike.

[Jupestar]

Pretty much still do the ABCD I was taught at school.

Air, Brakes, Chain, not sure anymore what D stands for. Maybe its 'Drop' as thats what i pretty much do.

It takes about 5 seconds and generally can be done while wheeling the bike round the side of the house.

I drop it from about 5 inches and check nothing rattles, then a bit harder on the front to ensure the cockpit/headset areas is not rattling or moving. Tap the chain with my foot to check it's taught and won't drop off (single speed/IGH). Wheel the bike a bit faster and then lift it to check wheel spin freely, then pull both brakes to make sure nothing blocking the pads. I used to always check brake pad alignment to make sure it was not hitting the tire at all, but disc brakes have eliminated that one.

I rarely ride the derailluer bikes if i do its generally a day out, so i take them on a litte test ride, and check everything the day before.

Regarding the QR skewer, i noticed my sons coming open a few times. I worked out it was only happening at the school bike rack, I then
noticed that it was happening to all the bikes on the wheel facing the path Clearly tampering. Lovely.

[Philip Benstead]

Pretty much still do the ABCD I was taught at school.

Air, Brakes, Chain, not sure anymore what D stands for. Maybe its 'Drop' as thats what i pretty much do.

It takes about 5 seconds and generally can be done while wheeling the bike round the side of the house.

I drop it from about 5 inches and check nothing rattles, then a bit harder on the front to ensure the cockpit/headset areas is not rattling or moving. Tap the chain with my foot to check it's taught and won't drop off (single speed/IGH). Wheel the bike a bit faster and then lift it to check wheel spin freely, then pull both brakes to make sure nothing blocking the pads. I used to always check brake pad alignment to make sure it was not hitting the tire at all, but disc brakes have eliminated that one.

I rarely ride the derailluer bikes if i do its generally a day out, so i take them on a litte test ride, and check everything the day before.

Regarding the QR skewer, i noticed my sons coming open a few times. I worked out it was only happening at the school bike rack, I then
noticed that it was happening to all the bikes on the wheel facing the path Clearly tampering. Lovely.

D=direction = handalbars
Also
Dangles= Shoelaces or trouses bottoms

[Cugel]

Up to now my routine has been similar to that described by PH above, and I have a habit of checking over the bikes of other members of the family as I take them in and out of the shed for them, but having read Cugel's post I'm now considering investing in an ultrasonic flaw detector, weld x-raying equipment, an endoscope to look for internal corrosion (my bikes are steel framed), and any other NDT gear I can lay my hands on.

I recommends none of the above, as the user will only accidently set fire to hisself and perhaps the bike.

Instead, you must develop the sensitivity of that princess who detested the feel of a pea in her posterior, through the 10 feather mattresses. The feels coming off a bike, through feet, hands and erse, can tell you a lot about an impending doom developing in your parts (not those parts). Also, there are certain noises a poorly bicycle makes ..... .

In addition, one must study basic mechanics and perhaps also physics, even chemistry, which can help one's mentals grasp an impending mechanical doom early enough so that it can be fettled away with nowt but an allen key.

Don't fall off and bang your bicycle, either. As I always advise, if you will insist on falling off then thrust your nice squashy body atween that unforgiving road and your bicycle, as your gravel rash will mend itself whereas the bike-bangs only give it an excuse to snap unexpectedly when you thrust hard at it, later on, the rascal.

Cugel, now arranging a sacrifice to the fault-inducing gremlin to avoid it picking on me and my bicycles.

[Dingdong]

I have a friend insists on riding a 1980s Raleigh Record with a crack halfway through the tube where it meets the head tube. He insists that because it's 'been that way' for forty years, it's perfectly safe to do so. When asked what would happen if it went going downhill his answer is usually along the lines of:

'Steering probably get a bit wobbly'...

[ANTONISH]

No
I'll give the tyres a squeeze. The brakes get checked when I get to the junction at the end my cul de sac.
If something isn't right I'll almost certainly know by the time I get to the main road.
Not been a problem in 50 years.

That's about all I do - useful bit of road a cul de sac.

[ANTONISH]

From a race mechanic friend I heard a story of a lad whose Carbon forks snapped in a ferocious sprint finish and in a freak accident he was impaled on the blades. Lived to tell the tale.

This urban myth first came around when aluminium frames became popular

[Biospace]

The feels coming off a bike, through feet, hands and erse, can tell you a lot about an impending doom developing in your parts (not those parts). Also, there are certain noises a poorly bicycle makes ..... .

It's always a surprise to me how few people are sensitive to anything mechanical. Or natural for that matter, people seem to walk around with eyes and ears closed. They don't even seem to recognise real comfort.

I drop it from about 5 inches and check nothing rattles, then a bit harder on the front to ensure the cockpit/headset areas is not rattling or moving. Tap the chain with my foot to check it's taught and won't drop off (single speed/IGH). Wheel the bike a bit faster and then lift it to check wheel spin freely, then pull both brakes to make sure nothing blocking the pads. I used to always check brake pad alignment to make sure it was not hitting the tire at all, but disc brakes have eliminated that one.

Yes, I do this. And apply the front brake and rock against the resistance, which shows up a whole host of problems, should they exist.

[Cugel]

The feels coming off a bike, through feet, hands and erse, can tell you a lot about an impending doom developing in your parts (not those parts). Also, there are certain noises a poorly bicycle makes ..... .

It's always a surprise to me how few people are sensitive to anything mechanical. Or natural for that matter, people seem to walk around with eyes and ears closed. They don't even seem to recognise real comfort.

We are the sensitive ones. In truth, I've always been a bit of princess when it comes to discomfort, especially the serious sorts from gravel, car bumpers and the savage denizens of low-life drinking 'oles.

It's true, though, that we modern folk are induced from birth to assume that all is safe and well. Modern society seems obsessed, at times, with removing the smallest of dangers. Yet there are vast exceptions, not least of which are cars, booze and several other dangerous things allowed to roam our society. Can it just be by chance that all of them seem to be associated with some greedy ghark making mountains of money?

Anyroadup, I dislike discomfort and abhor any kind of pain, so I'll be checking for them mechanical nasties, crazed motorcar drivers, addictive substances and habits and a whole load of other life-prangers, as I go about. Happily, such cautions can become habitual and so hardly noticed as one pedals here and there.

Cugel

[Audax67]

Day before I do tyres, skewers occasionally, chain lube every 500k or when the FD gets disobliging. Nowadays I also check the headset bearing 'cos it's getting a bit brinneled, nothing critical yet and I want to keep riding so I live with it.

[Cowsham]

I hit so many thorns the skewers get checked regularly

[grufty]

Check tyres, chain and brakes every day.

Recently I have noticed many people riding ebikes with soft tyres, particularly on the rear.