Imagine, you’ve got a super duper brand new bike. But what if you end up with it after just a few days. Okay! To clear your confusion, this is to say, you must go outside with a bike so it may get dirty if you don’t take care of it periodically.
Maintaining your bike is very important after a certain period of time, especially when it’s a folding bicycle. However, our bike experts are here to tell you how to maintain folding bike properly with all necessary steps one after another. From now on, you can solve your own problems as a DIYer.
It’ll be more enjoyable and fun. In this article, we’ll look through some maintenance routines, tips, and tricks to overcome the most common issues.
How To Maintain A Folding Bike – Top DIY Tips
You can maintain a folding bike by cleaning, inspecting function & safety, and lubricating it regularly. Besides, the storage system can also help you on that as a safeguard from outer threats or physical damages in many cases.
However, to extend the life of your bike you need some routine based maintenance. The following are some top tips and guides that will keep your bike fit all the time:
1. Lubricate & Clean Drivetrain
It must be very annoying to make a squeak sound when riding a bike from its chain and sprockets. But why are you listening to that sound? Yes, you got it right! It’s rubbing the noise of grime because of particles or mud over there. The lubricants you’ve used have disappeared.
Therefore, it may mitigate your regular performance and life expectancy rapidly but the process goes gradually. What next? Noting, you’ve to replace the chain sprockets that cost more. However, you can save that money by lubricating them regularly.
So, what do you need to clean yours? It’s not rocket science! All you need is some rags, a degreger(cleaner), bike oil, a toothbrush, and sometimes you need to have a flat screwdriver. You can easily eliminate gunks and muddy substances from the derailleurs and chain. Move the chain backward and forward for an effective result.
2. Check Tire Pressure
Does tire pressure impact your bike performance? Yes, of course it matters. You should keep a proper air pressure in the tire to rule streets, it depends on what type of terrain you want to ride on. To get an accurate pressure reading you should have an ideal dial gauge. You could check it with a pencil gauge but provide poor reading, in most cases.
Remember that, you must know the max pressure level to avoid explosion or blast. Usually you’ll find that on the edge of your bike tire. It helps to keep balance traction on uneven and bumpy surfaces. We made list of air pressure level through a research:
| Types of Tire | Air Pressure (@psi) |
| Road bike | 80-120 |
| Hybrid bike | 40-60 |
| Mountain bike | 25-35 |
The air pressure inside a tire impacts speed and performance as the contact ground or surface depend on it.
3. Check Nuts & Bolts
Keep your eyes on the nuts, bolt, and screws and tight properly in case of loosening. Try to check them regularly, at least once in a week as a routine checkup. Otherwise, you might face a rattling sound in the road and that’s pretty annoying to listen to you and other people.
And one more thing, don’t forget to ask the seller about spares that are free of cost or come at a cut-price.
4. Brake Adjustment
You must be riding very fast, especially when riding an electric bike. Then, one thing you need to be very careful of is the brakes. A reliable brake lets you stop the bike effectively and accurately. But before that you’ll have to adjust the brake system in a good manner. This is very important because it involves the brake lever, handlebar, and brake pad together.
Try to check each and every component that is related to the braking system, especially while adjusting the brake pad. No matter whether it’s a disc brake or rim one. To do so, all you need to do is adjust or tighten the barrel lever. You may need to tighten or loosen the wires sometimes along with the bolts and nuts.
5. Choose A Suspension Wisely
A suspension acts as a shock absorber often and provides a great cushion for high impact. It also protects different parts of your bike and makes your journey more enjoyable. You can consider it as an extra feature and/or safety feature for taking riding to the next level. So, try to choose a bike that comes with a good suspension.
You’ll find sock absorbent at the bikes’ front fork, mid-point, and rear, so it’s your choice which one to select. Typically, regular road or city bikes don’t offer any such suspension as they’re made specially for even ground. However, most hybrid, electric, and mountain bikes offer suspension nowadays.
There are some cons too if you’re going to have a suspension installed bike like it increases a little weight load and makes performance slower.
6. Check The Lights
Check the lights you’ve in the folding bike to ensure safety especially when traveling at night. Because you won’t be able to fix it in the middle of your trip so it’s better to check after completing a trip at home. To do so, you can turn-on front and rear flash whether they’re running.
If you’ve any problem then take further action, changing the bulb, tighten wires, or adjust the lamp position. Besides, you should keep the headlight clean so you get a clear visual ahead.
Are Folding Electric Bikes Easy To Maintain?
Yes, it’s pretty easy to maintain a folding electric bike because all you’ve to think about is the motor and battery. Otherwise the rest of the components are the same aws compared to regular bicycles. However, you’ll find different variations of them with minimum feature requirements.
Final Word
Maintaining a folding bike is so important for you, some people take it as their responsibility to have a passion for it. This is important because they get dirty quick and fast and need a lot of money to spend. So, it’s better to spend that money on parts and spares. We recommend you to clean and maintain it regularly on your own.
This is why we discussed how to maintain folding bike with some clear steps that you should take into account. However, we could also write about other aspects of maintenance like horn, tires, or pedals.
If you’re really interested to know more from us please let us know your feedback below. Take care of your folding bike.
