Cleaning & Tune-Ups
These two guides are the routine that holds everything else together: washing the bike without forcing water into the bearings, and working through it systematically to find the things that need attention.
Most of a tune-up is inspection rather than adjustment. The value is in following a fixed route so that nothing gets skipped, because problems get missed for want of looking rather than for being hard to spot.
What you'll learn
- Wash a bike in the right order without damaging bearings or brakes
- Understand why pressure washers cause expensive, delayed damage
- Run an M-check so no part of the bike goes uninspected
- Prioritise safety-critical checks over convenience ones
- Know typical bolt torques, and why carbon needs a torque wrench
- Recognise which jobs are worth handing to a shop
Guides in this topic
- How to Clean a Bike Properly
Wash a bike without forcing water into the bearings: the right order, what to use, why pressure washers cause damage, and drying and lubing after.
- How to Tune Up a Bike at Home
A full home bike tune-up checklist in the right order — the M-check, brakes, gears, drivetrain wear and bolt torques — plus what to leave to a shop.
Common questions
Can I use a pressure washer on my bike?
No. It forces water and grit past the bearing seals in the hubs, headset and bottom bracket. The bike looks clean and the damage appears weeks later as roughness and play.
How often should I tune up my bike?
A full tune-up twice a year for regular riding, a ten-minute M-check monthly, chain wear measured every couple of months, and tyre pressure weekly.
What should I leave to a bike shop?
Hydraulic brake bleeding, wheel building, bearing replacement and suspension servicing — plus anything involving a crack, or anything you could not confidently test afterwards.
Related topics
- Chain and drivetrain
Clean, lube, shorten, remove and replace a bike chain, plus cassette cleaning and dropped-chain fixes — including the wear figure that saves your cassette.
- Brakes
Adjust rim and disc brakes, replace worn pads, cure rubbing and squealing, and run new cables — with the pad thickness limits and clearances that matter.