Fixing up your bike is important and, in the long run, it can save you a lot of money. Just like with any type of maintenance, there are some things that you don’t hate, or maybe that you even enjoy doing. But there are others that you put off doing for as long as possible.
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Unlike quite a lot of people, I actually enjoy cleaning my drivetrain and bleeding hydraulic brakes, remotes and the lot. Maybe it’s that I like to get a bit greasy, or that I crave the sense of accomplishment you get when your cassette's so clean you could eat off it. I love the rush of relief when your chain runs totally silent and that sponginess in your brakes is no longer there.
I don’t mind pulling apart bearings for an overhaul or running new cables and housing, even when it comes to expletive-inducing internal routing, which is becoming the norm. Heck, I even like setting up tubeless tires – but I think that’s mostly because it means I get to play with an air compressor.
One thing I really hate doing
No, the maintenance that I despise is not some complex procedure that requires lots of technical skill, laser-focused concentration or specialised tools that I probably don’t own or know how to use.
The maintenance that I hate doing probably is one of the least technically demanding aspects of bike maintenance there is.
The job that I deplore more than any other aspect of bike maintenance, is... wrapping bar tape. And I suck at it!
No matter how many times I do it, I can never get the spacing of the wraps even. It takes me about a million tries to get the hoods right, as without fail I wrap it backwards so the tape is self-loosening rather than self-tightening and I have to start over. I can never get finishing strips/electrical tape to look neat, either.
Maybe I'm just overly pedantic but I aways dread the day when my bar tape becomes a bit too worn and needs to be replaced. Hence why I usually use black bar tape.
What about you? Do you have the same aversion to wrapping bar tape that I do? Or is it internal cables, overhauling bearings or truing wheels that make you want to want to blow a gasket?
What bike maintenance do you put off as long as possible or just plain hate to do? Let us know in the comments.