Learn to do your own bicycle maintenance and save big!

"Bicycle maintenance is easy with the resources you provided." You are probably dreading the thought of what is involved in the regular maintenance needed by your tandem.  

With all of those chains, extra gears, heavy duty this, beefy that. It must be a lot of extra work.  Maybe you are just the eternal procrastinator and you are putting it off because you don't have a plan.

Don't worry.  Bicycle maintenance for your tandem is no harder than any other bike and that in and of itself is really easy.  There is no magic involved in keeping your bike in top running shape.  You just need to know a few basics to do most of the work yourself.  Leave the major stuff, bleeding the brakes (if you have hydraulic) like we talk about in our tandem brakes section , truing your wheels , and rebuilding freewheels to the shop unless you are really that comfortable with the advanced stuff.

A good idea is to get your hands on a copy of this book |. It will give you a good understanding of how to do general bicycle maintenance but doesn't focus on the needs of a tandem bicycle.

Items to pay special attention to during regular bicycle maintenance:

• The timing chain
• The drive chain
• Eccentric bottom bracket
• Brake pads
• Tires
• Couplers (if a coupled tandem)

The timing chain

tool kit

The drive chain

The eccentric bottom bracket

You adjust the bottom bracket on most tandems by loosening the two set screws on the underside of the bottom bracket shell.

This bottom bracket on my Davinci tandem clearly shows those set screws.

Loosen them, rotate the bracket with a wrench until you acheive the tension as described above and tighten the set screws.  Simple.  Be sure to make this part of your regularly scheduled bicycle maintenance.

Brake Pads

With the extra weight that a tandem carries, it makes sense that the brake pads would be subject to more wear than those of a single bike. Regular bicycle maintenance must include checking your brakes pads.  On or off-road conditions can really change the wear on your pads.  This applies to both rim brakes and disc brakes.  Be sure to watch the wear on  your tandem rims if you have rim brakes.

You can see in the photo to the left the rim is split.  This is caused by high amounts of wear on the rim by the brake pads.  If you are going through pads really fast because of using a high stopping power rim brake pad that works great in the wet conditions be sure to remember than they can cause a lot of rim wear.  You really don't want a rim failure.  That would be bad.  

Tires

If your tandem is like ours, it gets ridden a bit, but the riding frequency isn't anywhere near what our single bikes see.  This can lead to some situations that you don't really see all that much on bikes that get used. If you don't ride much at all, dry rot can creep up on your tandem tires before you actually wear them out.  This can lead to a premature trip end if you don't inspect them for this.  As I mention in the bicycle tire section of this site, I have noticed that the tires on my tandems (all Continental brand) seem to wear "square".  I would put a picture of this up today but I put new tires on this year so I will have to wait for them to wear this way to post a photo of this.  Make tire inspection a regular part of your bicycle maintenance.

You are putting two times as much weight on your tandem tires so being absolutely sure they are in top condition before setting out on a ride will not only prevent an unwanted stop on the side of the road with a pair of eyeballs drilling into the back of your head (you did check the tires didn't you!  Your answer doesn't want to be "NO" in this situation.)

Couplers

note this only applies if you have a tandem "coupled" with S&S or similar couplers.  This is not normally included in most instances of bicycle maintenance.


The couplings that hold your bike together must be kept clean from all abrasive materials during assembly and use. If you do not keep them clean, the contact surfaces can begin to wear and the fit will not be precise resulting in a weakend connection. Also, if they are not kept clean the will not open and close smoothly. This will result in damage being caused to the teeth and shoulders as well as the threads.

Inspect where the couplings are brazed onto the frame at your regular bicycle maintenance times. This will ensure you are aware of the condition of the couplers and the integrity of the brazing.

Clean the couplings periodically, if you are doing regular maintenance on your chain as you should it is a good time to clean the threads also. if you detect debris inside or turning it feels rough clean it with a firm plastic brush from your tool kit or you can get one here .

1. Be careful not to push particles into the threads, retaining ring area, behind the retaining rings, or into the frame tubes.
2. Blow out the couplings with air while shaking the nut if necessary. I really don' t have to tell you to wear some sort of eye protection do I?
3. Unless you want junk down inside your frame, don' t blow the air directly down the frame tube. It will carry the grime and grit down in there. It wasn't there from the factory so you probably shouldn't put it there yourself.
4. Make sure there you do a thorough job of cleaning everything so nothing is on the threads, shoulders or teeth.
5. Total disassembly of the couplings for cleaning also works well for extremely dirty couplings.
6. Only use fluids for cleaning the couplings when absolutely necessary. Gasoline is a really bad choice unless you don't like your hands, paint job and basically anything else. Use a cleaner recommended for cleaning that won't damage the finish or your. White Lightning makes a good degreaser.
7. Make sure everyting is dry before you put the bike backtogether. Fluids should never enter the coupling bores as trapped fluids may cause damage to the frame tubes, bearings, etc.

After a good cleaning I highly recommend placing a small amount of 100% Dupont Teflon Bearing Grease , or the included special oil you got when you bought the bike from the manufacturer or builder that put the couplers on, inside the nut on the retaining ring shoulder and on the threads.

If the threads should ever feel rough when turning there is something in there, STOP!

If the nut is turning roughly, there is something in it, don't force it. Synco/Superlube will work well. Just don't use any old spray on grease.

1.Spray the fluid into the threads from both ends to be assured of adequate penetration.

2.Work the nut slowly back and forth with the wrench. For God's sake don't use pliers or a vice grip! It should begin to loosen almost immediately. If as the nut is being loosened, it begins to turn with difficulty again, reverse the direction, apply more lubricant and try again. Repeat until the nut turns smoothly and cleanly. No binding.

3.After the coupling is opened, clean thoroughly according to the above instructions. Repeat.

These are just the tandem items that you should watch on a regular basis.  I can't stress enough the need for proper bicycle maintenance. I will write more about single bike maintenance and keep adding to it. If you take care of your bike, it should last you a long time.

Tandem maintenance isn't only to protect your investment in an expensive bicycle but to also keep you safe while you are hurtling down the road with more than just yourself on the tandem. Remember, there is no I in "Team".