Spring Wake-Up
A bike that has been standing since November is not the bike you put away. Lubricant has drained out of the chain and dried where it settled, tires have lost pressure through the tube and taken a set, and anything that went into storage damp has spent three months quietly corroding. None of that is dramatic, and almost all of it is visible in an hour with a bucket. What matters is doing that hour before the first good day rather than during it, because the first good day is when everybody rides a bike they have not looked at since fall.
What clusters here
The jobs this season asks for
| Job | Interval | Why it lands now |
|---|---|---|
| Deep Clean and Degrease | Road salt and winter grit are still on the bike and still working. Getting them off is the one job that has to happen before anything else, partly because it removes the corrosive material and partly because a clean bike is the only bike you can actually inspect. | |
| Check Tire Pressure | Tires lose pressure continuously whether or not the bike moves, and a winter of standing leaves them well down. A tire ridden flat on the first ride of the year is the classic spring pinch flat. | |
| Inspect Tires for Wear and Cuts | Rubber sitting under load in one position for months develops flat spots, and sidewalls that were cracking in the fall have kept cracking. Check them while the bike is clean and the light is good rather than at the roadside. | |
| Check Brake Pads | Winter grit embeds itself in rim pads and grinds both the pad and the braking track. Pads that finished the season looking usable are often the ones that turn out to be finished, and spring is when you find that out safely. | |
| Check Bolt Torque | Metal contracts and expands through a winter of temperature swings, and anything that was slightly loose in the fall has had months to work its way looser. A walk around the bolts takes fifteen minutes and catches the stem and rack hardware. | |
| Check Wheel Trueness and Spokes | Spring roads are full of the potholes that winter freeze and thaw cycles opened up, and they are often still full of the gravel that was spread over them. A wheel that starts the season true has a much better chance of finishing it that way. | |
| Derailleur Indexing Tune | Cables and housing that sat damp all winter run rougher than they did in the fall, and shifting that was crisp in October usually is not in March. This is the natural moment to reset it for the year. |
What the weather is doing to the bike
- Anything 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.
- Spring roads are at their worst just as riding picks up. Freeze and thaw cycles open potholes over the winter, and the gravel and grit spread during storms sits in the gutter until the street sweepers get to it, which means punctures and wheel damage peak now.
- Chain lubricant that has been sitting is not the lubricant you left. Wet lubricants thicken and collect the dust that settled on them; dry lubricants have largely gone. Either way the chain wants degreasing and a fresh application rather than a top-up.
- Temperatures swing hard in spring, and pressure moves with them. A tire set in a cold garage in the morning reads meaningfully higher on a warm afternoon, so set pressure at the temperature you are about to ride in.
Gear this season leans on
The rest of the year
Build Your Service Schedule turns all of this into intervals for the way you actually ride.