Riding your bike should be all about the enjoyment of the wind blowing through your hair (under your helmet of course), hearing the birds singing in the hedgerows, and the smoothness of the bike underneath you as it rolls along the perfect tarmac. While I can’t do anything about the riding conditions, I can help with a smooth running bike – here are FIVE signs you might need your bicycle servicing.

1. Rattles and noises

This is probably the most obvious sign that you should consider having your bike serviced. A well adjusted and maintained bike should feel smooth when you are riding it. Even before you ride, you should be able to move your bike without something feeling loose or rattling.

Holding your bike and carefully bouncing it on a solid floor is a great indicator. Apart from a slight movement of the bike chain and possibly some cable movement, you shouldn’t hear or feel much, apart from a reassuring bounce as the tyres hit the ground.

Any noise, either intermitent or regular with every pedal stroke should be checked out. So if you hear a strange click, crack, rub, rumble, grind or squeak – or if something feels loose to the touch. Get in touch.

2. Brakes are less effective or sticking

You could have rim brakes or disc brakes – and any variation of those two. Whatever you have, the principle is the same, applying the brake by pulling the brake lever should quiety bring you to a halt – no noise, no judder and definately no worry that you won’t actually stop.

Both types of braking system have similar problem symptons and problem causes. Issues can happen with 1) the braking surface 2) the braking material or 3) the cables/hose/fluid that engage the first two.

Any degradation in your brake effectiveness should be checked and rectified.

3. Gears slip or don’t engage properly

Gears are a simple thing and make your bike a pleasure to ride when they work well, but they can easily be knocked out of alignment or suffer from a worn part. When gears don’t work properly you really are in for a terrible ride.

The parts involved in the gear system are designed to mesh together and any part of that system can wear out or become ineffective because of dirt or poor adjustment.

A bicycle service is so important for this part of your bike as costs can esily escalate if things are left too long and more parts of the gear system need to be replaced.

4. Brake & Gear levers are stiff or difficult to operate

The brake and gear levers on your handlebars should just require a light touch to operate them. If you feel that the button you push or grip that you turn to adjust your gears is stiff and tight, needing a bit too much force to use, then something in that system needs attention. Either a worn or rusted cable or badly adjusted or worn gear may be the problem.

Similarly, just like your gear levers, your brake levers should pull without any effort. On a cabled brake, if the lever pull is tough or the lever doesn’t return properly then you may have a problem with cables. On a hydraulic brake, if the lever pulls too far back

5. Steering is too loose or too tight

Your ‘headset’ provides the bearings that allow your handlebars and stem to turn. The adjustment of those bearings or dirt ingress and wear and tear will cause issues. The lower bearing especially, can suffer a high level of stress and water damage, so headset problems aren’t uncommon.