Does anyone strip down their bikes regularly?

[Llewellyn]

Does anyone take the components off their bike either annually or every couple of years and re-grease things like bottom brackets, cranks, check for breakages etc? Is it a worthwhile exercise or do you re-grease things when a part gets replaced? I've done it semi-regularly for a couple of bikes but it's not something I especially enjoy and if there's no real value then I'd rather just ride and replace things as needed. Thoughts from the crowd?

[rustychisel]

Never to almost never.

I prolly would if I commonly rode in the rain, but I don't much and if I do I usually employ preventative maintenance soon after I get home.

I'm also pretty attuned to my bikes so know that state of play in them (wear in chain, hub rebuilds needed, stuff like that) so do things as they are needed. Stripping and regreasing an old 1inch headset qualifies in that department.

Otherwise my wisdom is along the lines of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' since stripping down a bike as you ask would require removing all chainring bolts and spacers and cleaning and polishing then reinstalling them. Frankly, I ask you, who's got time to do that?

Occasionally I'll do a whip round with a 5mm Allen key to check chainring bolts, derailleur mounts and pivots, and 4mm for seatpost binder and stem bolts etc are nice n snug.

[shovelhd]

On my "race" bike, yearly. On the second bike, every few years.

[GregL]

On my "race" bike, yearly. On the second bike, every few years.
What he said

[Matthew]

Virtually never. I do routine maintenance on the drivetrain, etc. and only ride in the rain if caught in it. If something wears out I just replace it.

[sales guy]

When I was able to ride, I did it yearly.

I do it to other peoples as well if they ride a ton. I have a friend who is doing Leadville again and I am going to do a full overhaul next week. He wants it done now so cables and things will be flushed out and he can do some riding before he heads out there.

I do it for a husband and wife like every 2 years. Depending on the bikes. I rotate them since they both have 2 bikes they use for racing. So I always have one bike of each every year.

[weisan]

Guilty as charged.

The only difference is... I do it for the heck of it.

[mjf]

Riding in the rain, and snow during the winter; I try to strip my single speed or fixed gear down once a month. Takes about an hour apiece, and has definitely kept things running smoothly.

With all the road dirt, and especially the salt during the winter, it makes sense to keep with the regular maintenance just to extend the life of the parts for as long as I can.

[11.4]

Same here. If things get wet, strip everything down and redo once in the fall and once in the spring. If they stay dry, I don't worry about a Shimano 9000 bottom bracket (hard to service and cheap to replace, though I have Chris King ones and they have easy lubrication ports that I use); the derailleurs and brakes can be cleaned in place; pedals are problematic to break down (Dura Ace 9000's anyway). The one thing that I find is worth redoing regularly is higher quality hubs. My Chris Kings I do twice a year; they aren't hard to relubricate and to clean the shell out with TriFlow spray. I don't pull bearing cartridges or anything; that's simply not needed unless something fails. The rest takes less than five minutes and I'm done. Brake cables and housings I replace yearly or upon any sign of fraying or wear. Shifting is electronic and trouble free.

So it isn't hard to do what's needed in an hour or so. Because the bike sees a lot of sweat in the Texas summer, down here I'm more worried about not getting salt off components. After most summer rides I wash the bike with a cleaning solution and a soft carwash brush, then gently rinse it off with a hose. No power washer or spray heads; just a gentle rinse. That gets everything pretty clean and the only item that arguably needs sooner service is the rear hub and cassette. The chain gets Nixfrixshun and just gets wiped down with a microfiber rag after most rides.

[Gummee]

I don't have a schedule for things like taking everything off and regreasing/replacing but stuff moves around from bike-to-bike so often that it's really a non-event in my garage.

As a mechanic, I usually tell people cables and housing every 12-18mos or so and a complete overhaul every other year.

M

[lookout2015]

It tends to happen organically for me as I move things around...

But I do make sure that if my Ti bikes haven't been stripped in a year or so, that they get a full overhaul to prevent galling

[Clean39T]

It tends to happen organically for me as I move things around...





Pretty much me ^^^. At some point I'll have one bike long enough to strip it and rebuild it with the same parts. So far it's just been a never-ending stream of new frames, new groups, tear downs, and new builds...

[ultraman6970]

Back when i was racing and training I was stripping the bike maybe each 2 weeks, BB and headsets were cleaned and greased each 6 months or when water sure was inside of the BB or the headset. After I swapped from campagnolo headsets to shimano sealed ones I basically kept the headsets untouched for years.

Now I strip the bikes pretty much each 2 years if I keep the frames that long :P

[rustychisel]

Llewellyn you pathetic sly suggestive bastard. Now you've put the idea in my head I have to spend the weekend stripping headsets and wheel bearings and examining fixed gear cogs for burring. :beer:

[Llewellyn]

Llewellyn you pathetic sly suggestive bastard. Now you've put the idea in my head I have to spend the weekend stripping headsets and wheel bearings and examining fixed gear cogs for burring. :beer:


All part of the plan my dear Rusty...............................:hello:

[sw3759]

not unless i'm caught in some deluge of water would I tear a bike down anymore..and mtb's more than road bikes.otherwise hub,hs and bb bearings have more or better seals than they did 20 years ago it seams and try not use a water hose more than I have to.

[.RJ]

Once a year on most of the bikes - usually predicated by a rabbit hole of maintenance. My CX bike will get torn down at the beginning of the season, at least once during the year depending on racing conditions, and usually at the end of the season too. One nasty race can trash a set of cables, chain & BB.

[yashcha]

I sometimes will take apart a bike and put it together to get a sense of routine if other things like job or family life is stressful.

[.RJ]

I sometimes will take apart a bike and put it together to get a sense of routine if other things like job or family life is stressful.

A beer, some music and a bike tear down is bike zen time

[tuscanyswe]

I love a freshly built / greased / checked bike! Dont do it enough on all bikes but theres usually one in the stable that gets this treatment every 6 month or so. Freshing up my main ride is medative for me, really like it actually.

[Ti Designs]

When most of the parts stop working, it's time. With my fixed gear that's easy 'cause there are really only two things to that bike - the gear and the brake. My cross bike has far more to go wrong, so I can put off working on it far longer. Before I overhauled it, the front derailleur only worked going up (back down needed a push), the rear derailleur only hit 5 of the 9 cogs, the rear brake made a clicking sound, but the pads didn't make it to the rim, the front brake made a loud squealing sound 'cause the pads did make it to the rim, one of the bearings in the free hub was spun, so coasting sometimes got loud, and the dirt under my down tube had started growing weeds...

[oldpotatoe]

Does anyone take the components off their bike either annually or every couple of years and re-grease things like bottom brackets, cranks, check for breakages etc? Is it a worthwhile exercise or do you re-grease things when a part gets replaced? I've done it semi-regularly for a couple of bikes but it's not something I especially enjoy and if there's no real value then I'd rather just ride and replace things as needed. Thoughts from the crowd?

Yes, both my main bicycles, once per year..:)Down to nekid frame, hubs open, new bearings, etc...

[fignon's barber]

Never completely tear down the whole bike at one time. Throughout the year, I'll service one area at a time. Then it doesn't seem like such a big task.

[leftyfreak]

and the dirt under my down tube had started growing weeds...

A sure sign of spring in the Boston area!

My bike only gets stripped completely when Ti Designs needs to remove the seat post that has become one with the seat tube on my IF. He LOVES that job...

[chiasticon]

cyclocross helps keep the cyclocross bikes regularly checked. if a race or practice is particularly muddy or sandy, cranks and BB's get pulled, cleaned, re-greased, etc... fully sealed cables help limit the work there though. and of course, the cx bikes get checked at the beginning and end of racing season as well. the summer bike doesn't see a ton of maintenance, unless I get caught out in rain or am swapping things around. and again, usually at least once at the end/beginning of the season. the winter bike sees a bit more than the other two as it typically gets a clean/wipe down after almost every ride. and that's usually a good time to inspect things and see if anything needs to be tended to.

in short, there's no dedicated break down and overhaul session. I just try to keep on top of things.

[benb]

My bike that sees weather basically gets stripped once a year just cause it needs it.

I am pretty bad about my MTB, and at this point I have a "nice weather only" bike and that is needing minimal work so who knows if/when it will get torn down.

[Catman]

When I was commuting 52 miles round trip every day I did this every 6 months without fail. Now, not so much...


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[fbhidy]

The fat bike once a year in the spring (I do ride it year round as our Adirondack camp has sandy horse trails that the fatty is perfect for.) The cyclocross bike gets an overhaul twice a year, end of winter and start of CX season. The CX bike gets 50+% of my ride time since it's my CX, gravel, winter road, and occasional commuter.


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[Macadamia]

sometimes, if only to just get it really clean in all those little places you can't get to without taking stuff apart

[Imaking20]

Effectively, I do this, but only because I change bikes so often :|

[Seramount]

recently stripped my Paramount after 6 years of riding to put all new components on it following a major crash.

was def not part of any kind of 'scheduled maintenance'...

my 25-yr old back-up bike has never been stripped down.