Learn the ABCs of bike maintenance with Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen this month
As ”May is Bike Month” kicks off, Sacramento’s weather finally appears to be warming up and the bicycle trails will start filling up again.
Before hitting the American River Parkway or Lake Natoma trails, it’s important to ensure your bike is in shape after a dormant winter. Adrian Gutierrez, outreach coordinator for the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen in midtown, shared his top tips for checking your bike so it’s ready to ride all season long.
The Bicycle Kitchen is a nonprofit bicycle shop and community space focused on providing widespread access to low-cost bicycles, gear and maintenance across the Sacramento region.
Since 2006, the volunteer-led organization has donated thousands of bikes to Sacramento-area youth and has helped countless people learn how to fix problems with their bicycles. The bike kitchen, located at 1915 I St., operates on a donation basis, both from bike companies and from community members.
“This is the craziest time of year for me,” Gutierrez said. “Naturally, May is bike month.”
Here’s what Gutierrez said all cyclists should consider when hopping on their bike this spring.
ABCs of bicycle maintenance
Fortunately, the most basic bike checks can be remembered with a simple mnemonic device, Gutierrez said.
“When you pull your bike out of storage from the winter, and you’re going on your first bike ride, you want to do what’s called a ‘bicycle maintenance ABCs,’” he said. “That stands for air, brakes, chain.’”
Air
To check bike tire air, Gutierrez recommends giving the tires a gentle squeeze to check how full they are. In addition, a floor tire pump — available at the Bike Kitchen or at any bicycle retailer — can provide a reading on the exact tire pressure. The bicycle tire’s sidewall should show its recommended maximum pressure.
If the tire has a puncture or is too damaged to hold enough air to ride on, Gutierrez suggests learning how to use a patch kit to cover small holes or learn how to replace the tube.
“The first and foremost thing that you want to learn is how to fix a flat (tire),” he said. “Knowing how to do it is half the battle, and that’s what we’re here for, just to teach people.”
Brakes
Once tires are at the correct air pressure, check brake function next. If the bike does not stop quickly when pressing on the brake handles, or the handles collapse to the grip without any braking power, they can be adjusted.
Gutierrez recommended twisting the barrel adjuster next to the brake handles counter-clockwise and tightening the neighboring stopper bolt, which will increase tension with the tire’s brake cable.
Chain
The final check is to make sure the bike’s chain is properly lubricated and not overly stretched out. If the chain squeaks while operating or when changing gears, it may need more lubricant or grease.
Additionally, if a chain link does not fully attach to a gear tooth and hangs off instead, it could be stretched out, which can cause a chain to skip, fall off or break.
“Having a properly lubricated chain is going to make all of these moving parts happy, jive a lot better together,” Gutierrez said. “Go through your gears, make sure that you’re able to properly shift through everything.”
Besides the basic ABCs, Gutierrez encouraged cyclists to check the quick releases on their wheels to ensure the mechanism does not come loose and release the wheel while biking.
The quick release is the metal handle attached to the middle of both wheels, holding them to the frame using tension. Gutierrez said the handle should have enough tension to hold itself perpendicular to the wheel. Otherwise, it needs to be tightened using the adjustment nut on the opposite side.
To ensure the correct tools to fix these basic issues are always on-hand, Gutierrez encourages all bikers to keep a basic maintenance tool set with a tire patch kit, a handheld lever to remove punctured tire tubes, a hand pump to put air in the tire, a spare tube matching the bicycle’s wheel size and a portable multi tool with numerous screwdriver and Allen wrench bits.
“A multi tool is a great option ... it would be really bulky and heavy to carry all of the different Allen (wrench) sizes, the Phillips head screwdriver, a chain breaker,” he said. “A lot of these multi tools fit right into a seat bag, and it gives you all of the tools that you would commonly need for most repairs or adjustments.”
Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen celebrates 20 years
For other more complex repairs or to learn more about bicycle maintenance, dozens of volunteers at the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen share their time five days per week at the I Street garage. The bike kitchen is open Tuesday-Friday and Sunday at varying hours, which are listed on the organization’s Instagram and website.
Most weekdays, the kitchen is open after traditional business hours. On Friday and Sunday, it runs in the morning and early afternoon — from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday.
This year marks 20 years since the bike kitchen originally rolled up its garage door in its first Oak Park location, according to Gutierrez. Since then, the team moved to its current midtown space and developed numerous programs for improving community access to bicycles and other biking gear.
Today, the volunteer team continues to offer bicycle maintenance educational programming, sell bicycles at a steep discount, donate bikes to area children and provide a space and tools for people to maintain their bikes for just $10.
“(Bicycle company) Trek just gave us like 30 kids bikes, and we are very quickly getting them back out into the community,” said shift manager Donovan Wakeman. “It’s mostly just word of mouth ... we would be overrun with bikes every week if (community members) weren’t talking to each other.”
To celebrate the two-decade milestone, the bike kitchen team plans to host a special anniversary edition of its Second Saturday fundraising event in July.
Every Second Saturday between May and September, the team hosts a concert series with local bands to help fundraise for the bike kitchen.
On July 11, the Second Saturday show will feature six bands, as well as local beer and a “bike-forward” themed zine for attendees.
“This is like my third space,” Gutierrez said. “We’re trying to do different things ... to create more community and, like, a safe space for everyone ... The bike kitchen is definitely one of my favorite parts of Sac.”
