I’m wondering if this maintenance schedule is about right

I’ve got a full suspension bike and currently go off the following schedule. I don’t do most of these jobs I take it to someone.

Clean bike with Mobi pressure washer and chain relube every 1-3 rides
Degrease cassette and chainrings once per month
Replace chain every 500 miles
Replace cassette for every 3 chains
Full service (strip down and regrease) once or twice a year. During this the mechanic identifies what bearings need replacing if any.
Suspension service + cleanout every 2-3000 miles
Anything else (eg brake pads) just replaced when needed rather than done according to a schedule

the full suspension doesn’t get much use it Winter this is when a hard tail is mostly used. This is to look after the full suspension during the muddy time of year by not using it much.

Is this about right and is there anything I’m missing?

Clean the bike when it’s dirty
Degrease the drivetrain when it’s minging
Replace the chain when it’s worn
Replace the cassette when I replace the chain
Full strip down when I’m bored but have other things I should be doing
Suspension service…….rigid.
The LBS must really really love you….

Sensible questions do not deserve that kind of reply Rorschach. 😐

Eh?
I’m advocating maintaining a bike when it is appropriate to do so.Which is directly proportional to how much and more importantly the type of conditions it’s ridden in.Having a rigid schedule is’nt a particularly efficient or economic (if you’re not doing it yourself) way to look after your bike.
It’s what I do and it’s what I’ve recommended to the customers that I’ve done work for in the last 11 years of being an LBS mechanic.
What answer do you think it ‘deserves’?Would you like me to lie just to placate the OP?
(righteous indignation by proxy is’nt particularly becoming btw 😕 )

Clean it after most rides. Replace stuff when broken or worn. Pretty much what Rorschach said. If the suspension service is 2-3000 miles and its summer use only is that once a year?

Stop using a pressure washer….?

I’m with Rorschach though, doesn’t have to be fixed scheduling. Where do you ride? Mud/grit/sand will kill a drivetrain quicker so it’s all relative to where you ride.

Pressure washer is mobi type so designed for that purpose (I.e. not high pressure enough to damage anything)

Ride mostly in the sout pennines, sometimes Peak and Lake district

still gets used in Spring and Autumn just not much in Winter

to get 2-3000 miles in probably nearly a year considering the lack of winter use

grannyjone – Member
Anything else (eg brake pads) just replaced when needed rather than done according to a schedule

I do pretty much everything “when needed”, although twice a year I’ll take almost everything apart, clean, grease and rebuild. It delays “when needed” a little further.

I’m not a big fan of schedules, because usage varies so much – I know some people who can wear out or break a bike just by looking at it, others never seem to wear things out. the only thing I recommend a schedule for is Rohloff oil changes.

Get a chain checker, and use it regularly – replace the chain as soon as it’s worn. Replace everything else when it stops working properly.

To quote Santa Cruz…

“Stop washing your bike so much”

http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en/au/news/347

😉

I’ve said it tonnes of times on the chain / cassette thing though, I’ve tested both methods. The “Park Tools are obviously on a back hander” chain checker replace the chain loads per cassette, and plain old ride to destruction. All my components last fast longer by riding to destruction. Replacing the chain loads, sure nice shiny chain but while you think you are “saving” the cassette, you are not. You’re just throwing away perfectly good chains. You’re being convinced it’s the way to go though as if you leave it too long and replace with a new chain, oh shit, the chain skips on the worn cassette. Yeah, so. Keep the worn chain on the worn cassette. Will still last way longer. Why do you need a new chain? In the old days chains snapped and that was it. Now you have quick/missing links, plus KMC chains which never snap.

Anyway, everything … when it needs it. If it feels like it’s shot, service it. If not, go ride.

”I’m wondering if this maintenance schedule is about right”

no its borderline obsessive.

”Replace chain every 500 miles”
”Replace cassette for every 3 chains”

That means you go through 6 chains a year ? MADNESS 😮

What’s the point ? Why dont you just try to get 1500 miles out of it. Then replace the cassette. I guarantee you, you will.

or just do what me and deadkenny do and ride those b*stards into the ground.

They last FOREVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRANDEVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Throw your chain checker in the bin because it is probably worn out aswell from all that use 😉

Miles are meaningless it’s what you ride then through that counts. Replace stuff when it needs it chains by measurement and cassette when the new chain doesn’t work.

All my components last fast longer by riding to destruction.

Yup, there is this other philosophy – really I think it works out about the same, cost-wise. Either replace things regularly when needed, or do it all in one big hit. Depends if you can afford that one big hit, though.

I’ve seen a reasonable number of Bromptons just ridden into the ground, for instance – they get to a stage where basically everything needs replacing at once, and then it’s not far off the cost of a new bike. Or I save the frame and rebuild with Rohloff and discs.

Thread ended after Rorschach’s 1st post.

TBH, that seems quite a long interval for for a suspension service. What does your fork manufacturer say about the recommended frequency of lowers servicing?

Rorschach – chill! All I meant, and failed to say, was that an exclamation mark was needed after your last sentence re the bike shop. No offence intended and sorry. 🙂

Get a chain checker, and use it regularly – replace the chain as soon as it’s worn.

This is about the limit of my planned maintenance. Though I also wipe the chain after each ride and re-lube (I use a thin lube).

Throw your chain checker in the bin because it is probably worn out aswell from all that use

😆

Seems a bit too soon for me but I think the thinking sounds sensible. I’ve found since moving to a wax that my drivetrain (including. Chain) lasts much longer.
A schedule is a good idea but I’d be making sure things definitely needed replacing.
Also not riding it in winter sounds a bit daft to me…ride it all year round, with that kind of schedule, it shouldn’t make any odds.
I ride mine all year in all conditions, given how winter this summer has been it isn’t really an issue…wash a bit more often and make sure it is well lubed.

wash it once per year ,usually before it goes in the bike bag for the annual foreign biking trip .

Change suspension oil once per year, usually just before said foreign biking trip.

oil chain when it starts to squeek.

Bleed brakes when they stop slowing you down.

Replace everything else when it breaks or wears out.

What does your fork manufacturer say about the recommended frequency of lowers servicing?

😆 the recommended intervals are nuts. I’d be servicing them every month 😀

Yes I agree on the recommended schedules being nuts. I take my bike to someone who does it from home and hes well cheaper than a LBS and does the maintenance jobs straight away none of this waiting for weeks that you get at the shops.
anyway he says the manufacturer recommendations are way too short (they say every 50 hours which is only like every 4-500 miles in my case) and says you can get away with 6 to 8 times longer than that.

Recommend is based on Mr average…

One mile on a wet day in the Peak is worth 50 in the dust.

I get it serviced properly every 18 months or so, but otherwise it’s a case of brushing off the dust and mud, maybe washing it, then lubing the chain and cassette.

I haven’t replaced eiher yet.

Regarding the cost of replacing a full drive train: just have a tin or bottle and put X amount in every week. If your drive train will cost £100 and you intend replacing it once a year then it’s £2/week, yes you are still spending it but it won’t seem so bad.

I’ve one MTB so it gets used whatever the weather conditions. I’ve done 3600Km on it in 16 months and in that time I’ve replaced the chain once and the whole drive train (inc chain) once, the latter at around the 3200Km mark.

Drive trains are lightweight components exposed to a whole load of crap, they are consumables.

Maintenance for me is minimal- I ride things to destruction. I think suspension components are the only thing that get any regular maintenance. Forks I can do myself but not touched a rear shock yet. Drivetrain replacement is cheap, especially now that 11spd XT cassettes are available. 1×11 Drive train cost is now £100 to replace! Very little cost for me- free frame bearings for life. Looking annually at- 1 drivetrain, set of pads, Bb, headset and wheel bearings(maybe?) and lastly, rear shock service. That lot isn’t really more than £250/year.

I don’t bother with chain checkers but I do change chains fairly regularly. I just run 2 or 3 in rotation.
Take chain off and lay it alongside a new one. Is it noticeably stretched?
Replace with new chain and repeat after a few months.
Each time you compare, just stick the shortest of the 2 or 3 chains on the bike.
Run the whole lot into the ground, which should now take 3 times as long. 🙂

Each to the own, but personally I’d

Wash when dirty
Use a clean lube so hardle ever need to degrease
Run chain and cassette until they start skipping then change both and possibly chainring(s) too.

So less drivetrain maintenance than the OP. However, I’d do much more suspension maintenance i.e. replace oil in lowers after every 30 odd hours of riding. Replacing seals and servicing the damper only tends to happen when I notice a drop in peformance though.

I also tend to strip the bike down and check everything (pivots etc) over before and after winter. But I ride the full-suss bike (a Five) year round whatever the weather. Funnily enough it’s the HT that only tends to get used when the weather is nice.