Easy Mountain Bike Maintenance Schedule
What maintenance needs to be done on a mountain bike every year? And when? Written by Lewis a professional mountain bike guide based on the South Island of New Zealand.
- Easy Mountain Bike Maintenance Schedule
Before Every Ride (5 Minutes)
- Tires: Check air pressure (give the tyre a quick squeeze with your hand)
- Chain: Wipe your finger along it. If it’s dry or gritty, wipe it with a rag and apply chain lube.
- Check Headset: Turn handlebars 90 degrees, put the front brake on. Now rock the bike backward and forward and feel where the fork meets the frame. Do the same for where the stem meets the frame. If there is any movement, release the stem bolts and tighten the bolt on the top (pulling the forks into the frame) then retighten stem bolts making sure handlebars and wheels are straight.
- Brakes: Give front and back brakes a few squeezes to check they aren’t getting soft or coming all the way into the bars (if so they will need a bleed)
- Quick Releases: Verify thru-axles and quick-release levers are tight.
After Every Ride (10 Minutes)
- Tires: Check air pressure and look for cuts or sidewall damage.
- Chain: Wipe any excess dirt or water off but doesn’t have to be spotless. Apply more lube if needed.
- Wash (only if very muddy): Gently rinse off mud and dirt. Avoid high-pressure washers that force water into sensitive bearings.
Every Month (15-30 minutes)
- Brakes: Inspect brake pad thickness. Replace pads if they drop below 1.5mm to 2mm.
- Wheels: Wiggle side to side to see if there is any play in the bearings. Also check the tyre tread for wear on the central knobs or tearing of the side knobs.
- Chain Wear: Measure the chain with a chain wear tool. For 11-speed and 12-speed replace the chain at 0.5% wear. For 10 speed or fewer: Replace chain at 0.75% wear.
- Suspension: Check fork and rear shock air pressure. Do this when you are wearing all of your gear including water .Use sag measurements; these are a rough guide. Front Fork: 15% to 25% of total travel. Rear Shock: 25% to 30% of total travel. (Take a note on rebound and compression settings as well as psi to remember for next time)
- Bottom Bracket: Wiggle crank arms side to side to feel for any lateral play this could mean a worn bottom bracket that would have to be replaced.
3 to 6 Months (or 50 hours of riding)
- Fork: Service the lower legs (change oil and wiper seals).
- Drivetrain: Perform a deep clean using a degreaser on the chain, cassette, and chainrings. Then relube.
- Brakes: If the lever feels spongy or the lever is coming into the bars. Bleed the hydraulic brake lines (be sure to double check which oil or fluid your brakes use as they aren’t cross compatible.
- Tubeless Tires: Inject fresh tubeless sealant (usually do this at the start of the summer and end of the summer)
6 to 12 Months (or 150 hours of riding)
- Rear Shock: Send the rear shock in for a professional service.
- Bearings: Disassemble, clean, and regrease frame pivot bearings, the headset, and the bottom bracket. I would usually take the bike to a shop as it requires very specific tools.
Should I wash my MTB after every ride?
Na just when the bike is particularly muddy. Then rinse it off with a gentle garden hose. Be careful not to blast the hubs or bearings with the hose. The exception I make to this is when you are riding here in New Zealand and moving from one zone or area to the next (on one of our Fully Guided All- Included Mountain Bike Tours for example, you see how I snuck that in there) . In that case, to stop the spread of invasive species (like didymo) I will give the tyres a blast with a heavier jet to get all of the dirt off and make sure I get all of the mud off the bike. Then give it a quick dry with a clean rag and re-lube the chain.
If the bike is dusty just give it a wipe down with a rag and some bike cleaner and make sure the chain is still lubed.
How often should a mountain bike be serviced?
If you are comfortable doing the above mountain bike maintenance, then I would still recommend taking it into a bike shop for the yearly bearings and full suspension service. This is purely because it’s a little more technical and requires very specific tools that if you bought them you would only use once a year. Not to mention the bike shops do those services all the time so are way quicker and less likely to make an expensive mistake.
How do I Learn to do my own Mountain Bike Maintenance?
I might be (and definitely am) very biased here but doing a hands on course is a great way to learn these skills and guess what? We just so happen to run one of those courses. Our 1 Day Bike Mechanics Course covers all of the basic mechanics up to ( Every 3 to 6 Months (or 50 hours of riding) as well as giving you actual bikes to practise on and all the tool to get you started.
Another great resource is good old Youtube. Now, be prepared for some trial and error and think of those errors as the cost of learning when you sometimes have to go pay a professional to fix what you broke. But, there are some really good resources out there.