Yup. Its that time of year where the bikes going to get grafted, things are going to break and inevitably I’m going to fall off my bike at some point. So I chose today to clean the Tern up and fix a few bits on it I’ve been meaning to do since… Well. Pre-COVID?

So I got the bike up on the bike stand, and set off to work. The plan for today was to fit the above, and give the bike a quick service and clean up.

The bolts were the first to go, I removed them, greased up the new ones and tightened them up (the old ones had loosened slightly over time and were rusty. Bit minging to look at…) I also made sure to clean the threads and the area with the GT85 spray. This is a water displacement and lubricant, so it cleans whilst protecting.

After that, I undid the brakes and whipped the wheels off. These went aside for cleaning and nut replacement later. I got to work with cleaning the bike. The reason I took the wheels off is so I can get into those hard to reach areas such as under the mudguards, behind the rear derailleur and around the V Brakes. I wasn’t going for a spotless job, just enough that the built up grime was gone and the dried up muck under the mudguards was clear.

I cleaned the rims down (use clean hot water for this if you don’t have a suitable brake surface cleaner. Soapy water can damage your pads/blocks and spread the brake residue about) with a stiff brissled brush to properly agitate the dried on brake dust. Once done, I replaced the wheel nuts and popped the wheels back on.

Now onto the brakes. The rear cable was snapped off after where it bolts down, due to many miles of my foot clipping it on the way round. PRO TIP – Always grease up the end of your new inner cable, to spread grease/lubricant throughout the inside of the outer cable. I also replaced the front one as well for peace of mind. After rebalancing the brakes I gave the gears a quick tune up.

Whenever you fiddle with your bike, regardless of how confident you are in your work – give it a test ride. A quick ride around the block with some emergency braking and quick fire gear changing, I was happy with my results. The brakes felt much smoother to pull, the gears were a little faster and it looked nicer. Anyway, see below for the photo dump!