About bikes, cycling and cycle to work - Tredz Blog

Too much salt is bad for you

Across the country for the last couple of week’s road gritters will have been a common sight. Without them I wouldn’t have been able to get out on the road at all, it’s been sketchy enough with them and being ‘gently exfoliated’ as they drive past, well that’s another matter. What I’m trying to say is that whilst I accept road salt is necessary, the affect it has on my bike is alarming. I’ve been washing it every 4 days or so but the filth (I do like a clean bike!) in these photos is as a result of 54 miles of commuting. Bear in mind that most of this is grit salt, both being cycle components worst enemies this will be a problem if not sorted ASAP.

 

What I suggest is that if you’re as daft as me and insist on riding on the roads in this type of weather and your bike looks something like mine, wash and lube it as soon as possible. Muc Off Fluid and brushes are my weapons of choice for the cleaning followed by a spin in a finish line chain bath for the chain which is then soaked in Krytech wax lube. The cables, mechs and brake pivots all get a flush of Teflon plus dry lubricant and to finish the frame is treated to pro detailer Teflon bike polish. This last step isn’t as nerdy as it sounds, the shinier the bike, the less muck will stick to it in the first place!

Keep riding and repeat, it is worth it in the end.

Chris

Love your bike!

The laziest cyclist in the world? Possibly. After every ride for the last couple of weeks, through rain, general road muck and at least three types of animal 'detritus', I've been getting home and just throwing my bike in the shed. Come the next day, I'll give the tires a kick, test the brakes and set off without a care for my groaning ride.
Beginning to look far older than its years, the bike was developing frown lines, grey hairs and a chain with more crud than metal, with one, easily predictable end result. It was just getting harder to turn the pedals.
After stalling for ages I finally dug out the bottle of bike cleaner, grabbed my toothbrush and went to work.
An hour later, I've coaxed all the gunk off the bike  (distributing it pretty evenly on to me in the process) and my bike looks like it belongs to someone that cares about it again (while I now look pretty unloved). Obvious as it may sound, a clean chain runs a hell of a lot easier than a grungy one.
Moral? Love your bike and it'll love you right back.

Bike building at Tredz

Unlike most of our online cousins, each and every Tredz bike is fully built. This is also known in the cycle trade as a pre-delivery inspection or PDI. We then place it in a large tailor-made box and despatch it to you. This is a big deal because bicycles arrive from manufacturers (regardless of who) only semi-assembled. Therefore many retailers, especially catalogue firms, simply receive bikes and ship straight to you without looking at, let alone building the bike.

Tredz have been ‘posting’ bicycles to customers in various guises since 1991. It’s taken a long time to master the technique and we’ve learnt a lot – usually the hard way. After our fully trained mechanics have built your bike, setting up the gears, brakes, etc., the pedals are removed and the handlebar is turned. We do this to better protect your bike in transit. On arrival, you only need a minute or two to screw in the pedals and adjust the handlebar before you’re on your way. Our three minute video above demonstrates how straightforward the process is.