Taking care of your bicycle is a very important action for damage prevention and premature wear. The bike maintenance is not only intended to make your tires clean and shiny, but also to make the bike more efficient and safer. A bicycle kept in good condition is more reliable and performs higher than a neglected bicycle.
How to clean bike tires
Whenever the bike is washed, it is important to pay attention to the tires and rims as well. It is at this moment that we can check their state of wear.
Generic tire check: when you are washing your bike it is important to pay close attention to the tires and rims. This is the best time to check the state of wear, notice any problems and see if there are any pebbles and glass to avoid drilling at the next exit. It will be easy to analyse every single part of the tire by a gentle pass with your hand on the tread. There are not any differences between how to clean Enduro mtb tires, XC tires o road tires. It's not a time-consuming task but it can help avoid future problems.
- Place the bike on a bicycle horse: before starting to clean the bike, it is recommended to place it on a stand and remove both wheels. By doing this you will have faster and easier access to all those points that are difficult to reach when the bike is assembled in all its parts.
- The washing: you will need a bucket for water, a sponge, warm water and soap or, alternatively, detergent. Once we have the wheel in hand and verified that there are no foreign bodies in the tire, we can start washing. The first step is to rinse it. Then we can scrub it with a soapy sponge in all its parts, with great delicacy and without neglecting any component. Once finished, you can proceed by rinsing everything.
- Drying: you can now reassemble the wheels on the bike (just cleaned and start drying it with a clean cloth. If you have a fan or blow-dryer can use it to speed up the process, which must be used starting from the top and pushing the residual water downwards.
Bike tire maintenance
Tire care does not only consist of checking their condition periodically and being careful when you go out on the bike, but also managing them when the bike is not in use. It happens to everyone to take a break from cycling and leave it stationary for some time. In this situation there are some small tips and behaviours that prevent the tire from being damaged.
- Where to store the bike: The place where they are kept is essential: it is recommended to leave the tires where the sunlight does not reach, such as a garage or cellar, places where temperatures are usually constant and rather cool. Therefore, avoid leaving them exposed to excessively hot temperatures for a long time, such as terraces, balconies, or gardens.
- How to position the bike: Whenever possible, it is a good idea to hook the bicycle somewhere and keep it raised, helping relieve the tires from supporting the weight from the bike. The pressure of the tires, even if they are not being used, must always be in the acceptable range. This means that they should never be inflated to too high of pressures or at pressures leaving it totally "on the ground", as they would risk deforming. It should not be forgotten that with the passing of days and weeks the tire tends to lose pressure even if it is not used.
- Pay attention to chemicals: There are products that can be applied to tires and wheels to make them brighter and more eye-catching. While these are not essential and do not improve the quality and performance of the tire, they do have a purely aesthetic purpose. You can use them, but it is important that they are used in the correct manner; if this is not the case, there is a risk of compromising or even worsening its qualities.
