New Bike Day

After bringing the new bike home these are the things one should do right away. Get a proper fit of the saddle. Once done, put a permanent marker around the neck of the collar on the seat post. If the seat post is black get an electrical black tape and wrap it there. Apply a thin coat of grease from this point down to the end of the tube. And fit it properly. Once every six months, take the seat post out, regrease this portion - whether you ride or not - and fit it back on. All you need is a 5 mm Allen key. This should be done so that the seat post does not seize. It becomes impossible to take the post out. 

You should probably instal the pedal before this. Because without pedal you cannot get a bike fitted to your size. And modern bikes don't come with their saddle installed. If you are a rookie buyer, buying from a shop, they will likely instal a very cheap pedal. Please take it off. Put some grease on the axle of the pedal and instal it again. Do this every six months. That is, take the pedals off. Clean the axles. Grease them. Reinstall them. If you ride very frequently do this at least once a month. The idea again is to ensure that they don't seize. You will need a sliding wrench, if not the dedicated pedal wrench.

Take out all the rivnuts from the bike. These are the nuts pre-installed on the bike's frame for after market attachments like bottle cage, fenders, racks etc. They are variously known as rivnuts, braze-ons, bosses etc. Depending on your bike you might have plenty of them. Take them off one by one. Apply a thin coat of grease and put them back on. Don't tighten them too hard unless installing something. Keep cleaning and greasing them once in six months. The idea is to ensure they don't seize. If they seize it becomes a very invasive procedure to take them out. This might even affect the frame of your bike. (I learnt it the hard way).

 

If you want you might replace the factory fitted bolts to stainless steel bolts, if the originals are not SS. You need a 4 mm Allen key to do this job.

You might want to follow the same with the stem bolts also. I do it once a year though. 

Now lube up the chain. I would assume the shop has put some lube. Unless it's a very reputable shop or has come factory sealed in a box from some renowned brand, degrease the chain, wash it clean, dry it thoroughly, lube it up properly, let the lubricant sit overnight, clean it up with a rag. It might sound counter intuitive but clean up the excess lube stuck on the external walls of the chain. The lube should be inside. Not outside. Never put lube without thoroughly cleaning and degreasing it first. Always apply lube on a dry chain.

Clean the chain, sprockets and the chain rings every week or so if you ride every day. Otherwise once every month. Good brand named chains don't rust even if they are left idle for a very long time. Cheap chains rust up very soon. Throw such chains out.

If I am riding on wet roads I lube up the chain every week and clean it thoroughly once a month or so. By thorough cleaning I mean individually cleaning each and every notch/tooth of the sprockets and chain rings. I am yet to take my chain completely off the bike and give it a thorough bath. I have ordered for the tool to do it.

I have used the term grease for the bolts and seat post etc. Ideally you should use an anti-seize compound. But they aren't easily available in India (there is an Indian brand Petreplus available on Amazon but I don't trust Indian manufacturers unless they represent a big long established brand). I guess Park Tool is sold by Happy Earth but they are very expensive. I keep a small tub of Castrol all purpose automotive grease. These are available in any large petrol pumps. 

These are the most basic new bike preps. They sound very elaborate but should not take more than half an hour to do the complete job.