By James O’Donoghue, Staff Writer

Just because the ground is beginning to get greener and there are buds on the trees doesn’t mean there will be progress against the overflowing trash cans, or the dishes will finally sit on the shelves instead of in the sink. Spring cleaning isn’t part of most college students’ vocabulary.

A little feet-dragging never hurt anyone, but this is the time to dust off one item8212;that bike in the corner that you’ve ignored during winter. Despite its size, you’ve managed to forget about it, but it is spring8212;the time of renewal. It’s time to stop paying for overpriced parking passes that fund university bureaucracy, and overpriced gas that funds horrible governments that throw rocks and shoes at peoples’ heads. It is time to start hammering and putting some miles under your feet. If you need advice or tools, a local bike collective can help. You can find the U Bike Collective at their bike hut across from the Utah Museum of Fine Arts or the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective at their main store on 2312 S. West Temple.

If you stored your bike indoors, it will have been protected from corrosion and rust. But there are those who are real hammers, bundling up and making tracks in the slushy pot-holed streets of winter. They deserve our admiration and incredulous looks along with our comment: “That’s crazy.” But all those miles mean the bike is in need of some care.

“If it’s winter time and you rode it real hard and commuted all year through the snow and salt, minor corrosion sets in,” said Calvert Cruz, shop manager for Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective. “So if you don’t constantly wash and tune your bike during winter to prepare for the spring to get it in order to really crank on it, really get on the road, really put some miles on it, you have to put a little more effort in order to tune your bike up.”

In either case, here is a checklist for spring. Some of the work might require special tools.

In this great time of change, don’t be afraid to roll up your shirtsleeves, or as Cruz said, “When you’re preparing for spring riding, it’s always advantageous to get into the nitty-gritty.”

[email protected]

Chain

The chain can last up to 10,000 miles if cared for. Remove the rear tire and soak the chain in kerosene, brush any dirt off the chain and apply a new coat of oil to the whole chain. It’s best to use an oil-gasoline mixture so it penetrates into the bushing (the hollow tube that connects the side plates). Keep oil off any rubber parts. Make sure the chain isn’t sagging a lot when on the smallest sprocket (the back pointy gears) and smallest chain wheel (the front pointy gears). If it is, you can remove a few links and reattach it to make it tighter. To do this you’ll need a chain tool, which pushes the pins out of the links. Keep the pin in the last link because reinserting it is a pain. Don’t make a chain too short though, it needs some slack when it is on the large chain wheel and the large sprocket.

Tires

The tires need to be properly inflated using a tire gauge or a “thumb” test and a pump. Don’t use gas station air outlets. There are two types of valves, the Presta and the Schrader, and they need to be matched to the proper pump head. If the tire is losing air, it has a hole in it and you need to remove the inner tube from the rim and the wheel. Fill it up and then dunk it in some water so the leak sends bubbles upward, verifying a leak. Roughen up the hole with fine sandpaper so the rubber cement can find a better hold. Let the rubber cement become opaque then apply to the patch and put on some pressure for a minute.

Make sure the wheel turns in a straight circle; if it wobbles, it needs to be trued. A truing stand and a spoke wrench will make this job a lot easier. Depending on the direction of the bend, you’ll tighten one set of spokes and loosen the other. You do this where the spoke meets the rim, connecting in a nipple. If it wobbles right, loosen the right spokes and tighten the left spokes, about a one-half turn each and about three spokes on either side centered on the bend.

Brakes

Your brake blocks need to be centered on the rim and not touching the tire when you apply the brakes. The brake blocks need to have 1/8 of an inch of rubber showing past their holders. These can be simply adjusted with an Allen wrench. If the brakes are not responsive or too hard to squeeze then there needs to be an adjustment of the cable tension. This can be done with the fine adjustment knob, which you’ll find either at the brake lever or at the cable housing stop. Or you can loosen the anchor bolt, which you can find by following the brake cable to the brakes, then either pull the cable tighter or looser and then retighten the anchor bolt.

Gears

Next, run through your gears, making sure the bike shifts smoothly and hits every gear. You don’t want to ride with the chain on the biggest chain wheel and the smallest sprocket or vice versa. You’ll need a bike stand to make derailleur adjustments. Move the chain to the largest chain wheel and the largest sprocket and make sure the chain is in line with the front and rear derailleur, then do the same with the smallest sprocket and the smallest chain wheel. If you need to adjust the cages, there is a small screw on the derailleur8212;either adjusting it higher or lower will move the cage so the chain stays on the drive train. If the chain is skipping one of the sprockets or chain wheels, then you adjust the tension in the shifting cable much like you do with the brake cable.

Bearings

Last, check your hubs (wheel axles), the bottom bracket (the crank axle), the head set (where the handlebars turn) and check to see if the grease needs to be replaced. Grease is just soap that holds oil, but because it’s soap, it attracts dirt and water as well. You’ll need a few cone wrenches to do this job. When you put it together, make sure the bearings turn easily but that they don’t have any play.

“From there I’ll take it for a spin and try to feel how it’s riding; how it’s responding to shifting,” Cruz said.

Lucas Isley

Krisha Pess, Adam Cummingham and Micheal Yagues work at the Salt Lake City Bike Collective Monday. With weather warming up, the Collective is preparing to help students get their bikes in tune.

Click to enlarge.