Claremont Cycle Depot: bicycles & sporting goods

Let Claremont Cycle Depot service your bike

While you can do many bicycle repairs yourself, often you need specialized tools and knowledge to complete the repair. A lot of the time it just isn’t practical or economical to do it yourself. That’s where we come in. We already have the tools, knowledge and spare parts to do what you can’t do, or shouldn’t try.

Tune-ups

Sometimes it makes sense to have a mechanic go over your bike from top to bottom. There are three types of tune-ups that we do:

Inspection

• Adjust gears
• Adjust brakes
• Torque key bolts
• Inflate tires
• Lube chain
• Test ride

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Tune-up

• Inspection (see above)
• True front wheel
• True rear wheel
• Adjust wheel hub cones (if present)
• Adjust bottom bracket

Overhaul

• Tune-up (see above)
• Clean drivetrain
• Repack bearings in bottom bracket, hubs and headset as applicable

For prices on these or for our complete bike repair price list, please stop in or call us.

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Maintain your bike

Everybody gets the urge to just hop on the bike and take off on the first epic ride of the season. But if you haven’t checked a few things on your bike since you put it away last fall, you might be in for a long walk home, or worse.

The most important thing you can do, both from an inconvenience standpoint AND from a safety standpoint, is to check your tires. Besides you, your bike tires are the most fragile thing on a bicycle. They can easily be cut by road/trail debris, wear out when you’re not paying attention and land you in the hospital if they suddenly fail. Here’s what to look for:

Cuts

Glass and sharp stones are the worst culprits, and they can end your ride immediately or a week later. A cut through the fabric of the tire will stop you on the spot, while a cut that only goes through the tread will allow sand and other smaller objects to eventually cut through the fabric. Once the fabric is cut, the tube blows out through the hole. Check the sidewalls, too.

Foreign objects

Look for particles of sand or small pieces of glass embedded in the tread. More than likely, they will eventually work their way into the tire causing a flat. Carefully remove them. If the resulting hole looks bad, try filling it with Shoe Goo or Liquid Rubber.

Worn out tread

There’s a misconception that tires designed for the road should have tread. While a tread design is necessary for off-road bicycle tires, for the most part it only serves as a wear indicator on road tires. Some tires start out with little or no tread pattern at all. Just like automobile racing tires, it’s the rubber compound that actually provides the traction.

So how do you check wear? If there is/was a tread pattern, you can judge wear by that. Otherwise you have to compare the thickness of the tread rubber with a new (or newer) tire. If it looks too thin, replace it. If the rubber is too thin to protect the tube, you’ll get frequent flats on that tire. Time for a new one. And, of course if there are any areas showing fabric, replace the tire immediately!

You’ll also notice that your rear tire wears a lot faster than the front. It carries more weight and propels the bike. But don’t switch the tires back-to-front so they wear evenly. The front tire provides cornering traction, does most of the breaking, and, most important, is the most dangerous to suddenly go flat. Put the old front tire on the back, and buy a new one for the front.

If you have any questions, call or stop in at the store. We carry a full line of road and mountain tires of all types.