Bicycle Library

The Lingo

Neat Degreaser

Labelled in bottles, used to paint on chain set and cassette. We use this as it can get into the hard to reach places and less is needed that spraying with aerosol, and it is less polluting as a result.

Aerosol degreaser

In the aerosols, with red stripe. Used when you need an extra boost to get rid of the grime in the chainset. This is the same content as the neat degreaser.

Disk brake cleaner aerosol

For cleaning disk brakes and can also be used on a rag to clean off sticky marks on the frame of a bike

Multi-purpose lube aerosol

This is used to lube pivot points on bike and also can be used to help seized in parts to move again.

Foam chain Cleaner aerosol

This is used in Clean & Care service to clean the chain set and cassette. Spray on carefully as it will foam up easily, leave it on for a couple of minutes. Spread over the chain rings and use a brush to scrub down afterwards.

Bike Cleaner

This is the spray bike cleaner which is diluted with water and used to clean frame, wheels and can also be used to clean the chain set. The bike cleaning fluid can also be used neat on a rag if you need something stronger to remove dirt.

Wet Lube

Used on bikes that are to be ridden outside in wet conditions.

General Lube

Used on bikes that are to be ridden in a mix of dry and wet conditions and suitable for lower quality bikes all year.

Professional lube

Used on bikes that are to be ridden inside on turbo trainers, and higher end bikes in dry weather conditions.

A-Frame

This is the Feedback sports frame that we use to rack bikes that are waiting to be cleaned and completed. There is also a lock to secure bikes together which can be wound around wheels..

Bike Stand

These are what you use to lift the bike off the ground to inspect and carry out work, we mainly use Park Tools stands.

Tray for Bike Stand

The tray that can be fitted to your bike stand so you can store tools, neat degreaser, oil and bike cleaner so it is easy to reach.

Table

This is there for you to use to put tools, rags, and as a place for customers to ‘check in’ put down their helmet, gloves etc Use this is as a way to create a barrier between you and the public in public spaces. The T&Cs are also laminated on here for anyone who wishes to read them.

Sandwich Board

The blackboard that we display to show who we are and what we do. If it is windy then think about where you put this up as it will have a tenancy to get blown down in bad weather.

Splosh Wash

The brand name of the battery operated power washer we use. We have the Splosh 3 which holds 20l of water. Three parts to this, the container for water, the hose and the motor/battery (which also acts as a torch). The side of the slosh 3 has an indicator for how much battery life is left, keep an eye on this and test before you leave the garage. They are interchangeable, so take one that is fully charged if possible.

Bike Battery

The batteries that operate the cargo bikes are expensive and valuable so please keep batteries locked in the bikes when parked either in the garage or at a site.

iPad

Used to take walk-up bookings.

iZettle

Used to take walk-up payments.

Accident report book

Notebook in the equipment box for writing down any details of accidents that occur.

Sling

The app we use to request time off, allocate shifts, we also use this for general announcements to the whole team and it can be used for private messages. Please keep an eye on this as we use this for important updates.

Acuity

The app we use to show the detail of your shift, this is where you will see bookings of customers, details about what time they have a booking, the kind of bike and any details they have shared with us.

iZettle

We use iZettle machines to take payments for walk ups.

PDI

PDI = Pre Delivery Inspection. This is the form you MUST complete for every bike you perform a service. All details MUST be completed and any comments or pictures added.

Booking

A booking is made by a customer via our website online at a specific location with a Bike Care Specialist.

Walk Up

A walk up is a booking that is made on the day and it is the Bike Care Specialist that will get the customer to book in through our website in the same way they would in advance, payment can be taken either through the online system or through the iZettle machine.

Brakes

Need to know the difference between rim brakes and disk brakes and the pros and cons to both?

A bicycle must be equipped with at least two independently operated braking systems.

The brake lever for the front brake must (in the UK) be on the right-hand side of the handlebars and the rear brake, if hand-operated, on the left. A fixed rear wheel is an acceptable substitute for a cable of hydraulic rear brake, as is a coaster or back-pedal brake.

Brakes can be controlled by either cables or hydraulic fluid.

The two main systems are Rim Brakes and Disk Brakes. They both work on the same principle that the rider pulling the brake lever, this information is channeled down the cables/through fluid to the brake calipers which have the brake pads and these become pressed against either the rim (rim brakes) or the rotor (disk brakes). The bike slows.

Groupsets

Need to know the difference between the major groupset manufacturers?

All bikes will have at least one gear, but often many more to allow riding in different terrain. There are a whole range of ratios and set ups depending on what you want to do. Some basics for you to know.

GROUPSETS

A road bike groupset is the collection of components that make you stop and go — in other words, the drivetrain, shifters and brakes.

Plenty of companies make bike components, but the market in 2020 is dominated by three giants: Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo. Let’s look at each of them in turn.

Shimano

Shimano is the oldest and most widely used of the three main brands. It began life in Japan in 1921 when Shozaburo Shimano decided to start making freewheels in a rented corner of a demolished celluloid factory.

Fast-forward to today, and it’s become so successful that Shimano now accounts for half of the global bike components industry.

The order from worst to best is as follows:

Claris: Claris is an 8-speed system (eight gears at the rear) found on entry level bikes

Sora: Sora can also be found on entry-level bikes and is a 9-speed system

Tiagra(2585g): Then comes Tiagra, a 10-speed groupset that offers a near-105 experience, but economises in specific areas, for example with one-piece brake pads rather than higher quality cartridges. As of 2019, Tiagra offers its own hydraulic disc brakes with levers that resemble those of 105. These replaced the lumpy non-series RS405 option.

105: Shimano 105 is the most affordable performance-focused groupset from the Japanese firm, and comes on many mid-market road bikes. This 11-speed group is considered by many riders to be the best combination of performance, durability and value. The launch of the latest 105 R7000 groupset brought matching hydraulic levers and disc brakes

Ultegra(2266g): Shimano Ultegra sits one level below the professional-level Dura-Ace. This 11-speed group has many of the same design features as the range topping Dura-Ace and offers all the performance most riders will ever need, but is slightly heavier than Dura-Ace. Like Dura-Ace, Ultegra includes both Di2 electronic shifting and hydraulic disc options in addition to traditional mechanical shifting and rim brakes.

Dura ace(2097g): Shimano Dura-Ace is the pinnacle of Shimano’s range and features on many top-level pro machines. It offers 11-speed gearing and combines top-end design with lightweight materials, such as high-grade alloys, carbon fibre and titanium. It is available in rim brake, disc brake, mechanical shifting and Di2 electronic shifting configurations. There is also an optional power meter, the R9100-P.

SRAM

Illinois-based SRAM is the newest of the three main brands and offers the only wireless groupset in SRAM Red eTap. The three lower models in the SRAM range are also available with just a single ring (1x) at the front, and every model in the range is also available with matching disc brakes.

Across the mechanical range, SRAM uses ‘DoubleTap’ – which means that the gear shifter sits behind the brake lever. On the left, a quick click of the lever takes you into a smaller chainring, and a longer push moves you into a bigger ring – though obviously this doesn’t apply on the 1x ranges. On the right, a short push takes you into a smaller cog (more resistance) on the cassette, and a long swipe takes you into a bigger cog (less resistance). Some of the newer models you need to push both right and left gear levers to shift between the big and small chainrings at the front.

Apex(2419g): Apex is SRAM’s entry level and roughly comparable to Tiagra.

Rival(2348g): Next up the ladder is Rival, which was named to rival Shimano 105

Force(2097g): SRAM Force sits above Ultegra and below Dura-Ace

Red, Red 22 and Red eTap: SRAM’s Red groupset has proven its ability at the absolute pinnacle of cycle sport and been ridden to victory at the Tour de France, so you can be certain it offers wonderfully slick gear changes and incredible lightweight. While standard Red is 10-speed, as with Force 22 and Rival 22, Red 22 moves up to 11 sprockets at the back. There is a choice of hydraulic disc, rim or flat mount brakes.

Campagnolo

Campagnolo, affectionately referred to as “Campag” or “Campy”, is a company rich in cycling heritage. The Italian brand can boast of equipping the winning bikes of the 2014 Giro d’Italia and Tour de France. Historically it is famous for inventing the rear derailleur and many other key innovations, such as quick release skewers.

In May 2017, Campagnolo announced its new disc brake groupsets – with discs available across Chorus, Record and Super Record groupsets

Veloce: The entry-level groupset, Veloce starts higher than Shimano and sits above Sora and Tiagra.

Centaur: 2017 witnessed the rebirth of Campagnolo’s Centaur groupset, after it was discontinued in 2015. While Veloce is still available, the Centaur is essentially its replacement.

Athena:

Potenza: Potenza competes with Ultegra and SRAM Force

Chorus:: Moving up the scale and aimed at riders who want a higher level of performance than Potenza, the carbon fibre Chorus gruppo combines all the quality and precision of Super Record and Record with a more practical price.

Record: Moving to the higher level of the Campagnolo collection, the flagship Record groupset is often found on high-end bikes, and is made using the lightest of materials. It’s been ridden to countless victories in professional and amateur racing, and is the natural choice for riders looking for top performance.

Super Record: `Super Record represents the pinnacle of the company’s technical capability, and some of the best engineering the sport has to offer. With rigorous weight-saving design and materials such as carbon and titanium, these elite components have adorned the bikes of winners for years – notably Alejandro Valverde, the Movistar Team winner of the 2018 Road World Championships. With no expense spared and no compromise taken, it simply doesn’t get much better than Super Record in terms of quality and performance.

Super Record EPS: The 12-speed version was released in March 2019, claimed by Campagnolo to be the lightest in the world, and while it’s also the the most expensive production groupset available, it represents a milestone in cycling engineering.

Electronic Gear Systems

High end bikes can have electronic gear systems. Once these are set up there should be no need to make adjustments to the limits or indexing between gears as this will be done through the setup. They vary slightly in the operation and also programming, but you can always direct people to manufacturers specifications.

A couple of things to note

• Some electronic gear systems will self adjust meaning they will do not allow for cross chaining and will automatically adjust between the cassette and chain rings so do not be alarmed if this happens
• If you find that you can change gears through the cassette but can’t seem to do so with chain rings or vice versa double check all cables are fully connected
• Be Careful when you clean to not apply cleaning fluids or water directly on the electronics, they are waterproof as they must survive being ridden outside but there is no need to apply anything directly onto these areas of the bike
• If a customer complains about slow reaction to changing gears with electronic gears this can be down to a need to charge the system or in some cases in very cold or hot weather the systems can be sensitive to these temperatures.

Wheels

Need to know the difference parts that make up the wheels? How do you know the correct size tyre and tube to buy? Want to know the pros and cons of different wheel setups?

There are several parts that make up a wheel:

• Rim
• Spokes
• Hub

Around these will be:

• Tyre
• Inner Tube (this isn’t present with tubeless tyres or tubular tyres)

Wheel design is varied and wheel building is a skill and art form. When cleaning a bike with Ride Clean you are most concerned with the following:

• Checking that wheels rotate freely clear of obstructions (brakes rubbing, mudguards, racks or anything else)
• Check the wear of rims
• Check the wear of the tyres

When performing a Deep Clean you will be required to remove the wheels. If for any reason this isn’t possible then explain to the customer why you couldn’t remove the wheels and do the best job you can with the wheels still attached. Reasons you may not be able to release wheels:

• Skewers are too tight
• Bolts/skewers are seized on
• Wheels are ‘locked’ on and you do not have a key to release them

Mechanisms for releasing wheels:

• Bolts - usually found on single speed bikes, some city bikes and hybrids, childrens bikes, Brompton Bikes
• Quick release skewers - usually found on road bikes, some MTB’s, gravel bikes, some city and hybrid bikes
• Thru-Axles - these are usually found on some MTB’s, road bikes, gravel bikes which often have disk brakes, but not always.

Tips for releasing wheels:

• If bolted on then release bolts on each side evenly. Loosen one side then the other until the wheel slips out easily
• If the clearance between the wheel and bike (brake pads, mudguards) is small then it is often easier to deflate the tyres slightly to create room to remove the wheels rather than loosen brakes or remove loosen other parts of the bike. Always look for the quickest solution with minimum interference with the bike setup.

Rims

• For Rim Brake Systems the rims will get worn by having dirt on them and the brake pads - friction will wear both, pads usually wear before the rims, but keeping both clean will prolong the life of both.
• Rims are marked with indicators showing where the rim should be replaced due to wear on the brake surface.
• It is also worth spinning the wheel and feeling the rim for an indication that it is concave or any abnormality at any part of the rim.

Tyres

• Tyres come in many sizes but they have useful information displayed on the sidewall - it shows the size of the tyre you have on the bike (useful when you need a new one) it also shows the range of pressure you can inflate the tyre to. Worth letting people know this as many don’t realise
• There are many opinions on what tyre pressure is best, but in reality it depends on the type of bike, and riding you will be doing. As a rule of thumb it is best to go for min pressure unless the rider asks for something different, and if anything best to put slightly more in the rear wheel as this is where you weight sits.

Torque

What is torque and why is it so important?

Here is a growing list of Bike Manuals from the manufacturers website

• Frog Bikes