What do you check before each ride?
Yesterday, I went for a day trip to Bike Park Winterberg with some friends. Naturally, I checked my bike the day before, but in all honesty, it was a quick check, a very quick check. I put some air in my tyres, tightened the bolts on my brake levers ( I almost lost a brake lever the last time I went, so yeah, that one is a must-do now ) and then I looked at my bike and thought to myself, yep that will do the trick.
And it did, mostly. Towards the end of the day, I lost nearly all the pressure in my rear brake. After fiddling around with the contact point, setting and pumping the lever more times than a raver pumps his fists at a party, I got it going again, and I could finish my day riding my bike. So what happened? Probably an air bubble that got unstuck and moved around by putting the bike vertically on the lift time after time. A bleed at home will do the trick to get rid of this, but it got me thinking.
What should you check before each ride? And what should you check before each trip?
In my former life, we used a lot of checklists at work to be sure never to forget anything important.
So I made a pre-ride checklist that everyone can use, and you can download it for free here so you can print it out and put it near your bike.
The trick to correctly using a checklist is simple. You read the line in bold, do the action, and respond by "check" to acknowledge your action. You can do this aloud or in your head.
You can save the checklist image files at the end of the article for easy access on your phone.
Pre-Ride Checklist
Before each ride
- Grips check tightened correctly and don't rotate.
- Brake Pressure check essential brake operation.
- Stem Alignment check if the stem is aligned with the front wheel.
- Dropper post check proper functioning
- Shifter and derailleur check proper shifting.
- Tyres check the air pressure in your tyres.
- Look for play check for any play in wheels, cranks, brakes, headset, and pedals since this is a good indication of loose bolts.
Pre-Trip Checklist
To be performed weekly or monthly depending on how much you ride and before more extensive trips.
- Bolts check each bolt on your bike individually and tighten them according to spec with a torque wrench. Starting with this will make it possible to check correctly for abnormal play.
- Grips check tightened correctly and don't rotate.
- Brake Pressure check essential brake operation. Bleed if necessary.
- Brake Levers check tightened correctly and don't rotate or have excessive play in levers.
- Shifter check proper shifting.
- Dropper post check proper functioning and no play.
- Stem Alignment check if the stem is aligned with the front wheel.
- Headset check for play by applying brakes and wiggling the bike front and aft
- Fork check air pressure (if applicable), leakage and play. Service if necessary
- Brake pads check for wear.
- Discs check wear and clean them.
- Saddle check for play.
- Shock check air pressure (if applicable), leakage and play. Service if necessary
- Cranks and Bottom bracket check for play and bearing wear.
- Pedals check for play and wear.
- Chainring check for play and wear.
- Chain check wear with a chain wear indicator.
- Cassette check for play and wear.
- Derailleur check for play and wear.
- Wheels check for play and if they spin smoothly and are straight.
- Tyres check for wear and pressure.
These are my checks, and if I forgot about something, which I am sure I did since I still have mechanicals all the time, let me know in the comments, and I will adapt the lists accordingly.
I hope this helps you as much as it does me, and see you on the trails!
