Basics – Beginner’s guide to living with a bike

First written for a talk to p4 pupils at Sciennes Primary School  in Edinburgh

Very basics

A clean bike goes faster and lasts longer

The two most important things to do to a bike

Fitting your bike

Handlebars

Gears

Brakes

Where to buy a bike

Most important thing to do with a bike

A clean bike goes faster and lasts longer – WHY?

1) Because if you wash the mud off it will be a bit lighter (but you won’t really notice the difference).

2) Because if you polish it nicely and make it shine it will reduce the wind resistance (but you won’t really notice the difference).

3) However when you clean your bike you’ll notice things that need tightening up or adjusting and you help to stop it getting rusty or corroded and also stop bits from actually failing off!

A well maintained bike should move smoothly without rattling.

The two most important things to do to a bike are –

1) Inflate the tyres to the correct pressure. Most tyres have the recommended pressure on the side, usually in psi (pounds per square inch) or Bars. (e.g. 5 Bar or 72 psi). If you don’t have a pressure gauge just make sure you (or someone else) blows them up HARD – so that it is difficult to squeeze them.

Properly blown-up tyres mean that a) you don’t have to pedal so hard as there is less rubber on the road (friction); b) the tyres don’t wear out as quickly – unless you deliberately skid; c) you are less likely to damage your rims or buckle the wheel when you go over kerbs or bumps.

2) Oil the chain. The chain is the hardest working part of the bicycle. It consists of lots of little parts that are always rubbing together. The chain is constantly twisting and turning – especially when you change gear. Sometimes you will hear the chain on a bike squeaking. That’s because it has no oil on it at all! This is not only wearing the chain out, but also all the gear sprockets and chainrings that it runs over. It’s expensive to replace all these, so it’s better to use a bit of oil occasionally.

Try not to use too much oil as it will drip somewhere it shouldn’t and get on your clothes. It will also attract dirt and dust which will also help to wear out your transmission. If you ever go cycling where it’s muddy you’ll know how easy it is for the gears and gear changers to get all gunged up. You can buy special chain cleaners which have little brushes to clean the dirt off. You could do nearly as good a job with an OLD toothbrush – but it takes longer.

There is no simple answer to keeping your chain clean and well oiled. Some oil is better than no oil, but too much can also cause problems!

Fitting your bike. Getting the right size of bike is important. If it is too small – or especially too big – it can be uncomfortable and indeed dangerous. It is quite common for children to have their seats too low – either because they feel more secure if they can get their feet flat on the ground or just because they have grown and no-one has put the seat up!

Generally, when sitting on the saddle, BOTH feet should be almost on tip-toes. It is best to adjust the saddle a few times and ride the bike until it feels right. Even 1/2cm can make a big difference to cycling comfort. If the seat is too high or too low it’s usually your knees that tell you that something is wrong. Also it is possible to adjust the angle of the saddle. Normally it is best when it is horizontal – but again the important thing is for you to feel comfortable and in control of the bike.

Photo by Jeremy Hughes ©

Handlebars can also be adjusted up or down, though there is less adjustment than for saddles. It is important that the stem isn’t raised higher than the safety limit – it would be VERY dangerous if handlebars fell out while riding!

It’s possible to get different stems that raise the handlebars higher or make them closer to (or further away from) your body. If you are buying a new bike most shops will change things like this, if necessary, to make the bike fit properly.

Gears. These are very useful but often misunderstood and underused.

How many gears do you need? Well the simple answer is one, but having a few is useful and makes cycling more fun. The difference between 18, 21, 24, 27 (or even 30) is more to do with marketing than function. Just because a bike has got more gears doesn’t mean that it is better. Many people still get about quite happily with 10 gears (normal on drop handlebar ‘racers’) or three speeds (the ordinary sort of hub gear that was invented about 80 years ago and still being made in large quantities).

As Edinburgh is quite hilly it’s useful to have low gears. The normal way of doing this is to have three chainrings on the front – the small one gives you the low gears. If there are 6 cogs on the back wheel that means that you have 18 gears (simple maths 3×6=18). But you don’t really have 18 gears as lots of ratios overlap. It’s best to think of having three sets of 6. Normally you will probably have the chain in the middle ring at the front and change the gears at the back when it gets too hard (or easy) to pedal. When you go up a steep hill move to the small ring at the front and when you want to go downhill fast try the biggest ring!

There are lots of different types of gear changer these days. Thumbshift – which is just a simple lever. Gripshift – you change gear by twisting a ring on the handlebars. “Rapid Fire” is the name Shimano gives to some of its two-lever changers.

Each type has advantages and disadvantages but its usually a matter of personal preference. So if you are thinking of getting a new bike try out bikes with different systems to find the type you like best.

Nearly all bikes now have ‘indexed’ gears, which means that when you move the lever there is a click and you should be in the next gear. Sometimes this doesn’t work. It is usually a simple matter of adjustment. Turn the knurled knob (usually anti-clockwise) where the cable goes into the rear mechanism and then try to change gear again – repeat until it works properly.

Brakes – In many ways these are even more important than gears. Going is all very well, but you need to be able to stop! The first thing to check is can you actually pull the brake levers easily? Children have smaller hands than adults. If brake levers are adjusted so that they start working too soon, small hands may not be able to pull on them hard enough. However if they don’t work until they are nearly touching the handlebars, they might not work well enough to stop the bike in an emergency.

REMEMBER always put the back brake on slightly before the front.

Where to buy a bike. This may seem obvious – a bike shop.

However bikes are sold at all sorts of places – garages, supermarkets, department stores and catalogues. There are SEVEN bike shops within a mile of Sciennes School – one even specialises in secondhand bikes. So find one where you like the service and go there. Bike shops know about bikes and can advise you on what might suit you. They will set the bike up properly before they sell it. If you have a problem you can go back and get it fixed – try that with a catalogue!

Most important thing to do with a bike – ride it.

Cycling gets you places, keeps you fit and helps you have fun. If you look after your bike properly it will be worth more when you sell it. So it should be easier to get another bike when you grow out of your present one. A good secondhand bike is often better value than a cheap new one.