Bicycle and e-bike service, 2026
Everything on a bike is due at some point. This site is about when.
Not symptoms, not product roundups, not a list of things you should have done. Every job here belongs to an interval — before every ride, weekly, monthly, at the change of a season, once a year, or when something happens. Each one tells you how to do it, how the interval moves for the way you actually ride, and the point where it stops being your job and becomes a shop’s.
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Service planner
What your bike actually needs, and how often
Four questions. The intervals below move with the answers, because a bike ridden through a salted winter and a bike ridden on dry roads in summer are not on the same schedule.
Your schedule: hybrid or city bike, 20 to 60 miles a week, mostly dry, garage or shed
Coming around soonest
Coming around soonest
Coming around soonest
| Job | Standard interval | How often for you | Why it moved |
|---|---|---|---|
| The ABC Check Before Every Ride | Before every rideDue often· every 1 days | Nothing about how you ride moves this one off its standard interval. | |
| Check Tire Pressure | Before every rideDue often· every 1 days | Nothing about how you ride moves this one off its standard interval. | |
| Wipe Down the Drivetrain | About once a weekDue often· every 7 days | Nothing about how you ride moves this one off its standard interval. | |
| Check Lights and Reflectors | About once a weekDue often· every 7 days | Nothing about how you ride moves this one off its standard interval. | |
| Check Brake Pads | About once a monthComes around· every 29 days | An unheated space goes through condensation cycles. | |
| Clean and Lube the Chain | About once a monthComes around· every 29 days | An unheated space goes through condensation cycles. | |
| Check Wheel Trueness and Spokes | About once a monthComes around· every 29 days | An unheated space goes through condensation cycles. | |
| Inspect Tires for Wear and Cuts | About once a monthComes around· every 29 days | An unheated space goes through condensation cycles. |
The full table, the printed rules and what this leaves out: Build Your Service Schedule
And because of where it lives
- An unheated garage swings through the dew point twice a day in spring and fall, and every crossing leaves moisture on the metal. This is why the intervals above are slightly tighter than for a bike that lives in the house.
The season that matches those conditions: Summer Heat and Dust. And whatever else is true, Spring Wake-Up is where the riding year restarts.
The whole idea
Six intervals, and every job lives in one of them
Once a job has an interval it stops being a decision. You are not asking whether the chain needs cleaning; you are noticing that it is the first weekend of the month. The intervals below are the standard ones, and the planner above moves them to match the miles, the weather and where the bike sleeps.
Every ride
Before you roll out, every single time
Weekly
Once a week for a bike in regular use
Monthly
Once a month, or after roughly 200 miles
Seasonal
Four times a year, at the change of weather
Annual
Once a year, on a date you can remember
Event-triggered
Not on the calendar — done when something happens
Weather
Four pages for the work that clusters at a change of season
Some jobs do not spread evenly through the year. Salt arrives all at once, daylight disappears over about three weeks, and a bike coming out of storage needs a different hour than a bike halfway through a dry summer.
- Late winter into springSpring Wake-UpAnything the bike picked up over winter is still on it. Salt draws moisture out of the air long after the roads are dry, so a bike stored dirty keeps corroding in a dry garage. This is why the wash comes first and not last.
- Late spring through late summerSummer Heat and DustDust plus lubricant makes grinding paste. In dry, dusty conditions the useful life of a chain application is measured in rides rather than weeks, and the wipe matters more than the lubricant you chose.
- Early fall through the first hard freezeFall Wet and LeavesWet roads multiply brake pad wear, because the water carries grit onto the pad and turns the braking surface into a grinding operation. Expect to check pads at least twice as often as you did in summer.
- First hard freeze through late winterWinter Salt and StorageSalt and brine do not stop working when the ride ends. They attract moisture from the air and keep corroding in a dry garage, which is why a rinse after a salted ride matters more than a deep clean once a month.
Calculators
Two tools that do arithmetic you should not have to
Both of them print their formula on the page, and both of them say plainly what they do not take into account.
Gear
Things a job needs you to own, and nothing else
There are seven categories on this site, and each one exists because a job somewhere else cannot be done without a physical thing. Every page is written around what the listings state, because nobody here has ridden any of it.
- Pumps and Portable InflatorsThe job: getting to an exact pressure without a shop floor pump
- Inner TubesThe job: matching size and valve to the wheel you actually own
- Adult HelmetsThe job: fit and retention, and knowing when it is spent
- Cable LocksThe job: deterrence proportional to where the bike is left
- Handlebar and Bar-End MirrorsThe job: seeing behind without turning the head
- Handlebar Phone MountsThe job: holding a phone through road vibration
- Valve Caps and Puncture RepairThe job: protecting the valve and plugging tubeless punctures
New to any of the words on this site? Bike Maintenance Glossary explains the ones that matter, in the order you meet them.