Most of us don’t think about the cables that connect our bike’s controls to their derailleurs and brakes until they stop working well or break. However, they play a critical role in ensuring your bike runs, stops and shifts smoothly.

In this guide, we’ll cover: how brake and gear cables work; what the differences between the two are; how road and mountain bike cables differ; and why investing in high-quality cables is worth it.

Of course, if you’ve got hydraulic disc brakes and electronic shifting, you can be smug and move on, but for the majority of bike riders, wire cables are part-and-parcel of the riding experience.

How do bike brake and gear cables work?

Brake and gear cables are a form of Bowden cable.

They comprise an inner cable made of twisted steel wire that runs through an outer sleeve from your bike’s control levers on the bar to the brakes or derailleurs.

There may be parts of the inner cables that are unprotected by the outers, particularly for gear cables, with the outers finishing in ‘stops’ attached to the frame. Many cables now also route through outers that run their full length internally through the frame.

The inner cable is anchored at both ends. Pull on the bike’s brake levers or push the gear shifters and the inner cable is pulled through the outer cable, which in turn operates the brake caliper or derailleur.

There’s a spring in the operated device – whether that’s a brake caliper or derailleur – that moves it back when the cable tension is released.

Brake cables vs. gear cables – what’s the difference?

The jobs done by brake cables and gear cables are different, so they’re built differently.

Your brake needs to work without risk of failure and to transmit significant force to the brake caliper, so the inner cable is built thicker than a gear cable.

You can afford to have a bit of compression in the outer without it affecting braking performance significantly but it’s very important that it doesn’t split lengthways, so the metal wire in it is usually helically wound.

Modern bike gears are usually indexed, where one click of the shifter moves the rear derailleur one sprocket or shifts the front derailleur between chainrings. There’s less force applied, so the cables can be thinner, but the movements of the cable need to be precise.

To accomplish this, gear cable outers are constructed differently from brake cables, with a bundle of individual wires wound over a long length to make the cable outer more or less compressionless.

There’s also usually a plastic inner lining to help reduce friction between the inner and outer cables.

You can’t mix and match gear cables and brake cables – you need the right set of inners and outers for each job.

Using gear cables for brake cables is exceptionally dangerous and you should never do it. You run the risk of them snapping at the worst possible moment, with potentially very serious consequences.

Road vs. mountain bike gear and brake cables

Differences go beyond cable thickness too.

At the derailleur or brake end, both brake and gear cables have ‘raw’ ends that are fixed by a clamp.

At the lever end, though, they have differently shaped nipples – the lumps of permanently affixed metal that hold them in the levers – again making them non-interchangeable.

The shape of these nipples is different between mountain bike (cylindrical) and road bike (pear-shaped) brake cables.

There are also slight differences between the standards used by Shimano and Campagnolo for both gear and brake cables for road bikes.

Why high-quality bike cables matter

Both brake and gear cables have to withstand a lot of stress.

On road bikes, under-bar tape cabling means they have to move through tight turns. There are also bends at the derailleur end of cables on all types of bike. Internal routing only complicates the issue.

Gear cables are wound through particularly tight curves within the shifters too, which means there’s a lot of potential for wear.

Brake cables normally have an easier time of it because their runs are straighter, but there’s much more force travelling through them.

In both cases, you really don’t want your cables to fail.

A snapped derailleur cable will mean a long ride home in a single gear. The effects of a broken brake cable could be much more serious.

It’s a good idea to check your cables regularly for wear or fraying and replace them if you see any damage.

Pay particular attention to gear cables inside the shifter bodies because that’s where they usually break.

Is it worth buying expensive brake and gear cables?

Generally speaking, more expensive bike brake and gear cables will feature polished inners, higher-quality outers and, potentially, better sealing from the elements. This should help ensure your brakes and gears work smoothly and predictably for longer.

Below is a selection of high-end brake and gear cable options from the three big mainstream groupset manufacturers, and some third-party options.

Shimano Dura-Ace 9000 road gear cable set

• £49.99

The Shimano Dura-Ace 9000 road gear cables are stainless steel and run through a stiff outer casing with a polymer lining lubricated with silicone.

Shimano Dura-Ace 9000 road brake cable set

• £45.99

Shimano’s Dura-Ace 9000 road brake cable set has a similar construction. Stainless steel wires are wrapped in a low-friction polymer casing, greased on the inside with silicone.

Campagnolo ER600 Ultrashift/Powershift ULF Ergopower 11-speed cable set

• £37

The Campagnolo ER600 Ultrashift ULF Ergopower cable set is a brake and gear cable replacement kit in one. It also features stainless steel wires coated in a smooth polymer sleeve that is internally lubricated.

SRAM SlickWire Shift Cable

• £37

Like Shimano and Campagnolo’s top-tier offerings, SRAM’s SlickWire Shift Cable is a stainless steel wire with a braided nylon casing. End caps, ferrules and frame protectors are also included. The cables are compatible with road and mountain bikes.

SRAM SlickWire Pro Brake Cable

• £50 / $52

SRAM’s SlickWire Pro Brake Cable is also made from polished stainless steel and threaded inside a slick nylon outer cover, and works with road and mountain bikes.

Jagwire Road Elite Link Shift kit

• £85

Jagwire’s Road Elite Link Shift cables eschew traditional compressionless cable housing made from Kevlar in favour of aluminium links. These surround the lubed liners and polished stainless steel inner wires.

Jagwire Road Elite Link Brake kit

• £61.99

Jagwire’s Road Elite Link Brake kit also has an alloy link housing that holds slick stainless steel wires within lubricated liners.

Cheap bike cables

Less expensive bike cables still tend to have stainless steel inner wires coated in polymer sheaths, but are not always internally lubricated. Some are not compatible with disc brakes.

Shimano Road Gear Cable set

• £23

The entry-level Shimano road shift cable lacks the supposedly low-friction Optislick coating seen on the brand’s more expensive options.

Shimano Road and Mountain Bike Brake Cable Set

• £16.99

Shimano’s basic brake cables are half the price of the Dura-Ace set, but their construction is much the same.

Jagwire Basics Shift Kit

• £9.29

The Jagwire Basics Shift Cable set has slick galvanised wires and best suits five- to seven-speed bikes, according to the brand.

Jagwire Basics Brake Kit

• £12.73

Jagwire’s Basics brake cables don’t come with lubricated liners and are rim-brake only on road and mountain bikes.

Replacing gear cables

When the time does come to replace the cables, it’s worthwhile investing in good-quality ones. They’ll be less prone to corroding and should be smoother-running in the outers.

Speaking of outers, it’s a good idea to replace these semi-regularly too. The continual movement of the inners will cause their internal sleeves to wear over time.

Contamination, which is largely unavoidable, will also degrade performance over time, even when you fit new inner cables.

You can guard against this to some extent by fitting an anti-contamination ferrule at each end of the cable run. This is particularly important for mountain bikes, cyclocross bikes and gravel bikes, which are likely to get mucky.

If you’re only replacing the inner cables, it’s worth lightly lubricating the new inner when you fit it. Higher-quality new cable sets will typically come pre-lubed though.

If you’re replacing the brake and gear cables on your bike – whether that’s just the inners or the complete set – you should use the right tools to get a clean finish. Proper cable cutters are fairly affordable and do a much better job than side snips.

Make sure you fit the correct caps/ferrules to the cut ends of both inner and outer cables to prevent fraying and to keep the drivetrain and brakes working properly.

Cables are a fairly affordable bike part, so when you change yours, splashing out on a high-quality set is genuinely worth the extra expense for the improved performance.

It’s a good idea to carry out a basic safety check on a bicycle before any long ride, or at least once a week. This guide helps you pick out potential problems in a methodical and easy-to-remember way and applies equally to a road bike, hybrid bike or mountain bike – and both a new bike or one that may not have been ridden for some time.

If you’ve bought a bike online and need to build it at home, check out our guide on how to assemble a bike.

What is the M check?

The M check is a basic safety check of all the main working parts of a bike, moving from the front hub back.

The check is named after the way you follow the shape of the letter M when checking the bike (clever, eh?).

It’s a useful pattern to follow and helps you quickly identify any problems with the bike. With practice, it should take only a couple of minutes to thoroughly check over any bike.

We’ve outlined each step of the M check below.

How to safety check an adult’s bike

How to safety check wheels, brakes and hubs on a bike

Check that the wheels are attached securely to the bike.

These days, wheels are most likely to be secured with a quick-release skewer or some form of bolt-thru axle.

If your bike uses quick-release levers, secure them by clamping the lever down and turning the nut on the other side until it’s tight against the fork (or frame).

Then, open the lever and give the nut another full turn or so. You should now be able to tighten the quick-release firmly without forcing it, ensuring that the wheel is firmly and squarely seated in the dropouts.

Doing this while the bike is sat on the ground can help ensure the wheel is seated squarely within the dropouts.

Bolt-thru axles will usually be threaded through the hub and screwed into the opposing fork leg or chainstay. Before riding, you need to make sure the closure system is secured as per manufacturer instructions.

Next, ensure the hub is in good condition by rocking the wheel side to side to check for play or sideways movement.

Give the wheel a spin. If you hear grinding, or if it sounds rough, it might be time for a bearing replacement or service.

While you’re spinning the wheel, check the disc or wheel rim is running cleanly through the brake caliper. If it’s rubbing, you’ll need to adjust the brakes or caliper.

Finally, give the brake levers a squeeze to check the brakes are working correctly. If you notice a slightly more spongy feeling with hydraulic brakes, they might require bleeding.

If your cable pull brakes don’t feel firm and decisive, you may need to adjust your cable tension or replace your disc brake pads.

How to safety check bike tyres

Tyres need to be seated correctly in the rim. Examine the bead where the tyre contacts the wheel rim. Make sure the bead looks uniform all the way round. If it doesn’t, you may need to reinstall the tyre.

When you’re happy that the tyre is seated, check the sidewalls and tread for excess wear or damage. Worn or torn tyres can be dangerous, so replace them before riding if you are in any doubt.

There are no regulations or markers on bike tyres, so you have to use your own initiative – for road tyres, you’ll start to notice a flat spot, and seeing carcass is a definite sign they need replacing.

Mountain bikes suffer degradation to the knobs and when they’re gone, the tyre is pretty much useless and will need replacing.

If you are running a tubeless tyre setup and haven’t ridden the bike in some time, pop the bead open and check the sealant hasn’t dried out.

Though inner tubes do lose a small amount of air over time, returning to your bike to see a fully flat tyre suggests there could be a puncture. You don’t want to deal with this mid-way through a ride, so take the time to fix a puncture – even a slow one – before you head out .

Pump up your tyres to the correct tyre pressure before riding. Note that optimal tyre pressure differs between road and mountain bikes.

How to safety check your bike’s suspension components

Next, inspect your fork for hairline cracks or any other kind of damage. If you have a suspension fork, check the stanchions for scratches or for excessive suspension fluid near the bolts.

It’s worth noting that a small amount of oil on the stanchions – or a witness mark, as it’s known – is perfectly normal and expected on some forks.

With front and rear air suspension, it’s also worth checking the sag is set correctly about once a month.

How to safety check your bike’s cockpit

Moving up to the headset, rock the fork forwards and back with the front brake applied to see if there is any obvious play. If you notice the bike knocking, try to isolate where it’s coming from by placing your fingers on the joints.

Next, lift the wheel and turn the bar slowly. If you feel any grinding or resistance, it might be a good idea to service your headset or replace it.

Check the stem is secure by holding the front wheel straight with your knees and pushing on the bar. You should be able to apply a reasonable amount of force without the stem turning on the steerer tube.

Stand over the bike and rotate the bar forward and back – if you have drop handlebars, push on those too. There should be no movement of the bars or the grips.

On bikes with flat handlebars, you should also check that the brake levers and shifters are fixed securely.

How to safety check a bike frame

Moving down the frame, check any frame accessories such as a bottle cage are attached properly and not rattling

You’ll also want to visually inspect the entire frame, especially around the welds, if applicable. If you find even a small hairline crack, you should get it checked out by a professional before riding.

If you have a frame with a suspension system, check the shock mounting bolts are holding it firmly in place and that the shock is in good working order, as with the fork.

If you are buying a second-hand carbon frame, check out our comprehensive guide on what to look out for.

How to safety check your cranks and pedals

Give the cranks a spin in the backward direction, so you don’t spin up the rear wheel. As long as the drivetrain is running smoothly, the bottom bracket should also be running smoothly.

Inspect the chainrings for damaged, missing or excessively worn teeth. Worn chainrings will wear to a shark-fin like profile.

Rock the cranks toward the frame to check for any grinding, resistance or play. If you feel any play, it may mean you need to replace the bottom bracket.

Check your pedals by giving them a spin. A well-serviced pedal won’t spin freely because the grease should stop it. Again, check for play by rocking the pedal body. If you find your pedal is not performing correctly, it’ll need to be replaced or serviced. Check your pedals are fitted correctly while you’re at it.

If you have clipless pedals check the metal or plastic cleat on your shoe is not overly worn, is securely bolted and clips in and out with your preferred resistance.

How to safety check your saddle and seatpost

Periodically remove the seatpost from the frame and give it a clean.

If you have aluminium, titanium or steel components, apply some grease before reinstalling. If you have either a carbon frame or seatpost, you’ll need to apply a specific carbon grip paste. This paste is grease-like but contains small particles to increase friction between components.

A stuck seatpost can write off a frame, so be diligent with this step.

When the seatpost is reinstalled at the correct saddle height, check the saddle is securely mounted in the clamp.

How to safety check the rear wheel and drivetrain on a bike

Repeat the procedure performed on the front wheel at the back, checking the hub, tyres and brakes for play, effectiveness, rubbing and wear.

Pedal by hand and check that the chain runs cleanly, with no stiff links. Shift the front and rear derailleurs through their range of gears.

The chain should shift up or down one set of teeth for every click of the relevant shifter. If the chain doesn’t shift in this way, is hesitant, or drops off the teeth, then you may need to adjust the gears on your bike.

Regular pre- and post-ride checks are important, but getting to know your bike can mean you identify problems as soon as, or even before, they arise.

Keep an eye out for irregular mechanical noises, frame creaks or unusual behaviour while riding, and check them out as soon as possible.

How to safety check a children’s bike

Kids’ bikes often come in need of assembly. A safety check before they pedal away is most definitely a good idea.

The above video will show you how to make sure your child’s bike is in good working order.

If you’ve got an old mountain bike or frame sitting unloved in the shed, then it could provide the perfect base to create a super-commuter build.

With a few carefully chosen components, you can breathe new life into a bike otherwise consigned to gathering dust.

And that’s exactly what we’ve done here, converting an old hardtail into a well-thought-out commuting bike for the ride to work.

1. Frame

Let’s start with the frame.

You can convert any hardtail into a decent commuting bike, although the older it is, the more issues you may encounter due to outdated ‘standards’.

We’ve used a Stanton Sherpa 853 29er as the basis for this build.

Originally reviewed on BikeRadar in 2016, it’s still a perfectly good frame but, with its non-Boost hub spacing, quick-release dropouts, lack of internal dropper post routing and relatively short reach, is no longer primed for trail duties.

Before planning your build, you’ll need to check whether your frame’s head tube is sized for a tapered- or straight-steerer fork and what rear-axle standard it requires (QR or bolt-through, Boost or non-Boost).

2. Fork

There’s no need for front suspension on most commutes. Instead, a rigid fork will save weight and require zero maintenance.

If it has a slightly shorter axle-to-crown height than the fork originally fitted to your frame (taking sag into account), it’ll steepen up the geometry a tad – no bad thing for road climbs – without lowering the bottom bracket too much.

Most steel forks, like this one from Identiti, have straight steerer tubes, so will require a new lower headset cup or a crown race adaptor to fit into modern frames. If you have the money, the likes of Kinesis, Ritchey and ENVE offer tapered carbon fibre models.

At the more affordable end of the market, Carbon Cycles offers tapered eXotic forks in alloy or carbon, starting from under £100.

• Fork: Identiti XC fork

3. Drivetrain and brakes

The beauty of a build like this is that you can use up old bits you’ve got going spare – in this case, a 10-speed Shimano transmission and some Hope stoppers.

Unless they’re worn out and need replacing, the current bits on your bike should be up to the job. MTB brakes and gears will work fine for commuting, although you’ll probably want to fit a bigger chainring.

Flat pedals are a good choice for a bike that’s going to be a general runaround, with clip-in pedals a better bet for longer commutes.

• Chainring: Race Face Narrow/Wide chainring, 38t

4. Finishing kit

As for finishing kit, a rigid seatpost will suffice, and requires less maintenance than a dropper, so no change is required here.

Any old handlebar is fine, but consider trimming it for weaving through traffic. You may want a longer stem than usual to slow the handling, with most commutes having higher speeds and fewer tight turns than MTB rides.

Don’t forget a bell – the Knog Oi here is nice and discreet, and is a godsend on shared paths, where a gentle ‘ting’ gets a better reaction than a holler or cough.

We went for a brown saddle and grips to add a bit of urban class.

• Bell: Knog Oi Classic bell

• Saddle: Gusset R-Series saddle

• Grips: Deity Knuckleduster grips

5. Wheels

Most commutes don’t require fat tyres on wide rims – they’ll only slow you down. You can fit an old set of cross-country hoops or – on a 29er like this – some lighter, faster road bike wheels (700c and 29in rims are the same diameter), if you find some going cheap.

Watch the hub spacing, though – newer road wheels may have MTB-compatible 10x135mm (QR) or 12x142mm (non-Boost, bolt-through) axles, but older ones can be 10x130mm or 12x135mm.

Also, check whether they have Center Lock or six-bolt rotor mounts (an issue we ran into, solved with the use of an adaptor). You can still run an MTB cassette on a road hub, with a spacer.

• Adaptor: Aztec Center-Lock Adapter

6. Tyres

If the rims are narrow enough, you’ll have the choice of running road, gravel or slick/semi-slick MTB tyres – just make sure that the tyre size and internal rim width are compatible (WTB has a good guide).

For a short commute, you can run any rubber you have going spare, even semi-bald MTB treads.

If you’re going further or riding every day, faster tyres will get you there quicker and with less effort. We plumped for the balance of speed and grip provided by some Pirelli gravel tyres. A tubeless setup is a good way to reduce punctures.

• Tyres: Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H 700x40c tyres

7. Lights

UK law requires you to run a white front light and red rear light between sunset and sunrise on public roads – fitted to your bike, not your helmet – plus a red rear reflector and amber pedal reflectors (not pictured).

We’ve fitted an ex-test set of Lezyne lights. The front Mega Drive 1800i is a mountain bike light and gives plenty of power for off-road sections, if you do still want to venture away from traffic, but can be dipped to 250 lumens on the road.

The rear can be synced to change modes simultaneously (from flashing in traffic to solid on an unlit cycle path, for example).

BikeRadar’s round-up of the best bike lights contains options at a range of budgets.

• Front light: Lezyne Mega Drive 1800i

• Rear Light: Lezyne KTV Pro Smart 75

8. Accessories

Mudguards (not pictured) are essential for winter riding – and in the UK, at plenty of other times through the rest of the year, too. What you can run will depend on the fixtures your frame has.

At worst, you should be able to fit a front fender to keep muck out of your eyes and a seatpost-mounted rear guard to stop road spray soaking your shorts.

It’s worth thinking about luggage, too. While it’s easy enough to stuff your kit in a rucksack, panniers (if your bike has rack mounts) or frame bags will help you avoid a sweaty back.

Always carry the essential spares – a bike pump, spare inner tube (or tyre plugs, if you’re running tubeless tyres) and multi-tool – just in case.

• Luggage: Oveja Negra Superwedgie frame bag

How to electrify your ride

The latest ebike conversion kits even allow you to electrify your machine, if you want to go the whole hog.

For this build, we’ve used the Swytch kit, which contains a handlebar-mounted battery, motor mounted into the front wheel and a pedalling sensor.

1. Power pack

Many ebike kits require you to surrender your bottle bosses or fit a rear rack to attach the battery.

Swytch uses a bar-mounted bag instead, which also houses the ‘brains’ of the system and the mode selector.

The standard Eco kit has a 180Wh power pack, but pictured here is the 250Wh Pro version, which has a greater range (50km, claimed, on half power) and a built-in front light.

Swytch has also recently unveiled a smaller, pocket-sized battery, which will be available to pre-order from May for delivery in late summer 2022.

2. Drive unit

Here, a 250W brushless DC geared hub motor provides the pedalling assistance. Swytch supplies this as part of a complete front wheel.

With 40Nm of max torque, it has half the grunt of many electric mountain bike drive units, but on a faster, lighter bike (the kit only adds 3.3kg or so) feels surprisingly sprightly – although all-wheel drive does take some getting used to on looser surfaces (for mountain biking, we’d go for a crank-based system instead).

The bolt-on hub fitted into the fork’s dropouts just fine and we had no issues getting the brake caliper lined up. It’s advisable to fit a torque arm for extra security.

3. Pedalling sensor

This is the fiddliest part of most kits to fit, especially if you want a neat finish.

Swytch provides various mounts for the magnet ring. We could have used the universal one that zip-ties to the crank arm, but opted to take a Stanley knife to one of the clip-on options instead.

The frame shape meant we had to snap off the base of the sensor itself to get things lined up. We also added an extension cable to route the sensor wire via the Sherpa’s top tube guides.

Whether you’ve just taken delivery of a brand-new bike or had it for years, this guide should offer some pointers on how to set up your mountain bike.

Technology such as mountain bike suspension forks requires adjustment according to a host of factors. The way the bike rides and feels is also influenced by components, from your mountain bike pedals down to your mountain bike shoes.

What’s more, the best mountain bike tyres won’t fulfil their potential – and could lack traction – unless your bike is suitably configured. Incorrect saddle height and angle can cause even the best mountain bike wheels to feel jittery on descents.

This is the procedure I use to set up test bikes before hitting the trails. It’s not going to get everyone’s bike perfect first time, but it’s a handy checklist that should put most people in a comfortable position without too much fuss.

You can either watch the video below or read the article for more detailed instructions.

How to set up a mountain bike in 7 simple steps

1. Set your saddle height

This may sound obvious, but saddle height is critical to comfort and too often adjusted incorrectly. The wrong saddle height can lead to sore knees or hips and less power to the pedals.

Read our guide on how to get your saddle height right if you’re not sure.

If you already have a bike that you’re sure has the correct saddle height, measure the distance from the centre of the bottom bracket to the top of the saddle and transfer this measurement across to the new bike.

To adjust, loosen the saddle clamp, wiggle the seatpost up or down, align the saddle with the top tube and re-tighten the clamp.

Note that it may still pay to fine-tune the height further to compensate for different saddle softness, crank length or shoe and chamois choices.

2. Set the angle and position of the saddle

Most people find the ideal saddle angle is either horizontal or angled slightly nose-down. Although I see it all the time, I haven’t met anyone who has ridden with the nose pointing up and not breathed a sigh of relief once they angle it down a bit.

If your nose is pointed too far down, it can cause you to slide forwards and put more strain on your wrists to brace against the bar.

However, on full-suspension bikes, many riders prefer to point the nose steeply down to compensate for the change in angle as the rear suspension squats into its travel, particularly when climbing.

Learning how to adjust your mountain bike saddle angle allows you to experiment and find what works best for you.

It can also pay to adjust the fore-aft position of the saddle. Sliding it forwards will effectively steepen the seat tube angle, and so help the bike climb more eagerly with less front-wheel lift. On the other hand, slide it too far forward and the cockpit can feel cramped.

To adjust this with a twin-bolt seatpost, loosen the rear bolt (anti-clockwise) to angle the nose down or the front bolt to tilt it up. While the bolts are loose, slide the saddle forwards or backwards, if desired.

Next, tighten up the other bolt (clockwise) until the desired angle is reached, then tighten both bolts alternately until they’re torqued to the manufacturer’s seatpost recommendations – or tight enough to stop the saddle creaking.

3. Adjust the bar height

Handlebar height is a key adjustment that requires experimentation to find the right posture and weight distribution.

Raising it will allow you to get your weight back on steep descents, while enabling you to push the front wheel into holes and downslopes more effectively. Too high, though, and you’ll struggle to get enough weight over the front wheel on flat turns or steep climbs.

As a starting point for trail/enduro riding, try setting the grips so they’re roughly level with (or slightly below) the saddle when it’s at full pedalling height.

To change it, remove the top-cap bolt (anti-clockwise) and loosen the stem-clamp bolts enough to slide the stem off.

Swap spacers to below the stem to increase bar height or vice-versa. Refit the stem, tighten the top cap enough to stop any play, but not so tight as to make the headset stiff or creaky. Align the stem with the front wheel and tighten the stem bolts to the manufacturer’s specs.

4. Set the bar roll

Rolling the bar forwards in the stem, so the bar tips have more upsweep and less backsweep, can bring your elbows out and encourage your weight forwards into a more aggressive position. Rolling it back towards horizontal bar tips can help get your weight back on steep descents.

If you’re unsure, start with the bar tips pointing a few degrees up from horizontal. Loosen the top two stem faceplate bolts just enough to freely rotate the bar. Look at the bar horizontally and adjust until the tips are pointing just up from horizontal, then re-tighten to the stem maker’s specs.

5. Set the position of the brake levers

Loosen the brake lever clamp bolt (anti-clockwise) enough to freely slide the lever body along the bar.

You may also need to loosen any shifters or dropper-post remotes before you can move the brake lever to where it needs to be. Don’t worry about the other controls for now, the brakes are your priority.

With your hand in its natural position on the grip, find the position where your index finger sits comfortably on the outboard edge of the lever blade for maximum leverage.

Now tighten the clamp bolt just enough to hold the levers in place, but leave them loose enough to rotate on the bar.

Set the lever angle. There’s a lot of personal preference when it comes to lever angle, but I’d suggest starting with the lever blade about 30 degrees below horizontal.

When you’ve found a position you’re happy with, re-tighten the clamp bolt to the manufacturer’s specs.

Set the other lever symmetrically. You can measure the distance between the grip and the lever body to set the same horizontal position, and judge the angle by eye so it matches the first lever.

6. Set the position of the other controls

Next, fit the shifter(s) and dropper-post remote around the brakes by loosening the clamp bolts so you can slide the controls horizontally and rotate them on the bar.

With one hand on the grip in the riding position, adjust the shifter or remote with the other hand to find the most ergonomic position.

In the case of SRAM’s MatchMaker shifters, you can swap the T25 securing bolt with the 3mm grub screw to move the shifter inboard or outboard. For some bikes, you may have to swap the position of the shifter and brake lever to get the best position.

7. Set up your suspension

We’ve made a separate video explaining how to set up your mountain bike suspension. It includes dialing in the sag, spring rate and rebound damping.

It also shows you how to test if your bike is balanced and progressive enough. It’s a good starting point that should have your suspension at least in the right ballpark before you hit the trails.

One of the key things we do to make our test bikes handle better is adjust the handlebar height. Often, the off-the-shelf bar height doesn’t lend itself to optimal handling, nor is it dialled in for fit. With that in mind, here’s our guide on how to adjust handlebar height on your bike.

Riders will often experiment with adjusting saddle height, changing tyre pressure, bar angle and suspension settings, but few are aware of the benefits of adjusting bar height, despite the handlebar playing a crucial role in the way your bike handles.

Bar height is also known as saddle-drop, which is the measurement of how far the top of the saddle sits above (or below) the bars.

Generally speaking, a lower handlebar height reduces your centre of gravity. By placing more weight over the front wheel, you increase traction. Additionally, a lower bar height provides a more centred position between both wheels to improve bike control, especially during climbing. These traits are even more noticeable off-road.

There is a limit; going too low can make the bike difficult to control. A lower handlebar can also negatively affect handling in steep terrain.

On the road, elite riders normally have a significant drop, where their bars sit below the saddle. This is typically done to provide a more aerodynamic position.

Recreational riders are usually best served by a handlebar that is in line with the saddle or above it. This usually gives a very comfortable position and is a good starting point for experimentation.

Luckily, experimenting with bar height is easy and most often free, so you can adjust to your heart’s content until you find the right position for you.

How to adjust the handlebar height on your bike

The guide below applies to modern threadless style stems and headsets. If your stem has bolts pinching it onto the steerer tube, it’s most likely threadless.

We also cover how to adjust the height of a quill-style stem below.

• Time: 15 minutes
• Skill rating: Easy
• Cost: Free

Tools you’ll need

• A multi-tool or a set of Allen keys
• A torque wrench or pre-set Torq key is recommended, especially if working with carbon or lighter parts
• Some stems, such as those from Zipp, Ritchey and Syncros, will use Torx keys rather than Allen bolts and so a T20 or T25 Torx key will be required
• Possibly a hammer for some quill stems

How to add or remove headset spacers

The first and easiest way to adjust handlebar height is by moving headset spacers.

Headset spacers sit on the fork’s steerer tube and help pre-load the headset bearings during adjustment.

Generally, most bikes have 20 to 30mm of headset spacers that can be moved freely above or below the stem. All bolts in the stem are standard-threaded (i.e. ‘lefty-loosey, and righty-tighty’).

Step 1

Start with the bike’s wheels firmly on the ground and then loosen the clamp bolts on the back of the stem.

This is a good time to add a little fresh grease to the top cap bolt, which can easily become seized in place.

Step 2

Remove the top cap that sits on top of the stem.

Step 3

This is what the top cap and bolt look like when undone. These pieces thread into an item called a star nut.

On a carbon bike, an expanding wedge called a bung is usually used. You do not need to remove either of these.

Step 4

Decide how much you’d like to lower or raise your bar and add or remove the appropriately sized spacer(s).

Step 5

Slide the stem back onto the steerer tube and replace the spacers you just removed into position above the stem.

Ensure there is a 3 to 5mm gap between the steerer tube and the top of your stem/spacer. This will ensure there’s enough space for the headset topcap to clamp down and pre-load the headset bearing.

Step 6

Now replace that top cap and bolt, and tighten until you feel some resistance. This top cap bolt is used to pre-load the headset bearings.

Step 7

Next, align the stem with the front wheel, so the bar is at a right angle with the wheel. This may take some patience – it helps to straddle yourself over the top tube of the bike.

Step 8

Once the wheel and stem are aligned, evenly torque the stem clamp bolts to the manufacturer’s recommended value using a torque wrench. This is often around 5 to 8Nm.

Step 9

Check your headset adjustment.

An easy trick to get this right is to hold the front brake and put one hand on the headset, then rock the bars gently back and forth. Feel for the steerer rocking back and forth inside the head tube of the bike.

If you feel this, loosen the stem clamp bolts and tighten the top cap bolt another quarter-turn, then re-torque the stem clamp bolts.

Repeat until all signs of bearing movement have disappeared and the handlebars still turn smoothly. If you’ve tightened the bolts too much, you’ll feel a tight spot when turning the handlebars.

If your headset feels rough, it may be time to service or replace your headset bearings.

How to flip the stem on my bike

If spacers aren’t enough to achieve the effect you want, you can flip the stem to make a further change to the bar height.

Most mountain bikes will be set up with the stem in a positive position, creating an upward angle, but you can use it the other way round.

This uses all the steps above with the addition of unbolting the handlebar from the front of stem.

Step 1

With the bike’s wheels firmly on the ground, make a mental note of the handlebar angle and the brake lever angle.

Matching up a piece of masking tape on the faceplate and bars will make sure you get the angle spot on when refitting.

Undo the bolts that hold the handlebar to the front of the stem. Remove the stem’s faceplate and store it somewhere safe.

Step 2

Let the handlebar gently droop to the side and now follow the procedure for swapping spacers, outlined in steps 1 to 4 above.

Step 3

While the stem is off the bike, flip it over and then slide it back onto the steerer tube.

Step 5

Reinstall the handlebar, replicating the previous brake lever and handlebar angle.

Tighten the faceplate to the manufacturer’s recommended torque (generally between 4 and 8Nm). Ensure that all bolts are done up evenly, a little at a time, and that there is an even gap top to bottom with the face plate once they’re tight. If the gap isn’t even, the handlebar is being pinched.

While it’s usually the case, not all stems suggest having an even gap at the top of the faceplate. Check your user manual if you are in any doubt.

Proceed with steps 3 to 7 above to pre-load the headset and tighten the stem.

How to adjust the height of a quill stem

Quill stems were the norm before A-head/threadless style stems hit the market. They are still commonly seen on bikes of all styles and disciplines.

Quill stems slide into the steerer tube of the fork and are secured with either an expanding bung or sliding wedge that presses against the inside of the tube.

Adjusting their height is slightly different – but arguably much easier – than a threadless stem.

Step 1

Begin by loosening the bolt on the top of the stem. Most use a hex head bolt, but some will use an external bolt.

Step 2

Once loosened, you may be able to freely move the stem.

If the stem hasn’t been adjusted in some time, you may need to gently tap the bolt with a hammer to free the wedge or bung.

If the bolt is sitting proud of the stem, strike this directly. If it is flush with the top of the stem, you can use your hex key to gently tap the bolt.

Step 3

The stem can now be adjusted to your heart’s content. Be sure to check for any minimum and maximum insertion marks on the stem and adhere to these.

It is good practice to periodically grease the shaft of a quill stem because they frequently seize if left dry.

Step 4

Once you have set the height of your stem and lined it up with your front wheel, you can re-tighten the wedge bolt to spec.

You’re now good to hit the trail and/or road to test out the bike’s new handling characteristics.

It may take some trial and error along with patience to find that perfect height, but once you’ve got it, you’ll be far closer to realising the bike’s true potential.

Changing your saddle height right is the most important adjustment you can make to the fit of your bike. In this guide, we will explain how to determine your correct saddle height on a bicycle, including how to set the fore/aft position of the saddle, as well as tilt.

While this guide focuses on setting the saddle height for a road bike, it applies equally to mountain bikes, hybrids or any other type of bicycle.

One key note before we begin: there is no such thing as simply setting your bike saddle height’ and being done with it. However, there is such a thing as ‘setting your saddle’.

The difference? Seat height, the saddle’s fore/aft position, and tilt should all be addressed simultaneously to ‘set your bike seat’. Get all three of these things right and you’ll be set to have a comfortable and efficient ride. Get any of the three wrong and it can lead riders off the bike or riding in discomfort.

How to set saddle height on a bike

Let’s begin by determining where your bike seat is now by taking a couple of measurements so you can learn from the changes you make, and what the difference is between a good seat position, a better position and the best position possible.

The three critical measurements to consider are saddle height, fore/aft, and tilt.

There are several ways to measure these, but the methods described below allow anybody with a tape measure and a smartphone to accomplish this task.

It’s good practice to document your starting position before doing anything. It will come in handy in the future, especially if you find any changes you have made aren’t working for you – with your old position noted, you can go back to your starting point quickly.

The foundation for this measurement system is to eliminate saddle-specific features. It doesn’t account for the differences between seats because there is no such measurement, but it does allow you to measure any saddle accurately, and that’s a great starting point.

1. How to measure your bike’s saddle height

Use your tape measure to start at the centre-top of your saddle and measure in a straight line to the centre of your bottom bracket (ignore the seat tube angle – just follow the tape measure).

Some cranks are best measured from the driveside and some better from the non-driveside – either is fine.

Document your measurement to the millimetre (764mm, for example).

2. How to determine the saddle fore/aft position

Measure from the wall to the bottom bracket for measurement #1.

Measure from the wall to the tip of the saddle for measurement #2.

To calculate saddle setback, deduct measurement #1 from measurement #2.

3. How to determine saddle tilt

Because many seats have contours, the best way to get consistent measurements is to measure the overall seat tilt.

Place a piece of board over the seat and use your smartphone or inclinometer to find the overall seat tilt.

Double-check to see if your bike was level before you started. I recommend documenting to the nearest 1/10^th of a degree.

How to get the perfect saddle height on your bike

Once you have your three measurements, it’s time to get started.

There’s no shortage of ‘old school’ methods for seat height: the ‘Holmes method’, ‘Lemond method’, armpit on the saddle and fingertips to the centre of crank, and so on.

To some extent, these have all been discredited by new schools of thinking in bike fitting, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t useful.

Determining saddle height with the heel method

As a place to start, the ‘heel method’ is a very quick way to establish a baseline height. I still find it quite useful.

This process can be done in a doorway, or better yet with the bike on a stationary trainer.

Hop on the bike and place your heel on the pedal, in whatever shoes you plan on riding in.

Pedal forwards or backwards, but do it slowly. If the saddle is too high, you’ll not be able to pedal smoothly without having to rock your hips from side-to-side, overreaching. Move your saddle down 1 to 2cm at a time until this back and forth stops.

Conversely, if it’s easy to pedal smoothly, try going up a few centimetres at a time until you have to start reaching for the pedals. Once you’re reaching, start edging your saddle back down until you find yourself in an ideal starting height.

How to use an app to determine your saddle height

Leave the ‘heel method’ in the rear-view mirror and try putting your foot on the pedal as you would when riding. If this means clipping into clipless pedals, then go for it.

If you prefer to ride with flat pedals, then put about 1/3 of your foot in front of the pedal axle, and 2/3 behind.

At this point, a stationary trainer is pretty much a necessity if you want to give a proper evaluation of your seat height.

If you don’t have one, it’s still certainly possible, but requires help from a friend and some fancy smartphone camera action.

With the bike in a trainer, it’s time to snap a few photos/videos. I recommend downloading any one of a number of free apps for capturing and analysing motion.

The app I prefer is Hudl Technique, but there are plenty to choose from. Any app that can create still images from action will suffice.

Ride your bike for a few minutes, as you would on any daily rides, adjusting your position on the seat until it feels comfortable.

Once in position, you can begin capturing some imagery. The goal is to be able to quantify how much bend is in the knee throughout the pedal stroke, and to the approximate location of the centre of your knee.

Generally speaking, at full extension (which is not 6 o’clock – more like 5 o’clock) 30 to 40 degrees of knee bend is the generally accepted range.

If you’re feeling tension at the front of the knee or a large amount of work only from your quads, the seat height is a bit low.

If you feel a dull ache at your low back, or you can feel your hips rocking a bit, the saddle is likely too high.

Using the same images track to a point where the crank arm is forward-horizontal and look to the knee.

Approximate the centre of your knee, or the point where it appears to hinge. Where in relation to the pedal axle is your knee? In front, behind, or just above?

If it’s behind, try sliding your seat forward a bit, until the centre of the knee is vertically in line with your pedal axle. Do the opposite, of course, if your knee is in front of the pedal axle.

When you moved your seat forward or backward did it feel like the seat height change? If you moved your seat forward to move your knee forward, you’ll likely need to raise your seat, too. The opposite is, of course, true if you moved your seat rearward.

This little dance goes on until you’ve found something that feels smooth and balanced. No rocking back and forth, no muscle groups feeling like they’re doing more than their share of the work, and no aching knees or hips.

Now take your bike out for a few short spins and bring your hex keys with you.

A few small tweaks can help finalise a good position, but don’t overdo the first couple of rides or you’ll be minimising the opportunity for proper and painless adaptation.

Make the saddle work for you

All of this has been under a major assumption that your saddle properly supports your sit bones.

So, does it? Do you feel definitive pressure on the two sit bones of your pelvis? If not, it could be for two reasons:

1. Your saddle shape or width aren’t matching your anatomical structure, or
2. The tilt of the saddle isn’t enabling your sit bones to do their job.

If it’s the latter of the two that’s worth discussing, largely because you can check for yourself if your bike seat is actually right for you.

The tilt of the saddle is a determining factor for where pressure is applied to the pelvis. If the front of the seat is too high it makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the sit bones to provide support.

Conversely, if the saddle is too far down at the front your sit bones can support you, but you’ll be sliding forward and subsequently applying too much pressure on your hands.

Use a piece of board and a digital inclinometer (or smartphone level app) to determine saddle tilt. Write it down! Make sure your bike is level and if not, take in to account the fact that it’s not. Now try moving things around to see what provides the most support, structurally speaking.

Most saddles fall into a 0- to 6-degree range, with positive (nose up) numbers rarely a possibility.

This is a bit of an arbitrary number, but I find it prevents extremes for new riders, which isn’t uncommon.

Sitting pretty

Now you’re all set.

If you still haven’t found true comfort after adjustments have been made, keep moving things around. Don’t forget to document your changes and how your body has responded.

If you’re not finding comfort within a few centimetres of your starting point it’s likely time to head to your local bike shop to investigate your seat shape and width.

Following the instruction above provides only a good starting point for setting your bike saddle up correctly. The way you move on the bike, what your lifestyle is like off the bike, and what types of self-care you engage in all dictate how you sit atop and pedal a bike.

Don’t listen to what worked for your friends, listen to your body. If something aches, try something new. If things are good, document the position and leave it alone!

Wearing out bike tyres and puncturing inner tubes is an unavoidable part of any rider’s life, but what should you do when your tyres are unserviceable and your inner tubes can no longer be repaired?

Before you consign a punctured inner tube to landfill, or cast aside a set of tyres, think again. In this guide, we will cover what to do when your tyres and tubes reach the end of their life, whether that’s finding an environmentally friendly way to recycle or thrifty options for reuse.

We’ll also explain how to tell if your tyres are worn out and how to increase the life of your tyres, with input from experts at Schwalbe, Continental and WTB.

How do I know if my tyres are worn out?

To maintain grip and stay safe, it’s important to know when to replace your tyres. When the tread runs down too low, your tyres will have less grip or be susceptible to a blow-out.

Some bicycle tyres have wear indicators, usually in the form of grooves or pimples that wear away over time. These are a helpful indicator of remaining tyre life, but are not failsafe.

On tyres without wear indicators, warning signs include cuts and slashes to the tread and sidewall, flat spots on the crown of the tyre, and any unusual bumps and bulges. If the tyre casing is visible, it’s certainly time to fit new tyres.

A tyre can also become damaged through a big impact (for example, hitting a pothole at speed), repeated punctures, an irreparable cut or, in most cases, general wear and tear through riding.

If you’re unlucky, a slash to the tyre sidewall can be unrepairable. When the damage is less severe, knowing how to repair a punctured tubeless tyre is friendly on both the environment and your wallet.

How to reduce tyre wear

Reducing the frequency with which you have to repair or replace an inner tube or tyre is the first test before sending anything to landfill.

Some tyres will wear faster than others, so choose a tyre that best suits where and how you’re riding. For example, a lightweight race-focused tyre with a soft compound will likely have a higher wear rate than a durable commuting or winter tyre.

“Choosing the right tyre for the intended purpose, using the right tyre pressure and sensible riding style have a substantial impact on the durability and wear of [your tyre]” says Schwalbe’s corporate social responsibility manager, Felix Jahn.

Riding style also plays a key part in improving tyre life.

The most skilful riders don’t ride in the gutter, thereby avoiding detritus likely to cause punctures, such as broken glass. They also dodge potholes and drain covers, and know how to unweight the bike on rough off-road terrain.

Continental’s Sarah Hohmann-Spohr says storing tyres somewhere with a consistent ambient temperature – not too warm, not too cold – will also help extend lifespan. “Also, keep [tyres] away from the sun when not in use,” she says.

Going tubeless may use fewer inner tubes, but tubeless tyres need thicker casings (therefore, more rubber). Sealant spills can also be messy, even if a number of brands have previously assured BikeRadar that the environmental impact of tubeless sealant is minimal.

As for inner tubes, a TPU construction – for example, the Pirelli P Zero Smartube – may prove more resilient than butyl alternatives and be easier to recycle. In addition, the rubber in butyl inner tubes is made in an energy-intensive process from petroleum.

Pricier, fast-rolling latex tubes are more puncture-prone, so won’t last as long, however the natural rubber they contain is carbon-neutral and biodegradable.

Then again, natural rubber has similar sustainability issues to palm oil, since rainforest is cut down in the tropics to make room for rubber tree plantations.

How to reuse tyres or inner tubes

If you do upgrade to a new set of road bike tyres and your old pair are in decent condition, you can still give them a new lease of life.

WTB’s James Heaton says: “To extend the life of your tyres, the simplest answer is to ride them for longer.

“There’s no need to fit new tyres once the tread gets a little bit worn. If you do want to fit new tyres for a specific event, then keep hold of the old ones and re-fit them later when maximum traction isn’t at the top of the agenda.”

A worn but safe set of tyres make perfectly adequate winter, training or commuter tyres, especially if you have a second bike.

Also consider giving them away to a cycling pal, or a cycling charity or cooperative – check before taking them because some projects only accept bikes, not spare parts.

Needless to say, you should always repair punctured inner tubes before throwing them away.

However, there are numerous ways to use irreparable inner tubes.

They can be given a new lease of life as exercise bands or chainstay guards. A thin slice of inner tube can also tidy up a lengthy helmet strap.

If bikepacking is your thing, you can use old inner tubes to protect your frame or paintwork from rubbing against bag straps. Old tubes can also be used as cable ties.

And how about creating an improvised bike stand or storage space by securing tubes to a hook and looping them around the bike’s saddle to suspend it?

An old inner tube’s utility is not restricted to cycling, either. Gardeners can use old inner tubes to tie a young plant to a cane. You get the picture – think outside the box and there are lots of potential uses for old inner tubes.

We’ve focused on inner tubes here, but you can also, in theory, give a tyre a new lease of life through retreading (more on this later). However, the process is currently operating on an experimental or bespoke basis.

How to recycle inner tubes

When you’ve exhausted these options, recycling is the most responsible way to dispose of your tyres and tubes.

You can recycle your used tyres and tubes at many local bike shops, thanks to schemes such as the one run by Velorim in the UK.

You can check if your local bike shop participates (in 2021, there were 200 centres in the UK). It’ll usually cost 55p to drop off a tyre and 25p for a tube, so there is a small additional fee involved.

Instead of exporting the rubber, steel and fibre, Velorim converts the waste into safety flooring, construction and insulation products.

The Cycle of Good charity also has drop-off points in bike shops. The scheme sent 115,408 tubes to Malawi last year, where tailors upcycle the rubber into wallets and belts.

Schwalbe runs its own tube and tyre recycling operation in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland. You can hand in any brand’s tubes to your local dealer, who return them to Schwalbe. The manufacturer claims to have collected 1.1 million tubes in 2021.

Schwalbe says its new inner tubes contain 20 per cent recycled old tubes, and producing this recycled rubber consumes a fifth of the energy of making new butyl.

“To recover the butyl rubber, an innovative devulcanization process was developed at the Schwalbe plant in Indonesia,” according to Schwalbe’s Steffen Jungst, who says every tube is 100 per cent recyclable.

“Compared to the production of new butyl, the whole process saves us 80 per cent energy consumption.”

If you can’t find a local recycling option, think twice before dumping your tubes. According to Continental, discarded tyres take up a lot of room in landfill, can trap methane gas, become buoyant and rise to the surface, which can break the landfill liner, spreading pollutants into soil and groundwater.

How to recycle bike tyres

Regardless of material (butyl, latex, TPU), inner tubes tend to contain a single ingredient, making them simpler to recycle.

As WTB’s Heaton points out, tyres have multiple constituents, adding: “The bead is not made from rubber and must be removed to be recycled separately.”

This means there are fewer options when it comes to recycling tyres, but there are positive developments on the horizon.

Vittoria Group CEO and president Stijn Vriends believes that repairing tyres is a better long-term waste reduction solution than recycling.

Vittoria is currently able to add new treads to worn-out tyres in its Dutch factory. While the current operation is small, Vriends says there is the ambition to increase the scale. In a proposed scheme, riders would take a subscription to a tyre and potentially use the same carcass for five years.

A similar scheme from Continental aims to use its ContiLifeCycle factory, which currently retreads car and truck tyres, in order to renew all of its bike products by 2050.

Vittoria’s Vriends would also like the tyre industry to collaborate to collect and recycle each other’s tyres and tubes, instead of running standalone schemes.

While Schwalbe’s inner tubes are recyclable, it is struggling to make its tyres fully recyclable, but says it will be soon.

“Currently, we run a pilot project for tyre recycling,” says Jahn. “It is much more difficult because of the material mix, but we are very confident.”

The vast majority of modern bikes, whether mountain bikes, road bikes or gravel bikes, come with derailleur gears. The rear derailleur moves your chain up or down a set of sprockets attached to your rear wheel. Those sprockets – or gear wheels, if you prefer – are your cassette.

Cassettes come in a wide range of sizes to suit all disciplines. The size of a cassette is usually expressed by quoting its smallest and largest cogs. As an example, a typical modern road bike cassette may be an 11-32t (teeth) cassette. For a mountain bike cassette, the range may be something like 10-52t.

In this guide, we’ll talk you through what a cassette is and how to tell the ‘speed’ of your cassette, explain the typical range of a cassette for all disciplines, compare the key difference between cheap and expensive cassettes, and much more.

What is a cassette?

Although it might seem straightforward, there’s a lot of engineering that goes into a bike cassette.

Rather than just being a collection of cogs, the sprockets in a cassette are designed to work together as a whole, with the individual sprockets positioned precisely relative to one another to ensure the chain will shift smoothly between cogs.

Individual teeth on the sprockets have shapes that differ from one another and there are usually ramps built into the sides of the sprockets. This helps ensure smooth shifting between gears.

The designs of these ramps have been honed over time.

Shimano, for example, uses a system it calls Hyperglide, which is engineered to provide smooth shifting. Its latest cassettes have a newer system called Hyperglide+, which Shimano says reduces shifting time by up to a third relative to Hyperglide, and improves shifting performance under power, up and down the cassette.

Other cassette suppliers, such as SRAM and Campagnolo, have equivalently honed cassette designs.

Since they’re designed as a whole system, the sprockets in a cassette are sold as a set rather than individually, and usually need to be replaced as a complete group, too.

You usually can’t just swap out one sprocket from a set for one with a different number of teeth without compromising shift performance.

We have an explainer on how to change your cassette in five simple steps.

What ‘speed’ is my cassette?

A cassette might have anything from 7 up to 13 sprockets.

These days, it is increasingly common to see higher-spec road bikes with 12-speed gearing, Shimano having joined SRAM and Campagnolo with 12-speed groupsets in 2021 with the release of its Dura-Ace R9200 groupset.

For mountain bikes, 12-speed cassettes are largely the default for higher-spec groupsets, paired with a single-ring chainset.

The number of sprockets on your cassette must match the number your other components are designed for.

That’s because almost all gear systems are indexed, and shifters are designed to move the derailleur a set distance for each click of their mechanism. This means they won’t work with cassettes that don’t have the same number of sprockets, because sprocket spacing is narrower on cassettes with more sprockets. The chain has to be the right width to match the number of sprockets, too.

In general, lower-spec groupsets offer fewer gear ratios and so have cassettes with fewer sprockets.

There are exceptions though, with SRAM’s X01 DH and GX DH downhill mountain bike groupsets using seven-speed cassettes, which work with 11-speed chains. The lower number of gears is designed to give closer gear ratios and allow shorter cage derailleurs for better ground clearance, on bikes where climbing capability is not required.

Cassette gear ratios

Alongside the number of sprockets, the range of different tooth numbers offered is a key determinant of a cassette’s compatibility with your drivetrain.

In general, cassettes start at 10, 11 or 12 teeth. Again, there are exceptions, with options available with 9-, 13- or 14-tooth smallest sprockets.

You may sometimes see brands refer to their cassettes as having a certain range in the form of a percentage.

For example, SRAM boasts a 520 per cent range with its 10-52t cassettes. How has SRAM arrived at this figure, and how do you work out your gear range percentage?

Well, the smallest cog is a 10-tooth, and the largest cog is 52-tooth, which is 520 per cent larger than the 10-tooth cog, thus giving a 520 per cent range.

It’s important to note that this figure is only indicative of the range of gears you have on your cassette, and is not the same as working out how far you will travel with your chosen gear ratio.

Likewise, it can’t tell you if it is suitable for the type of riding you do. For that, you would calculate gear inches, which is another topic in itself.

Road bike cassettes

Road bike cassettes have mushroomed in size in recent years. 

Where an 11-28 would have been considered an ‘easy’ training cassette a few short years ago, the smallest cassette available for a Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 is an 11-28. That might not sound like much but, when you consider pro riders would typically ride on 11-23 or 11-25 cassettes, it’s a sizeable difference.

The reason for this development is firstly due to the increase in cassette speeds. 

Now that 12-speed road bike groupsets exist, cassettes can have a larger range and the jumps between each gear can be relatively small. 

For example, at the lower end of the cassette, you can have as little as a one-tooth jump between the early cogs, and still have the range at the easier end. If you were running a 7- or 8-speed system, for example, in the same range, the jumps would be bigger. 

Attitudes towards gearing have also changed – it’s no longer seen as a badge of pride to needlessly grind away at a lower cadence, and our knees are all the more happy for it.

Both Shimano and Campagnolo have stuck to pre-existing gear ratios in their transformations to 12-speed, and have used the additional cog as a means of bridging the gap between the bigger jumps of the cassette, so that the ratios are closer together. SRAM has gone down a different route (more on that in a moment).

Shimano’s latest R9200 is offered in 11-28, 11-30 and 11-34 options. These ratios also existed in Shimano’s 11-speed configurations, although it’s important to note that Dura-Ace R9100 did not have an 11-34 option. 

Campagnolo offers an 11-29 option for all of its 12-speed groupsets, which was the largest range offered in its 11-speed ecosystem. 

In addition, there are now 11-32 cassette options across the board. There is also an 11-34 cassette, but that is only available and compatible with Chorus. 

SRAM, on the other hand, has shaken up what we have come to understand as conventional gear ratios with its latest 12-speed eTap AXS groupsets. 

Its addition of a 12th cog instead acts to increase the range of the cassette. SRAM road cassettes start from a smaller 10t (which requires the use of the XDR freehub body, which we’ll come onto later). 

SRAM has also revamped its chainring sizes, that are smaller than convention at 50/37 (Red only), 48/35 and 46/33. This compares to the more conventional gear ratios of 53/39, 52/36 and 50/34. 

SRAM cassettes are available in 10-26 (Red only), 10-28 (Force and Red only), 10-30 (Rival only), 10-33 (Force and Red only) and 10-36 (Rival and Force only).

Mountain bike cassettes

Mountain bike cassettes have similarly increased in size. This is largely down to the advent of 1x drivetrains – with no small inner ring for climbing in a 1x setup, cassettes need to offer a wider range in order for riders to be equipped with a suitable climbing gear.

Unlike road bikes, mountain bike cassette options are usually more limited.

Shimano offers just two cassette sizes in its 12-speed line-up – 10-45 (not available for Deore) and 10-51. The 10-51 option can only be used on a 1x setup, but the 10-45 can be used on either 1x or 2x systems.

SRAM also offers just two cassette sizes in its Eagle lineup – 10-50 and 10-52. The 10-52 is the widest-range cassette made by either manufacturer. Although there are currently two options, it’s likely the 10-50 will be phased out in time because it has been superseded by the 10-52.

You need to ensure you’re using a compatible rear derailleur if you’re using the 10-52 option, because the previous-generation Eagle mechanical rear derailleur’s cage is slightly too short.

There are new rear derailleurs on the market that are identifiable as being compatible because they have a ‘520% range’ graphic printed on the derailleur cage. SRAM Eagle AXS rear derailleurs are compatible with the new 10-52 cassettes.

For users of SRAM’s two entry-level Eagle groupsets, SX Eagle and NX Eagle, SRAM offers an 11-50 cassette. This allows the cassette to fit onto a standard Shimano HG freehub (again, more on this later) because the 10t options require the use of an XD freehub.

Gravel bike cassettes

Gravel bikes are best viewed as a crossover between a road and mountain bike. As such, it’s normal to see them specced with either a road or mountain bike cassette.

However, as groupset manufacturers have jumped onto the gravel bandwagon, there are now gravel-specific gearing options available on the market.

SRAM’s eTap AXS XPLR groupsets are designed specifically for gravel riding. SRAM XPLR cassettes have a range of 10-44 and require their own compatible rear derailleur. It is also possible to mix and match drop bar shifters with mountain bike Eagle eTap AXS components if you want an especially wide-range 1x build. SRAM dubs this a ‘mullet’ setup.

Campagnolo is the only mainstream groupset manufacturer to have a 13-speed groupset for gravel. The Campagnolo Ekar 13-speed gravel groupset offers cassettes that start with just nine teeth in their smallest sprocket. Cassettes are offered in 9-36, 9-42 or 10-44 options. Ekar is 1x only.

Shimano GRX users can choose to spec one of their own 11-speed road or mountain bike cassettes. The road cassettes go up to an 11-34 and mountain bike cassettes are offered in 11-40, 11-42 or 11-46. Shimano’s cassette range might sound more limited than its competitors, but it is important to note that you can run GRX either as a 1x or 2x system.

Cassette compatibility explained

Freehub compatibility

A freehub has splines that mesh with notches in your cassette. These ensure that your cassette’s sprockets are positioned correctly relative to one another and are in the right orientation for the whole system to work properly.

Each manufacturer has its own freehub design, meaning that not all cassettes will work with every wheel (or groupset).

A full explainer on freehubs, how they work and their compatibility can be found in our beginner’s guide to freehubs.

Shimano freehubs

The most common system is the Shimano 11-speed HG-style freehub, which has 9 splines. Most Shimano groupsets up to the 11-speed era used this style of freehub. SRAM groupsets prior to the current generation of 12-speed groupsets also used the same freehub design, although there are a handful of exceptions with the larger cassette ratios on their 1×11 groupsets.

Shimano recently released an updated freehub design for its road bike groupsets with Ultegra’s and Dura-Ace’s move to 12-speed, although this is backwards-compatible with 11-speed Shimano freehubs.

On the mountain bike side, Shimano uses its Microspline freehub standard for its 12-speed Deore, SLX, XT and XTR groupsets.

If you are specifically using a Shimano HG freehub, you need to consider how wide the cassette you are buying is. Road wheels have slightly wider freehubs than MTB ones – by 1.85mm – and 11-speed Shimano HG road cassettes are slightly wider than 8- or 9-speed ones, again by 1.85mm.

You can fit a mountain or road cassette with fewer ratios on an 11-speed road hub by adding a 1.85mm spacer on its inner side, but you can’t fit a road cassette on an MTB freehub. Since 10-speed road cassettes are narrower than 8- or 9-speed ones, you need to use a 1.85mm spacer, plus an additional 1mm one for it to fit.

Campagnolo freehubs

Campagnolo has also used its own freehub design that’s different and incompatible with Shimano and SRAM cassettes.

The brand has also brought out a new freehub standard called N3W to support its 13-speed Ekar cassettes. An adaptor for this freehub allows it to work with Campagnolo’s older-standard cassettes too.

SRAM freehubs

SRAM introduced its XD freehub standard when it started rolling out cassettes with a 10-tooth smallest cog. It recently ported this design over to the road with XDR, which also allows the use of 10-tooth cogs, but is slightly wider than the road bike standard.

SRAM XDR road cassettes are 1.85mm wider than SRAM XD MTB cassettes. With a spacer, you can run an XD cassette on a road wheel with an XDR body, but you can’t use an XDR cassette on an XD freehub.

Mountain bike versus road cassettes

Some people may wish to use a road bike cassette on a mountain bike or vice versa. Here, we’ll go over why you may (or may not) choose to do so, and look at the compatibility issues both options may present.

Most people won’t want to use a road bike cassette on a mountain bike. The range of a typical road cassette is much smaller than a mountain bike, and riding off-road requires a wider spread of gears to winch your way up technical climbs but still have a low enough gear for the descents.

If you are still using a triple crankset, you may have sufficient overall range with a road cassette, but this is a fairly specialist application these days.

You may want to consider using a mountain bike cassette on a road bike if you require an easier climbing gear, or if you’re bikepacking. However, you will need to ensure your freehub and derailleur are compatible with a larger-range cassette.

The cage of a rear derailleur is designed for a certain range of gears. For example, Shimano’s outgoing Dura-Ace R9100-SS rear derailleur is designed for use up to an 11-30 cassette.

This means it wouldn’t be compatible with an 11-34 cassette because the cage of the rear derailleur isn’t long enough to allow the derailleur to take up enough slack from the chain when riding in the smallest cog of the cassette, given that the chain’s length needs to be long enough to accommodate the larger 34t sprocket.

If you wanted to use an 11-34 cassette, as well as buying the relevant cassette, you would need to buy a compatible rear derailleur. In this example, it would be an Ultegra R8050-GS or 105 R7000-GS rear derailleur. The GS denotes that these are ‘medium cage’ derailleurs. The same rule applies to Shimano Di2 derailleurs.

SRAM eTap AXS rear derailleurs can take up to a 33t for road, and this is denoted by the ‘Max 33t’ written on the inside of the derailleur cage. There is also a ‘Max 36t’ option to pair with the 10-36 cassette, as well as an XPLR rear derailleur, which can take up to a 44t.

Campagnolo 12-speed rear derailleurs can accept up to an 11-32. The only exception is Campagnolo Chorus, which can take up to an 11-34.

If you’re changing to a larger cassette ratio, you’ll also want to make sure that your chain is of a sufficient length.

Cassette materials: steel vs aluminium vs titanium

The least expensive cassettes are typically made of pressed steel, which is hard-wearing but heavy. Move up the price range and you’ll usually get flashier materials and better finishing.

For example, the top-spec Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 cassette has five of its 12 sprockets made of titanium. Steel is still used for the smallest sprockets on the cassette because there are fewer points of contact with the chain. A softer material would wear out more quickly.

SRAM saves weight in its highest-spec SRAM Red AXS 12-speed road cassette by machining it as one piece from a single block of steel, which allows the removal of a lot of material. Rotor and Miche both save weight by making their cassettes, which are compatible with major road bike groupsets, out of aluminium alloy.

Larger sprockets are often joined together in clusters that are supported by a single carrier – or ‘spider’ – that meshes with the freehub.

This saves weight and, since it isn’t subject to wear from the chain, the carrier is often made of a lighter material – carbon fibre in the case of Dura-Ace cassettes

Where cassettes have individual sprockets, the mid-range ones are usually separated by spacers, which may be made of alloy or in some cases plastic. The smaller sprockets are built with the spacer incorporated into them.

Most cassettes (but not SRAM XD and XDR) are secured to the freehub body with a locknut, which comes as part of the cassette. Again, the default is steel but aluminium alloy is a lighter alternative that may be used.

Cassette prices: what do you get for your money?

You can pay a lot of money for a high-end cassette; the most expensive cassettes now cost over £300. So what do you get for the price?

Higher-spec cassettes will usually be made from more exotic materials, such as titanium or carbon fibre for some sprockets and their carriers. Others, such as SRAM Red road cassettes, are machined in one piece. In general, higher-spec cassettes are more intricately finished and weigh less than cheaper ones.

Beyond weight, there’s not much difference in performance between a Dura-Ace 11-28 cassette and one from a Shimano Ultegra or a Shimano 105 groupset, so you can save yourself considerable expense by down-speccing.

There are equivalent options with SRAM, and with the advent of Rival eTap AXS those now extend to its 12-speed road groupsets, offering a much cheaper alternative to Red and Force-level cassettes. The same can be said of equivalent mountain bike groupsets.

It’s worth remembering that a cassette is a wear component and will need periodical replacement though.

If you change your chain when it is at .5 on a chain checker tool (11/12/13-speed) or at .75 (for 10-speed and below), you can – as a very rough rule of thumb – run three chains on one cassette. Some riders will fare better, others will go the other way. It all depends on how clean you keep your chain and your local riding conditions.

If you let the chain wear further than the recommended intervals, the cassette will also wear as the rollers on the chain elongate. As there’s a considerable expense in replacing a top-end cassette, you’ll want to keep on top of maintenance to avoid unnecessary costs.

Picture the scene: you’ve got a new tyre to mount on a wheel but, no matter how hard you try, you can’t get it on. It’s a scenario many cyclists have found themselves in.

In this article, we’ll run through the proper technique for changing a bike tyre (both installation and removal), explain why some tyres are so difficult to fit, and suggest what tools you can use when you need help with a particularly tight tyre and rim combination.

While installing a tyre on a wheel is something most riders can normally manage comfortably, even seasoned cyclists will experience combinations where muscling the last bit of tyre bead over the rim edge appears to require super-human strength and thumbs of steel.

The rise of tubeless tyres and rims across road, gravel and mountain bikes has increased the frequency of such issues too, as tubeless-ready tyres are made with stiffer beads and to tighter tolerances than equivalent clincher tyres.

To save yourself stress, sore thumbs and to prevent damage to delicate or expensive bicycle parts, proper technique when installing or changing tight bicycle tyres is crucial.

Beyond that, there are also now many useful tools to help ease tight tyres onto rims (as well as some tools you should avoid).

How to change a bike tyre

Getting your tyre-mounting technique up to standard is the best way to ensure your tyres go on with the minimum amount of fuss.

The increasing prevalence of tubeless-ready tyre and wheel systems on bikes of all kinds means proper technique is more vital than ever.

The following steps apply equally to both clincher and tubeless-ready tyres, though it’s worth checking our guide on how to set up road tubeless tyres or our tips for understanding mountain bike tubeless setup, if you’re installing tubeless-ready tyres.

If you’ve come here looking for tips on how to install tubular tyres, we’ll direct you to our how to glue a tubular tyre guide.

1. Begin by ensuring the tyre is unfolded (if you have folding tyres) and appropriately shaped to go on the rim.

If the tyre is not brand-new, now is a good time to check its condition and the condition of the rim.

Replacing a worn-out tyre or damaged rim tape is key to safe running and for preventing future punctures.

If you’re replacing a tyre after a puncture, ensure you find the culprit (the object that caused the puncture) and remove it before patching or replacing the tube and reinstalling the tyre.

If the tyre is brand-new, it’s a good idea to ‘massage’ the tyre into a vaguely round shape because this will make getting the first bead on much easier.

2. With the tyre properly shaped, install one bead of the tyre onto the rim

If your tyre has a directional tread, be sure to install it in the correct orientation for optimum performance. This is usually marked on the tyre sidewalls.

It will usually be possible to get the first bead onto the rim without tools, using the palms of your hands (rather than your thumbs) to lift the whole tyre over the rim edge, though a tyre lever can be used to pull it over in exceptional circumstances.

Installing tyres with the name label located centrally above the valve not only looks good (in our opinion), but it also locates key information, such as tyre size and minimum/maximum inflation pressures, above the valve where it can be easily viewed while inflating the tyre.

3. Install the inner tube or tubeless valve

If using an inner tube, add a little air before installing it. This will help prevent the tube being pinched by the tyre bead while installing the tyre.

Avoid adding too much air, however, because this will make the tube take up too much space inside the tyre and prevent the tyre beads from falling into the deepest part of the rim’s central channel. Enough air to give the inner tube some basic shape is plenty.

Bonus pro tip: if you’re using latex inner tubes, a light dusting of talcum powder on the inner tube will help prevent it from sticking to the tyre or rim walls, or getting caught under the tyre bead. This can further reduce the likelihood of pinching the tube during installation.

4. Begin installing the other tyre bead onto the rim

Start opposite the valve and slowly work your way around each side of the rim, leaving the last bit of unmounted tyre located centrally around the valve.

As you go, ensure both beads of the tyre fall down into the central channel of the rim.

With tubeless tyres and rims, the newly installed bead will sometimes sit on the rim shelf, instead of falling into the central channel, decreasing the amount of slack in the bead. Simply push the tyre bead into the channel using your thumbs.

5. Install the final part of the tyre bead onto the rim

This is where things will usually start getting difficult.

As you get to the final part of the bead, use the palms of your hands to pull the whole tyre up and roll both sides of the bead over the rim edge bit by bit.

While it can be tempting to use your thumbs to push the bead over the rim edge, if the combination is very tight you’ll likely just end up with sore thumbs.

If you’re using very thin or wide tyres, which make it difficult to grab the whole tyre in the palms of your hand, you may have to resort to using your thumbs to push the tyre sidewall over the edge. In these instances, it’s advisable to wear protective gloves.

If you’re struggling, go back around the rim and double-check all of the installed parts of the tyre beads (on both sides) have fallen into the rim’s central channel. This is absolutely crucial to getting the last part of the bead on with the minimum of fuss.

It’s best to install the remaining tyre bead without resorting to tools, if possible, as incorrect use of tyre levers and other similar tools can potentially damage the rim, inner tube or rim tape.

If it’s not possible to install the remaining tyre bead by hand, however, careful use of tools can help you pull the last bit of a tight tyre bead onto the rim. We’ll talk more about that soon.

6. Check the tyre is correctly installed, then inflate

Go around the rim and check the inner tube (if you’re using one) is not being pinched or squashed under the tyre bead. If it is, simply lift the tyre up in that area to release the tube and allow it to rebound back into the middle of the tyre.

If using tubeless valves, with tubeless-ready tyres, make sure the tyre beads are sat on either side of the valve, and be sure to add the valve stem retaining nut onto the other end of the valve.

Once you’re sure both tyre beads are correctly installed around the entire circumference of the wheel, you can pump up the tyre. We’ve got a guide to help you find the correct tyre pressure for your road bike, as well as advice on perfecting mountain bike tyre pressure.

How to remove a bike tyre

Just as some tyres can be tricky to install, removing a bike tyre from a wheel can also be difficult.

Proper technique is key to making things as easy as possible, and while it’s sometimes possible to remove a bike tyre without tools, a couple of good tyre levers can often make life much easier.

1. Deflate the inner tube

If you’re removing the tyre because of a puncture, the inner tube (assuming your wheel has one) will already have lost some air, but you may still need to deflate it fully to aid removal.

Unscrew the head on the valve and press it down to remove any excess air, then remove the retaining nut that threads over the valve and sits against the rim (assuming you’re using one – many riders don’t). You’re now ready to start removing the tyre.

As with installing tyres, pushing both beads into the deeper central channel of the rim gives you the maximum amount of slack to work with.

2. Removing a tyre without tyre levers

With supple clincher tyres, it will generally be possible to remove the tyre without resorting to using tyre levers.

Grab a section of the tyre opposite the valve stem firmly in both hands and lift up and over the rim edge.

With a small section of the tyre bead over the rim edge, the rest of the tyre should come away from the rim with ease.

This can be useful if you’re caught short on a ride without tyre levers, but also means you’re less likely to damage your rims, rim tape or inner tubes.

That said, tougher road or mountain bike tyres (particularly those in inflexible tubeless-ready beads) will likely require the use of tyre levers.

3. Removing a tyre using tyre levers

Insert the scooped edge of a tyre lever underneath the tyre bead and gently lever the bead over the rim edge

With a small section of the tyre bead off the rim, hold the tyre lever firmly in your hand and push it forward (away from you) around the rim edge to remove the tyre.

If the tyre is too tight to lift off using only one tyre lever, don’t resort to brute force.

Instead, insert a second tyre a few centimetres away from the first and use both to lift off a larger section of tyre.

This should then give you the required slack to slide the rest of the bead off using a tyre lever.

Leaning on the top of the wheel can help, as it means you aren’t working to stop the wheel from rolling away from you as you push the tyre lever forward.

With one full side of the bead off the rim, you can then pull the whole tyre away from and off the wheel.

Why are some tyres harder to install than others?

Modern bicycle tyres and wheels are sized according to ISO standard 5775, set by the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO).

A size 28-622 tyre code, for example, indicates a tyre with a nominal 28mm width and a 622mm inner-bead diameter.

As you might have guessed, such tyres are compatible with wheels that have a 622mm rim diameter. In old money, that’s a 700c wheel.

However, as there are many different types of bicycle tyres and rims, made by countless different manufacturers, there can be a number of reasons why some bicycle tyres are harder to install than others.

In this section, we’ll explore some of the main culprits in greater detail.

Tyre construction

To start with, anything that makes a tyre casing or its bead stiffer and less supple is likely to make it harder to install on any given rim.

It’s for this reason that high-end clincher tyres designed for road racing and time trials, such as those made with unvulcanised cotton casings and flexible tyre beads, are typically easier to install.

In contrast, a burly tyre designed for durability, high mileage and low cost – perhaps a winter training tyre or a tyre intended for cycling to work – may prove a much tougher nut to crack.

On mountain bikes, lighter, fast-rolling tyres designed for cross-country racing are likely to be easier to install than tougher ones designed for enduro or downhill use. This is especially true of super-tough downhill tyres with heavy casings and wire beads.

Furthermore, the beads on tubeless-ready tyres are designed specifically to be unstretchable, both for performance and safety reasons. This typically means there is less margin for poor installation technique, and greater strength or specialist tools may be required.

Rim shape

The size and shape of the rim you’re trying to install a tyre on can also make a significant difference to how easy the process is.

Modern, wide, tubeless-ready rims (either hookless or with traditional bead hooks) will likely feature a deep central channel. This helps because it reduces the effective diameter of the rim once the first side of the tyre bead is installed, which increases the amount of available slack in the second bead.

Pushing the second bead down into this channel as you work it onto the rim is key to making tyre installations as easy as possible.

Rims designed for use with clincher tyres only may lack such a deep central channel, and can therefore make the installation of tight tyres harder.

This can make installing a tubeless-ready tyre onto a clincher-only rim very difficult, and is generally something to avoid, even if the two may be technically compatible (providing you use an inner tube).

These days, non-tubeless compatible mountain bike wheels are virtually unheard of.

Thanks to a longer history of tubeless technology in mountain biking, even non-tubeless-specific legacy rims also may be convertible, with conversion systems available from many brands, such as Stan’s and Muc-Off.

Furthermore, the vast majority of modern mountain bike tyres will be tubeless compatible, even down to the most budget offerings from major manufacturers. Thus, ‘clincher only’ is a term largely reserved for road cyclists.

Size tolerances and unlucky combinations

While the exact sizes of any wheels and tyres are supposed to precisely match the international standards, in reality, variations in the manufacturing process will mean any product’s dimensions will fall within what is deemed to be an acceptable degree of tolerance.

A wheel’s rim diameter may, for example, be a few tenths of a millimetre larger than specified, and a tyre’s bead diameter may be similarly undersized.

While each in isolation may not cause any noticeable issues, an unlucky combination of an oversized rim and an undersized tyre can lead to a particularly difficult installation process.

Tips for installing tight bike tyres

The best tip we can give for installing tough tyres is that practice makes perfect.

The more familiar you are with the proper technique, the easier it will be when you’re outside, far away from home, trying to fix a puncture with cold hands.

Nevertheless, there will undoubtedly be times when you need to resort to using specialist tools, such as tyre levers or tyre bead seating tools.

There is, of course, no shame in this. After all, there are no prizes for being able to install tyres without tools.

All that matters is you are able to easily and safely set up your bike, whether doing so at home or by the side of the road or trail.

Gloves

Tough workshop gloves can help protect your hands from strain and friction.

They can also make grabbing a handful of tyre securely a little easier, especially if you’re working in hot conditions or with sweaty palms.

Tyre levers

Tyre levers can be invaluable in coaxing the final section of a tight tyre bead onto a rim, and are something every cyclist should carry with them while riding (often in a saddle bag). They are also very useful when removing a tyre.

While holding the opposite side of the tyre in place on the rim, use a single tyre lever to lift a small section of the bead onto the rim. Repeat until all of the remaining bead is installed.

Don’t start in the middle of the remaining bead and attempt to lift it all over in one go. That’s a recipe for a broken tyre lever and lots of swearing.

Likewise, be careful not to damage the rim tape while using tyre levers – especially ones that have seen heavy use and may have nicks or sharp edges.

The best tyre levers are typically made out of tough plastic, with a thin but strong and wide tip. Pedro’s tyre levers are favourites of ours, but anything similar should do the job.

Generally, metal tyre levers should be avoided, especially if you have carbon rims, as these can damage your rims.

There are also modern evolutions of the humble tyre lever, such as the Tyre Glider or the Crankbrothers Speedier Lever.

These aim to continuously install the bead as you push it around the rim edge. Both tools also include a more traditional scooped edge to aid removal of tyres.

At a similar size and weight to traditional tyre levers, they are also suitable for carrying in a saddle bag or jersey pocket.

Tyre bead-seating tools

Specialist tyre-seating tools, such as Kool Stop’s Tyre Jack (and similar devices by other brands), can save you a great deal of hassle when installing tight tyres.

The rigid part of the tool rests on the rim edge, while the hinged part reaches over the tyre and hooks onto the tyre bead. The bead can then be pulled up and over the rim edge.

In our experience, these tools are fantastic at getting stubbornly tight tyres onto rims with minimum fuss.The only downside is they’re typically too big to carry in a saddle bag or jersey pocket for road-side use.

However, they are generally light enough to carry in bikepacking bags, a cycling backpack or a hydration pack.

A bead-seating tool could, therefore, be a sensible piece of kit to take on an adventure or long mountain bike ride, if you know you might have trouble reinstalling your tyres after a puncture.

Soapy water

If installing tubeless tyres, some soapy water can help lubricate the rim and tyre bead interface, easing the ability of the tyre bead to slip over the rim edge.

It’s not worth trying this trick when using inner tubes, however, as a wet tube can stick to the inside of a tyre, possibly causing a puncture.

Warm water

BikeRadar’s technical editor, Tom Marvin, suggests tough, box-fresh mountain bike tyres can be made a little more pliable by heating them in warm water for a few minutes.

Once they’ve warmed up, the rubber and tyre carcass should have softened enough to allow you to more easily shape the tyre and install the first bead onto a rim.

Tubeless tyre plugs

As already discussed, installing tubeless tyres can often be more difficult than installing equivalent clinchers.

For this reason, repairing a tubeless puncture using tyre plugs can often help you avoid needing to remove the tyre bead from the rim while away from home.

Stan’s NoTubes DART tubeless repair kit and Muc-Off’s Stealth Tubeless Puncture Plug set are two kits we rate highly.

We’d still recommend carrying a spare tube or two as a last resort, but tubeless tyre plugs are typically the BikeRadar team’s go-to flat-fixing solution, in the first instance.

What else can make the problem worse?

Too much rim tape

When installing rim tape (tubeless-specific or otherwise), it’s important to not use more layers or thicker tape than is required.

An overly thick rim tape, or one or two wraps too many, effectively increases the diameter of the wheel, meaning there will be less slack in the bead when you come to install a tyre.

Tubeless tyre liners

Tubeless tyre liners, such as the CushCore tyre protection system or Vitorria’s Air-Liner kits for road, gravel and mountain bikes, are great for offering increased rim and puncture protection, and the ability to safely run lower pressures in tubeless-ready tyres.

However, they also take up significant space within the tyre by design, which can prevent the tyre beads from dropping into the rim’s central channel during installation.

As we keep repeating, this reduces the available slack in the tyre bead, making tyre installation and removal harder.

For this reason, Vittoria includes a specific set of tyre bead pliers and bead retaining tabs with its Air-Liner road kit. You’ll almost certainly need them.

Using inner tubes with tubeless-ready tyres

While tubeless-ready tyres are compatible with inner tubes, the inner tube can function somewhat like a tubeless tyre liner during installation.

Again, it takes up space within the tyre and prevents the tyre beads from falling into the deepest part of the rim channel.

This is especially true when installing narrow (sub-25mm) road bike tyres on relatively narrow rims (sub-19mm internal width), as there’s less room for the beads and the tube in the central channel of a narrow rim. Even a slightly inflated tube can push against the walls of a narrow tyre.

While we do advise slightly inflating the inner tube prior to installation to avoid it getting pinched by the tyre, it may be necessary to fully deflate the inner tube to allow the maximum amount of slack in the tyre beads.

A dirty bike is not a happy bike – riding about with your beloved bicycle entombed in filth will end up costing you precious watts on the road, as well as hard-earned cash through increased maintenance costs.

Cleaning your bike with a pressure washer can save you a great deal of time and effort over the traditional bucket and sponge, provided you do it safely.

In this step-by-step guide, we talk you through how to jet wash your road or mountain bike, and dispel some myths about pressure washing safety.

How to jet wash your bike – a step-by-step guide

Step 1: Remove and protect

Before you even turn the pressure washer on, remove anything you consider to be vulnerable from your bike.

This could include your GPS cycle computer, any luggage you don’t want getting soggy, and bike lights. If you have a permanently wired dynamo lighting system fitted to your bike, you may want to protect the headlight with a plastic bag.

If you have a leather saddle, a protective cover or plastic bag will prevent it from absorbing any water.

Step 2: First pass

Turn your pressure washer on and soak the bike all over, starting from a safe distance.

Gradually get closer until you can safely remove the majority of the muck and no further.

Unless you are using a lower-power pressure washer, avoid directing the jet of water into any areas that contain grease; stick to the main tubes and the tyres and rims.

Your bike’s headset, bottom bracket, hubs and rear derailleur are all particularly vulnerable, as are pedal axles and any electronic componentry. Likewise, avoid seals on suspension components.

If you’ve ridden through any animal excrement, be particularly careful when spraying this off your bike and seriously consider wearing eye protection because some can carry parasites that can cause blindness.

Step 3: Degrease

Now you have the lion’s share of the grime removed, apply degreaser to the crankset, chain, derailleurs and cassette.

Use a stiff brush to release stubborn grease and a chain cleaner to get those rollers running smoothly again.

If you’re using a spray degreaser, be mindful not to get any on your disc rotors or braking surface.

Step 4: Cleaning products

If there is any degreaser left on your drivetrain, it will degrade and remove any chain lube you add on afterwards.

Liberally apply cleaning products to the whole bike, especially the drivetrain.

Use a dirty sponge for the drivetrain and a clean one for the frame, seatpost, saddle and bar. Again, be careful to avoid flicking any greasy suds onto the disc rotors.

Step 5: Second pass

Use the pressure washer again to remove any soapy residue from the whole bike, this time at a slightly greater distance than before.

Any dirt should be loose and flow off easily by this point, so there’s no need to be close.

Step 6: Dry

Using a clean rag, give the chain a quick dry before leaving the bike to dry fully.

If you’re in a rush, an old towel will do the trick, but laying the bike driveside up in a sunny spot is just as effective if it’s not too cold.

Step 7: Lubricate and protect

Nobody likes the sound of a dry chain (and it’s less efficient), so don’t forget to apply your favourite lubricant and wipe off any residue following the manufacturer’s instructions.

It’s important you wipe off excess lube because it helps to stop your chain from getting contaminated with road grime or mud, which will put you straight back to square one.

If you want to have the most efficient (and cleanest) chain possible, you may want to consider waxing your chain.

As for the frame, prevention is better than cure. Applying a coat of protective compound before your next ride can save you precious washing time afterwards. It can also help keep your paint looking fresh.

Some protective compounds are aerosol-based (others are applied as a liquid with a microfibre cloth), which can contaminate your brake pads, so keep it away from your discs,

If you’ve read our best chain lube buyer’s guide, you may have noticed I spend a lot of time talking up the benefits of using wax-based lubricants on your bike chain.

Not only do independent tests consistently show wax-based lubricants to be among the most efficient, but they also typically do a great job of resisting wear-increasing contaminants.

The current gold standard of chain lubricants is, in my opinion, immersive waxing (brands that don’t sell wax-based lubricants will likely disagree with me).

As the name suggests, it involves fully submerging a chain in a pot of melted wax. Once fully covered in wax, you take the chain out, let it dry, and install it on your bike.

You’re left with a hard, dry layer of slippery wax on the chain, which reduces drivetrain friction and resists contamination.

There’s a fair amount of work involved in getting to that point, though, so it’s not something every cyclist will want to do.

If you’re intrigued, here’s an in-depth guide to waxing bicycle chains.

Is immersive chain waxing for you?

Before we jump into a full explanation of the process, it’s worth considering whether waxing chains is the best option for you and your bike.

Of all the current staff members at BikeRadar – a bigger bunch of bike nerds you are unlikely to find anywhere – I’m the only person who goes all-in on immersive waxing.

Some of my colleagues have migrated to using wax-based drip lubes (after much chiding from me), but no one else has yet fully converted to my waxy religion.

The main barrier to entry is that it’s a hassle, especially during the initial chain cleaning part (much more on this later).

Strange people that they are, most want to spend their free time riding bikes, not lubricating chains, and therefore prefer lubricant options that require a minimum of up-front work.

If you’re like them, immersive chain waxing might not be for you.

Another factor to consider is the climate where you live and ride. If it’s often very wet, this will shorten the lifespan of the wax on your chain, leading to a greater need to re-wax frequently.

There are ways to mitigate this issue, which we’ll come on to later, but it’s safe to say the benefits won’t outweigh the drawbacks for everyone.

If, however, you live somewhere with a drier climate, or are looking for the cleanest and most efficient lubricant possible, then immersive waxing may be for you.

Why I wax my chains

There are three primary reasons why I wax my bicycle chains:

1. Cleanliness
2. Efficiency
3. Reduced running costs

As the wax dries to a complete solid, waxed chains resist contamination exceptionally well. This keeps your chain and drivetrain running spotlessly clean for much longer than with any other type of lubricant.

If you like a clean bike, then waxed chains will delight you.

Partly because of this, waxed chains are also incredibly efficient in the real world, meaning fewer watts are lost to drivetrain friction. This is why professionals often use waxed chains for time trials and important races.

This improved cleanliness and efficiency also results in reduced drivetrain wear, meaning you shouldn’t need to replace drivetrain parts as often.

If your bike has an expensive groupset (and all bike parts are getting more expensive these days), this could save you a significant amount of money in long-term running costs.

What kit do you need to wax a bike chain?

The kit list for immersive chain waxing is, unsurprisingly, longer than “a bottle of chain lube and a rag to wipe away the excess”.

Fortunately, most of the bits aren’t too expensive and should last a long time too.

I’ve not included an ultrasonic cleaner on this list. While having one may be convenient for cleaning chains and other parts, it’s far from essential. Elbow grease is a fine substitute.

Chain waxing kit list

• Chain wax – either a commercial blend (such as Molten Speed Wax or Silca Hot Melt), or you can source the raw ingredients yourself, based on FrictionFacts’ UltraFast chain lube formula.
• Bicycle chain – preferably new, or very lightly used. If possible, get a few and wax in batches (I’ll explain why later).
• Bicycle chain quick links – Preferably reusable, as this aids re-waxing.
• Quick-link tool – not 100 per cent necessary (you could use needle-nose pliers), but dedicated tools are typically inexpensive and more convenient.
• Small slow cooker – something with a 1.5-2L capacity is great for waxing up to four chains at a time, which is plenty for home use. Don’t be tempted to do this on the hob in a normal pan, as wax is flammable if overheated. A slow cooker melts the wax slowly, safely and in a controlled manner.
• Metal kebab skewer/spoke/clothes hangers bent into a J shape – one per chain, for dipping the chain into the wax.
• Digital thermometer – to measure the temperature of your melting wax.
• Mineral spirits or strong degreaser – for cleaning factory grease and dirt from chains. Keep away from kids, pets, naked flames and sparks.
• Methylated spirits (denatured alcohol) – for removing any remaining traces of solvent or dirt prior to waxing. Keep away from kids, pets, naked flames and sparks.
• Two or three jars or plastic containers with secure lids – for submerging the chains in cleaning chemicals.
• Funnel – useful for avoiding spillages of chemicals.
• Heavy-duty, chemical-resistant rubber gloves – for handling chemicals and objects containing hot wax.
• Clean rags or paper towels – for testing chain cleanliness.
• Coffee filter papers – useful for cleaning your mineral spirits and degreaser so it can be used again, rather than immediately discarded.
• Aluminium foil – for catching drips of wax when the chains come out of the slow cooker.
• Somewhere to hang the chains to dry post-waxing – a bike hook/coat hook, etc. One per chain. The key part is making sure each chain hangs freely, so contaminants can’t adhere to the drying wax.

With all of your kit assembled, it’s time to get to work. Find a well-ventilated space, with plenty of room to work, away from children, pets and anything delicate or valuable.

How to wax a chain

Step 1 – Deep clean chain and bicycle drivetrain

The first thing you need to do is clean your chain, and I mean really clean it.

It needs to be totally spotless, inside and out, because any residual oil or grease will contaminate your wax and make it harder for the wax to adhere to your chain.

As mentioned earlier, it helps if the chain is brand new, as factory grease is easier to remove than caked-on grime and dirt. Either way, you need to do this step with the chain off the bike.

Now is also a good time to deep clean your drivetrain.

This is important, because you don’t want to install your freshly waxed chain onto a dirty drivetrain. Doing so will contaminate it and spoil all of your hard work.

Place your chain in one of your two containers, pour in enough mineral spirits/degreaser to cover, and securely attach the lid.

It’s then a simple matter of agitating (shaking vigorously) the container for a few minutes. You should notice the liquid turning a lovely brown or black colour – that’s all the grease and/or dirt coming out.

With that done, remove the chain from the container, rinse it off with water and dry it out.

At this stage, we need to check if the chain is clean enough to wax.

Grab a clean rag or paper towel and run the chain through it. If any grease or dirt is left behind, the chain needs another solvent bath. Repeat the previous step.

In my experience, most new chains will require at least two or three solvent baths.

Once the chain goes through your rag without leaving a trace, you’re almost good to go.

Place the chain in container number two, pour over enough methylated spirits to cover, and securely attach the lid.

Agitate for two minutes, then remove the chain from the container and leave it to dry thoroughly.

Your chain is now ready to wax.

If properly cleaned, the chain should feel completely dry and metallic, with a loose, rattly feel.

As always with chemicals, make sure to handle them carefully and dispose of them responsibly.

Dirty mineral spirits can be recycled and reused by allowing the dirt to settle at the bottom of the container, then carefully pouring it into another clean container through a coffee filter paper.

Step 2 – Wax your chain

With your chain scrupulously clean, it’s time to break out the slow cooker and wax.

Pour your wax blend into the slow cooker. Don’t fill it all the way to the top, about halfway is plenty.

Thread your chain and quick-link onto the J-bend kebab skewer/spoke/coat hanger, place it on top of the wax, turn the slow cooker to its High setting and put the lid on.

We put the chain in at this point so it heats up with the wax. This helps the metal parts to expand slightly, enabling the wax to get inside the rollers and pins, where it’s needed most.

The wax should melt within 30-45 minutes, depending on how much you put it in the slow cooker.

Once all of the wax has melted, use the digital thermometer to monitor the temperature of it.

According to Molten Speed Wax, the temperature of the wax should not exceed 93 degrees celsius / 200 degree fahrenheit, both for safety and performance reasons.

With the wax fully melted, swish your chain around in the wax for 30 seconds using the J-bend tool. Try to agitate the wax vigorously but safely, to homogenise the wax and any friction modifiers (additives such as PTFE, molybdenum disulfide or tungsten disulfide, which can further reduce friction) suspended within it.

With that done, carefully remove the chain from the slow cooker, catching any drips with a small section of aluminium foil.

Unfurl the chain from your J-bend tool and leave to dry for 20 minutes or so, on your pre-prepared hook/nail in the wall.

Step 3 – Install chain on bike

Once dry, the chain will be very stiff, as the wax dries to a solid.

Before installing it on your bike, you’ll therefore need to break the wax on each link to allow it to properly articulate through your drivetrain.

Each link can be individually broken by hand, but the quickest and easiest way to do it is to run it over a round section of wood or plastic tubing.

With this done, the chain can be installed on your bike like any other. See our guide to how to replace a bicycle chain, if you need a refresh on this job.

With the chain installed, lift the back wheel and turn the pedals forward by hand for 30 seconds, to break in the wax.

At this point, your bike is ready to ride. For the first 10 minutes or so, the chain will still be stiff and can skip, so be careful and don’t adjust your shifting during this period.

After 20 to 30 minutes, the wax should be worn in and everything will run as normal again (albeit much cleaner).

Congratulations, you now have a waxed chain.

Step 4 – Re-wax every 300-400km or after a wet ride

In dry weather, your waxed chain should provide low-friction service for around 300-400km.

You’ll know the chain definitely needs re-waxing if it starts to sound dry or squeaky.

If you do a wet ride, the chain will need re-waxing (or at least cleaning and drying) immediately to prevent corrosion from forming.

The lack of oil in a waxed chain is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it means contaminants don’t stick to it, keeping it exceptionally clean and efficient. On the other, it means the chain has no protection from corrosion once the solid layer of wax has abraded off.

This is where having multiple chains on rotation, or a wax-based drip lubricant to top up the chain, comes in handy (more on this in a bit).

To re-wax your chain, remove it from your bike via the quick link.

Thread the chain on to your J-bend tool, and put it in a heat-proof container. Cover it with boiling water and gently agitate it. The hot water will melt away the wax, taking any contaminants with it.

Don’t be tempted to use a container with a lid on for shaking it. The expanding steam could blow the lid off and cover you in boiling water, which would be bad.

If the chain is very dirty or comes out of the boiling water feeling oily, it may need another solvent bath, but this is rare.

Once cleaned, dry the chain and it’s ready to go back in the slow cooker. Head back to step 2 and go from there.

Rotating waxed chains

By cleaning and waxing multiple chains from the start, you can simply remove one chain from your bike when it needs re-waxing, and immediately swap on a freshly waxed chain with no delays.

The other chain can then be re-waxed at your convenience. If the chain got wet, make sure you dry it off thoroughly before storing it, otherwise it will rust.

The obvious downside to this method is increased up-front cost, as you’ll need to buy more chains in one go.

In my opinion, though, this approach really pays off.

The initial cleaning phase is the hardest and most time-consuming part of waxing chains. If you can do a few chains in a batch, you won’t need to do it again often.

Topping up waxed chains with wax-based drip lube

If you’re travelling with your bike, or simply don’t want to clean and wax chains in batches, then topping a waxed chain up with a wax-based drip lube is a decent way to extend the interval between full re-waxes.

Wax-based drip lubes such as CeramicSpeed UFO Drip, Tru-Tension BananaSlip Tungsten All Weather, Squirt or Smoove, will all do the job.

It’s not without compromises, though. In my experience, wax-based drip lubes inevitably lead to more gunk build-up on your drivetrain, compared with immersive waxed chains, as they attract more contaminants.

As a result, you’ll need to spend a bit more time cleaning everything, whenever you eventually re-wax the chain properly.

In reality, I do a bit of both.

With my time trial bike, which is a pure race bike, I rotate two to three freshly waxed chains on and off it.

With my road bikes, which get ridden in wet conditions far more often, I tend to top the waxed chain up with a wax-based drip lube a couple of times (CeramicSpeed UFO Drip is my current favourite), before swapping on another waxed chain, or performing a full re-wax.

If you’re travelling with your bike, taking your full waxing kit with you is impractical, so a bottle of wax-based drip lube can be a handy substitute to pack in your bag.

Can you reuse chain quick links?

If the manufacturer says the quick link is reusable, then yes, you can reuse it (within the limits set by the manufacturer).

If the manufacturer says the quick link is single-use, then, officially, the answer is no.

In practice, I’ve reused single-use chain quick links two to three times without issue. When a quick link no longer requires significant force to close, I will always discard it and use a new one.

Ultimately, it’s not worth risking a broken quick link while riding, just to save a little money, as it could cause you to crash.

The money saved by not needing to replace drivetrain parts as often will more than outweigh any money spent on extra quick links, so don’t push your luck.

General chain-waxing tips

• Pre-waxed chains – the initial cleaning phase is by far the biggest hassle in all of this. Sourcing a pre-waxed chain from a brand or friend is a great way to skip this section. You’ll then just need to re-wax it as required.
• Only use high-quality paraffin wax – if sourcing your own paraffin wax, get the highest quality possible. Ideally, you want food-grade paraffin wax, as cheaper blends will contain a higher percentage of oil, and will compromise the wax’s ability to resist contaminants.
• Refresh your slow cooker wax when it gets dirty – refresh the wax in your slow cooker when your waxed chains start to feel oily after fully drying, or no longer resist contaminants as well. The cleaner your chain is when it goes in, the longer the wax in your slow cooker will last.
• Using waxed chains indoors – if using a waxed chain indoors (with your bike on a smart trainer, for example), small wax particles will flake off the chain and collect on the floor beneath your bike. These can be swept or vacuumed up, but it’s a good idea to use a trainer mat to prevent these from dirtying your floor.
• What about solid, roll/rub-on chain waxes? Avoid. Chain lubricant needs to penetrate into the rollers and pins in order to be effective, which these cannot do.
• Avoid putting oil-based lubricants on a waxed chain – the wax and oil will create a paste, which will attract and trap contaminants, massively increasing friction and drivetrain wear.

No new mountain biker will have their bike set up perfectly from the very moment they swing a leg over it, but there are some basic setup mistakes that even veteran shredders often fall foul of.

While bike setup is a very personal thing, there are a few of these persistent mistakes that we often see on our rides, and each one makes us cry a little bit.

Taking a few minutes to think about your bike’s setup can make a surprising difference to how it performs and how comfortable it is.

Why not have a look at our list below then get experimenting? Maybe you’ll find your new perfect setup.

1. Brake lever levels

When riding on steeper or more technical terrain, adjusting your brake-lever angle can make a real difference to control and comfort.

Surprisingly often, you’ll see a brake lever angled down almost towards the fork crown.

This rotates your wrists over the top of the bars as you reach for the lever, which shifts your body weight forwards. If you hit an unexpected bump, it also means your wrist is more likely to roll further forward.

Angling the levers in a flatter position rotates your wrists behind the bars, allowing you to push the bars up and over bumps, and gives more security when you hit those lumps. We’d never go steeper than 40 degrees from horizontal and usually place ours at around 20 to 30 degrees.

Combine this with a brake bite point that’s closer to the bars and you’ll find yourself less prone to arm pump.

2. Set your suspension right

Suspension can be a bit mystifying, with plenty of knobs to twiddle and air pressures to play with. But getting it right can totally change the character of a bike and make you a faster rider too.

If you have a full-suspension bike, getting the fork and shock working together well transforms your ride. You want the fork and shock to react in a similar way to impacts – if the fork bottoms out when the shock barely moves, your suspension will be unbalanced.

Likewise with damping – over-damped suspension (running your fork with loads of compression and rebound damping) makes it feel sluggish and slow, while under-damped bikes can feel like riding a pogo stick.

Check out the video above to get started with setting up your suspension.

3. Saddle sores

No matter your gender, getting your saddle at the right angle means happy days for your nether regions – nobody wants saddle sores.

A saddle with the nose angled up is much more likely to cause discomfort, so we recommend pointing it down slightly.

For the majority of riders, we’d also rarely recommend running your saddle pushed all the way back in the seatpost – this effectively slackens your seat angle, generally putting your hips in a worse pedalling position. It also shifts your weight further over the back wheel, which is rarely a good thing on steep technical climbs.

A saddle pushed all the way back in a lay-back seatpost is an indication that your bike might be too small for you. That’s not a golden rule though, and individual physiology may mean it works for you but, generally speaking, it’s better to avoid extreme adjustments like this.

4. Tyre trouble

Like suspension, determining the right tyre pressure for your mountain bike takes a bit of research and experimentation.

Determining the right tyre pressure for you depends on your rim/tyre combo, weight and riding style, tyre construction, whether or not you’re running tubeless… safe to say, there are a lot of variables to consider, and no rider gets it right the first time.

Luckily, we’ve got an in-depth guide on determining the right tyre pressure for you.

5. Your cleats are too far forward

There’s a curious tendency for riders to fit clipless pedal cleats too far forward on their shoes. Exactly why people do this is unclear, but it’s rarely the right choice for riders.

As with everything in bikes, there’s no hard and fast answer when it comes to installing and adjusting cleats, but it’s always better to start with a neutral position and work in either direction from there.

However, as a general rule of thumb, moving your cleats further back is more likely to improve your control on a mountain bike and reduce fatigue than going forward.

Why? When you hit a bump or land a jump, your foot, ankle and leg muscles have to work to stop the pedal from rotating backwards. Your foot acts as a lever in this scenario and placing your cleats further forward – in effect increasing the length of the level – exacerbates the effect. Moving your cleats further back will reduce the effort required to stop the pedal rotating.

You will often see flat mountain bike pedal riders – who are unrestricted in where they can place their feet on the pedals – adopting this position naturally for this very reason.

Moving cleats towards your mid-foot can also spread out pedalling forces more evenly across your whole foot, reducing discomfort.

With the onset of winter, it’s that time of year when a dry road is a luxury and you can expect to return from a ride with you and your bike covered in mud, grit and other stuff.

Plus, there’s limited daylight and when the sun does make an appearance it’s often low in the sky, impacting your vision – and that of other road users.

Add in frost, road salt and possibly snow and it’s a recipe for increased wear on your bike and components that might be pricey to repair or replace. The harsher conditions up the chances of getting a mechanical too – you want to try to avoid time spent at the side of the road getting cold, wet and miserable.

Here are our top tips to get your road bike winter-ready and help it survive the conditions.

Get it serviced

There’s a lot you can do yourself to keep your bike running smoothly. We’ve outlined the key parts to take care of and how to go about it. Some servicing is easy to do, while other jobs may require specialist tools. We’ve a run-down of the most commonly used tools and what they’re used for.

To start, your gear and brake cables need to be kept lubricated so that they run smoothly in their outers. If you’ve got external cable runs, you might be able to pop the outers out of their stops and re-lube the inner cables, although lubing internal cables is more tricky.

Inspect for wear and replace the inners and outers if necessary. Fitting end caps to your cable outers or replacing old ones will increase weather resistance.

Headset bearings, particularly the lower one, are in the line of road spray, so keep them well lubricated to keep water out.

Want to go further? Bottom brackets, hubs, shifters and brake pivots can all benefit from some TLC.

If all that sounds upper-division, book your bike into your local bike shop for a pre-winter service.

Sort your tyres

You will often see more riders by the side of the road fixing punctures come winter. This is due to a number of reasons – after a summer of cycling, your tyres might be wearing a bit thin, increasing the risk of a flat, plus increased rain in winter tends to wash more debris into the road, increasing the potential for punctures further.

A heavier-duty set of winter tyres may add a bit of weight, but they’ll be better able to withstand sharp-edged grit and thorns. They’ll also typically have a more pronounced tread, to increase grip on wet leaf mush or other loose surfaces.

It’s also worth considering setting your tyres up tubeless. Many newer bikes will have tubeless-ready wheels and your tyres might be tubeless-ready too, so it might be easy to convert.

There’s a bit of expense in buying tubeless valves and sealant, and you’ll need to check and top up sealant periodically. But you’ll be able to ditch your inner tubes, saving you the ongoing expense, and the sealant should drastically reduce the chances of getting a flat.

Tubeless tyres are usually a bit heavier-built than summer tubed tyres too, so they’re more resistant to penetration. Keep an eye on your tyres, keep them properly inflated and check for damage or embedded debris.

Make sure you can stop

Like your summer tyres, your brake pads are another item that doesn’t really like the winter conditions. If you’ve got rim brakes, the combination of wet and dirt can quickly wear them and your rims down. Stopping distances are a lot longer in the wet too. It’s a good idea to clean rim brake pads and braking surfaces more frequently to remove any grit that can wear down both quickly.

It’s a bit better with disc brakes, which are further from the road and less susceptible to muck, but here too wear can increase in the winter. It’s also worth investing in some proper disc brake cleaner to prevent contamination when washing your bike.

So if your brake pads look as if they’ve seen better days or rim brake pads have debris embedded in them, it’s a good time to replace them to up your stopping power.

Fit mudguards

Mudguards will do your bike – and you – the world of good, protecting it from muck and a wash of dirty water. Road dirt seems to be able to find its way into everything, especially the drivetrain and headset, while water can quickly strip your chain of lube so that it starts to rust.

A set of full-cover mudguards will protect a lot of the bike, as well as keeping you more comfortable. If you’re riding with others, they’ll thank you too. Mudflaps at the ends of the mudguards will help even more with wheelspray.

A few years ago, fitting mudguards to most bikes was a hassle, with narrow clearances and no mounting points. But bike makers now seem to have seen the error of their ways and even many high-end performance bikes will have mudguard mounts. The switch to wider tyres has upped frame clearances too.

Ride with lights and reflectors

With short days, it’s a good idea to fit bike lights when going out in the winter. If you’re planning a ride of any length, you’re likely to begin or end it in twilight and any delays may mean that night has fallen by the time you get home.

Bad weather will also limit drivers’ ability to see you. A set of blinkies will probably be enough for most rides. They’re inexpensive, lightweight and usually USB rechargeable.

As well as lights, reflectors can help to up your visibility in low-light conditions or when the sun is low on the horizon.

There’s a legal requirement in the UK to have a red reflector on the rear of your bike and amber reflectors on your pedals. Clothing with reflective elements built in is a sensible measure too.

Keep it clean

You’ll want to keep your bike clean too and it’s likely to need a wash down after most rides. That’s not just for aesthetic reasons but prevents damp and salt from causing corrosion – salty water can set up an electric current between different metals and between metal parts and carbon frames that can eat away at them.

Bike protector sprays can help to repel water and keep your frame and components cleaner for longer, too.

It’s a good idea to use specialist bike cleaning products, which will be more effective against grime and are formulated to avoid damage to parts.

Though they’re fine to use with a bit of caution, using a jet wash to clean your bike can easily damage delicate parts, tyres, bearings and finishes if you’re careless.

It’s not just surface dirt on your frame that you need to keep in check. It’s important to keep your chain and gears clean too because the combination of dirt and lube can form an abrasive paste.

So buy a chain cleaning tool and degreaser and use them regularly to get the muck off your drivetrain, wipe the chain clean and relube. Pay attention too to jockey wheels, which can quickly get clogged up with abrasive gunk.

Lubricate

You need to swap the lubricant that you use on your chain for the winter as well. Whereas a lightweight dry lube will keep your chain running sweetly on dry summer roads, a wet lube is better suited to winter riding.

It should have more staying power and not wash off so easily in the rain, although it’s more likely to attract dirt, so you need to up your chain-cleaning regime.

It’s not just the chain that needs lubricating: you should also keep your headset, bottom bracket, hubs, freewheel, rim brake pivots and pedal axles and releases lubed.

Water can seep into the top of your seat tube and corrode the seatpost, so unscrew the bolt, pull out the post, give it a good clean and apply assembly paste or grease to ensure it doesn’t freeze in place.

Don’t sweat it

Don’t fancy riding outdoors? If you’ve decided to take to the indoor trainer until the weather improves and the sun sets a bit later, we’re sorry to say that your maintenance tasks aren’t over.

Sweat is the enemy of many bike parts and you’ll produce it in bucketloads, spreading it over your bars and controls in particular. So you need to protect your bike.

You can buy sweat protectors to hook over your bars and Muc-Off makes a sweat protector spray. You also need to wash your bike off regularly to remove the salt build-up, wipe it dry and keep it well lubed to prevent corrosion setting in.

The sealant used in a tubeless tyre setup is designed to quickly plug small holes, often without you even realising.

However, sometimes the size or the location of the puncture will require more than sealant to fix it.

Here’s how to repair a punctured tubeless tyre using tubeless plugs, patches or sewing.

What do you need to repair a tubeless puncture?

To repair a tubeless tyre puncture, you will require

• Tyre levers
• Tubeless repair plug tool
• Tubeless repair plugs
• Pump

For a more serious or stubborn puncture, you may need a tyre patch and/or a needle and thread.

You may also require:

• Fresh tubeless sealant if your old sealant has dried up
• Replacement rim tape if the original tape is damaged
• An inner tube if you can’t repair the tyre

How to fix a hole in a tubeless tyre using a tubeless plug

Tubeless puncture plugs are a quick and effective solution. With these, there is no need to take off the tyre – just plug, re-inflate and go.

While there are a number of tubeless repair kits out there, most work in a similar way, using a rubber plug to fill the hole.

Once you’ve found the puncture, remove any offending items (a pick or a small pair of pliers are a useful addition to your tool bag for this very purpose).

Next, use your tubeless plug tool to make sure there’s a sufficiently large hole for the plug to enter – carefully insert the spike into the tyre to avoid damaging the rim tape, and twist to give a clean, round hole.

Thread a tubeless plug through the head of the tubeless plug tool. Most tools will come with a choice of different plug sizes to suit the size of the hole.

With the plug in the centre of the tool, insert it into the tyre, making sure you don’t push through fully.

Then twist carefully to slowly remove the tool, leaving the two ends of the plug on the outside of the tyre.

Inflate the tyre to your desired pressure, taking additional caution with high-pressure road tyres, and rotate the wheel so that the plug is at the ground for a few minutes before you get going again. This will allow some sealant to flow into the repair and fully seal things.

You may need to trim the tails of the plug that are left behind, but take care not to cut it too close to the tyre.

How to patch a punctured tubeless tyre

For more stubborn tubeless tyre punctures that can’t be fixed with a plug, it may be necessary to patch the tyre internally. The process for this is very similar to patching an inner tube.

First, you’ll need to roughen the surface that you want your patch to adhere to, using a little sandpaper, making sure there’s no debris left from the puncture. Cleanliness is key when it comes to gluing patches.

Add some vulcanising rubber solution to the area where you want to add the patch, waiting for it to become tacky as per the kit instructions.

Add the tubeless tyre patch and press down firmly. Try to avoid touching the surface that is to be glued because this can contaminate the adhesive.

Depending on the patch type, these may need minutes or hours to dry, before setting the tyre up tubeless as normal.

If successful, a patched tubeless tyre can last for many rides, often to the end of the tyre’s life.

How to repair serious tyre tears

A torn tyre can be a rider’s worst nightmare. These repair options should be viewed as a way to help you limp home before fitting a new tyre, rather than a long term solution.

How to patch a tyre with a tyre boot

A tyre boot can be placed on the interior of the tyre without any adhesive, held in place by the addition of an inner tube.

This flat boot keeps a flush internal surface to prevent the inner tube from bulging out of the slashed tyre. You can buy pre-made boots or make one out of a number of materials: toothpaste tubes, a section of inner tube or cash notes all work surprisingly well.

How to sew a torn bike tyre

If you don’t have a boot but you do happen to have tooth floss and a needle, you can actually sew up a torn tubeless tyre.

Using stitches perpendicular to the direction of the slash can help hold the casing of the tyre together before you insert an inner tube.

If you do use this method, it’s a good idea to add something between the sewn rubber and inner tube, such as a strip of strong tape.

If you are heading to the hills for an extended bikepacking or touring trip, packing a needle and thread is a good idea for this and any other fabric repairs.

When to give up and put in a tube

No matter how hard you try, there’s always the chance a tubeless tyre might not be fixable on the road or trailside. Inserting an inner tube can be a mucky business with sealant already in the tyre, so it’s generally a last resort.

Before fitting an inner tube, thoroughly check the tyre for any punctures or offending items such as thorns. Just because you’ve found one, doesn’t mean there won’t be more embedded in the rubber waiting to puncture your inner tube too!

You can still get snakebite punctures with tubeless too, so make sure you’re running adequate pressures in your tyres, especially over harsh or rocky terrain to avoid a nasty double puncture from an impact on the rim. These are notoriously tricky to fix, with holes often too close to the tyre bead.

Besides punctured tyres, there are other things that need careful maintenance to keep your tubeless set up running smoothly, including the rim tape, tubeless valves and sealant.

It can be pretty hard to sort these on the go, so that’s when you might need to pop in a tube and leave the closer inspection until you’re home.

An electric bike, like any bike, needs regular maintenance. Cleaning and taking care of your ebike will keep it running smoothly, efficiently and safely, all of which can contribute to a longer lifespan for the battery and motor.

This guide explains how to look after your electric bike, including tips on washing the bike, applying lubricants, regular component checks, software and app updates, and looking after the battery.

How often should you service an electric bike?

In many senses, electric bicycle maintenance is no different to that of a conventional bike. However, some components, and particularly the drivetrain (cranks, chain and sprockets), are subject to greater forces and increased wear.

Therefore, washing your ebike regularly and keeping it well maintained is of utmost importance if you want to get the most out of the bike.

First things first, a clean bike is a happy bike. Dirt and mud increase wear on components and, when mixed with water and grease, can form a paste that will, at best, decrease the efficiency of your bike and, at worst, quickly wear through consumable parts.

The smoother your electric bike runs, the more efficient it will be, and the longer your key components will last.

Keep the drivetrain clean and running well: battery life and power output are irrelevant if your gears are grinding and skipping all over the place. Riding a bike with a clean, efficient drivetrain, along with correctly adjusted gears, is ultimately a more pleasurable experience and will help you get the most from the bike in the long run.

If your drivetrain looks excessively dirty (usually an accumulation of black gunk on the chain or, on electric mountain bikes in particular, mud stuck in the jockey wheels of the rear derailleur), you can give it a quick clean with a rag, or a deep clean with degreaser. We’ve got separate guides on how to clean a bike and how to clean a bike chain.

Electric bike chains tend to require more frequent lubrication than non-assisted bicycle chains. Regularly apply a quality lubricant to your chain will ensure the transmission runs efficiently. It’s a good idea to do this after every ride, and certainly after washing and drying the bike.

Otherwise, read our guide on how to choose and apply the best chain lube for your bike.

Applying lubricant to an ebike sometimes isn’t as simple as it seems. You can’t back-pedal most ebikes, so try putting the bike in a workstand (or get a friend to hold the rear wheel off the ground) so you can turn the pedals to let the lube drip onto the chain evenly.

If your bike has a ‘walk’ mode, you can engage it so that the cranks (and rear wheel) spin around slowly, allowing you to lube the chain easily.

You should also regularly check your ebike’s tyre pressures. Under-inflated tyres are not only potentially dangerous, but they can also waste power and reduce efficiency, meaning you’ll get less out of a battery charge. Equally, running tyres at too high a pressure can compromise comfort and grip, especially if you’re riding off-road.

As a starting point, keep your tyres inflated to within the recommended pressures indicated on the tyre’s sidewall but experiment to find the ideal pressure for you, balancing weight, comfort, grip and rolling resistance. Want to know more? We’ve got guides to road bike tyre pressure and mountain bike tyre pressure.

Component wear and tear

Many ebikes now use components developed specifically for assisted riding. This means stronger parts made to withstand the added forces that go through an ebike, due to the increased power output, speed and overall weight of the bike.

Electric bike drivetrains tend to be beefier and have different gear ranges to non-assisted bikes. Ebike-specific wheels and tyres are also sturdier, forks stronger, brakes more powerful, and so on.

Nonetheless, despite this additional reinforcement, you are still demanding a lot from an electric bike, whether pedalling, braking, turning, climbing or descending, so it’s a good idea to keep a keen eye on the components and frame for loose bolts or damaged parts.

Regularly safety check your bike to ensure that all bolts and axles are tightened to the manufacturer’s recommended torque settings, check your tyres for anything that might cause a puncture and test for any loose spokes.

Watch out for excessive wear, too. If one part wears out, such as the chain, it can have a knock-on effect on other components – such as causing premature wear to the chainrings and cassette. We’ve got a guide to chain wear so you can spot any issues before they become a problem.

How to wash an electric bike

We’ve already covered the importance of keeping your bike clean to improve its efficiency and lifespan, but let’s take a closer look at how to wash an electric bike.

Ebike batteries and motors are sealed units and, therefore, shouldn’t let in any water, but you should avoid washing any bicycle – electric or not – with a powerful jet wash because the power of the water could force its way through the bike’s numerous seals.

Wash your ebike with water from a bucket or low-pressure hose, a brush and (optionally) a bike-specific cleaning product to quickly cut through dirt and grime.

Ensure that all connections remain sealed by leaving the battery in its housing, but turn the ebike system off before washing it (and ensure it’s not charging).

Charging ports can accumulate dirt, so check inside and brush out any mud with a dry cloth or brush. Keep the port closed when washing the bike.

After washing the bike, dry it off with a clean cloth, making sure to avoid the disc brakes (you don’t want to accidentally contaminate them with any oil or other cleaning products used elsewhere on the bike).

Every now and then you might want to give the battery contacts a clean. You can do this with a soft, dry brush, a cloth and (optionally) switch lubricant.

If your bike has a life-extender battery (an optional second battery that can be connected for longer rides), you should always disconnect it before cleaning and clean the connections with a soft, dry brush.

Your ebike may have a speed sensor magnet on its wheel. Clean this with a soft cloth to avoid any problems.

Waterproofing and repairs

As mentioned above, the battery and motor of an ebike are well sealed to prevent any water damage. That doesn’t mean it’s absolutely impossible for water to get in, but with a certain level of common sense and care, you won’t need to worry.

Things to avoid with an electric bike include using a jet wash and fully submerging the bike. No lake jumps then, sorry!

The motor itself is in a factory-sealed unit and you should never attempt to take it apart for maintenance or to try and fix a problem.

If it seems like there is something wrong with the motor or system, visit the store where the bike was purchased or take the bike to a reputable dealer.

Battery charging and storage

It may seem impossible to care for a sealed battery, but there are numerous ways to keep your ebike battery in tip-top condition.

All lithium-ion batteries gradually deteriorate and lose capacity over time. This might only amount to around 5 per cent of maximum charge per year, but is to be expected. Taking good care of the battery, storing it correctly and keeping it charged will help ensure a long life.

Ebike battery cleaning

If you disconnect your battery regularly, take the opportunity to clean it with a damp cloth and brush any dirt off the connections with a dry brush.

Clean and lightly grease the battery contacts occasionally, too. Never clean the battery with a high-pressure jet wash or high-pressure hose.

Charging and storing an ebike battery

Charge the battery at room temperature in a dry location. To improve the lifespan of your battery, avoid leaving the battery fully charged or fully discharged for long periods of time.

When the bike is out of use for an extended period, you can disconnect the battery. It will gradually lose charge, so still top it up every now and again.

As we’ve already said, avoid storing the bike for long periods of time with no charge – maintaining 30 to 60 per cent charge is ideal for long-term storage, according to ebike systems manufacturer Bosch.

Extreme heat and cold are the enemies of electric bike batteries. Store your ebike battery in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight.

During winter, and particularly if the temperature is below 0°C, charge and store the battery at room temperature, and re-insert the battery into the bike immediately before riding.

Use the correct charger

While some battery chargers may seem compatible with several bikes, you should only use the charger specific to yours. Batteries don’t always charge in the same way, so using an incorrect charger could damage your ebike battery.

Software and app updates

Most ebike system manufacturers release software and app updates; some occasionally, others frequently.

As well as logging ride statistics and other useful information, some proprietary ebike apps or built-in displays can allow you to tailor the performance of your bike.

This might mean adjusting the power settings (so that, say, the maximum assistance setting delivers less power and, therefore, uses less battery) or acceleration characteristics.

Reducing the output settings so the battery discharges more gradually can extend the battery’s life, although you’ll have to work harder to get up the hills!

You might also be able to get system health or maintenance updates from your ebike’s app or built-in display, which may show you information such as service intervals.

It may be possible to check if there are any firmware updates available through connected apps or by visiting the manufacturer’s website. Some brands recommend you visit an authorised dealership for any updates to be made.

Depending on the motor brand and system your bike is running, these firmware updates might help boost torque, extend battery life or provide other useful upgrades, so it’s well worth checking if there are any available updates for your ebike.

Finally, sometimes ebikes can display error codes that stop the motor from engaging. The reasons for these errors vary but can usually be easily fixed by a dealership.

Electric bike maintenance basics

Like any bike, looking after your electric bike will help you get the most enjoyment out of your machine, and can potentially increase the lifespan of key components.

By keeping on top of some basic maintenance, your ebike will keep you grinning from ear to ear. So, to wrap things up, here’s a recap of the basics of ebike maintenance:

• Keep your bike clean, the drivetrain well lubricated and the tyres properly inflated
• Regularly check for loose bolts, spokes and broken parts
• Keep the battery partially charged and store it in a cool, dry place
• Avoid storing the battery with a flat battery
• Charge the battery only with the correct charger
• Check regularly for software updates
• Visit a dealership if there is a fault. Never try to disassemble or fix the motor or battery yourself

Gone are the days of simply pumping up your road bike tyres to the maximum pressure permitted and hoping for the best. Not only are excessively high pressures uncomfortable, they’ve also been proven to slow you down.

Optimising the tyre pressure on your road bike is, therefore, one of the simplest – and cheapest – ways to improve the performance and comfort of your bike.

Equally, for beginner cyclists, it’s not always clear what pressure you should pump your tyres up to. While most tyres have a recommended pressure range printed on the sidewall, there’s rarely any more guidance than that.

Ultimately, the pressure you need to run will vary depending on the rider, bike and road conditions, but it’s fairly easy to get into the right ballpark. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re an experienced rider looking to optimise performance, we’re here to help.

So, how can you find the right tyre pressure for your bike? In essence, it’s all about finding a balance.

You need your tyre pressure high enough to minimise energy losses from the deformation of the tyre and to offer predictable handling through corners. But you also need it low enough to absorb, rather than bounce over, imperfections in the road.

In this article, we’ll run through why tyre pressure is so important, what factors influence finding your optimum pressure, and how you can find a pressure that works best for you.

If you’re just starting out, we’ve also got an explainer on how to pump up a bike tyre, as well as a guide to inner tubes, with everything you need to know about tube sizes, valve types, materials and so on.

We’ve also got a guide to tubeless setup, if you’re considering making the switch, and buyer’s guides to the best road bike tyres and best tubeless tyres if you’re looking for new rubber.

Key points to consider

Before we get stuck into the details, here are four key things to consider when it comes to road bike tyre pressure.

Why bother?

On a basic level, getting your tyre pressure right will make your rides easier, more comfortable and lower your chances of punctures.

From a performance standpoint, optimising tyre pressure is critical to reducing rolling resistance and improving comfort. Rolling resistance is the force resisting the motion of your tyres rolling on the ground.

If your tyre pressure is too low, more energy will be lost in the deformation of the tyre casing and friction between the tyre and the road. It also increases the chance of pinch flat punctures.

If your tyre pressure is too high, the tyre will be so stiff your bike will begin to vibrate over imperfections in the road surface, negatively affecting comfort and wasting energy.

What feels fast, might not be fast

Very high tyre pressures might feel fast, but they’re not.

Once you go past a certain point, adding more air to your tyres actually decreases grip, increases high-frequency vibrations and causes extra muscular fatigue. All of these things slow you down.

Getting your tyre pressure right is both faster and more comfortable.

Tools for the job

In order to set the right tyre pressure on your road bike, you’ll ideally have access to a track or floor pump with an in-built pressure gauge. You don’t need to spend loads, but given how much you’ll use it in the long term, getting something high-quality makes sense.

If you really want to fine-tune your tyre pressures, one of the best tyre pressure gauges is a worthwhile investment, too.

Proceed with caution

When it comes to road bike tyre pressure, err on the side of ‘too low’ rather than ‘too high’.

According to testing by Silca, performance decreases rapidly once you go past the optimum pressure for a given setup. Being a little too low only brings a relatively small speed penalty, but should be noticeably more comfortable on rough roads.

Recommended tyre pressures

Helpfully, some tyre manufacturers offer pressure recommendations or pressure calculators for their range of road bike tyres, and we can take these as general starting points for dry days on smooth tarmac.

As we’ll come on to, you should pay close attention to the actual size of your tyres when inflated because this can change optimum pressure for any given rim and tyre combination.

If the actual inflated tyre width is larger than the labelled width, the tyre will need slightly less pressure than recommended by these tables and vice versa.

Likewise, the optimum tyre pressure will be higher for heavier riders, or for riders carrying loads on their bikes, and lower for lighter riders.

As a final caveat, it’s important to adhere to the pressure limitations set by the manufacturers of both your rims and tyres, particularly with regards to the upper limits. These are typically printed on the tyre or rim sidewalls.

If you have a set of wheels with hookless rims, the maximum permitted tyre pressure may also be much lower than with hooked rims.

Tyre pressure for 23mm and 25mm tyres

The following recommendations are from Pirelli for its TLR tubeless road tyres, but are good starting points regardless of the brand of tyres you’re using, providing you take the various factors we’ll run through later into account when going on to fine-tune tyre pressure.

Tyre pressure for 28mm and 30mm tyres

Advice from other brands may vary, but Pirelli recommends riders who weigh over 96kg / 212lb should use 700 x 25c tyres or larger because the recommended tyre pressure for a rider of this mass would exceed the maximum permitted pressure for a 700 x 23c tyre.

As always, it’s vital not to exceed the maximum pressures indicated on your tyres or rims.

How do Pirelli’s recommendations stack up against what tyre pressures I personally use? Let’s have a look at some examples.

To give these pressures some context, I weigh around 63 to 64kg.

Time trials are a personal favourite of mine. On my time trial bike, I use 23mm tyres on 19mm rims, but their actual inflated width is closer to 25mm.

Given most time trials tend to take place on fairly good roads without too many potholes, I run around 90psi front and rear.

However, on my Giant TCR Advanced Pro 2, I’d typically be running 28mm tyres on 19mm rims. For this, I’d normally use pressures of around 65psi because the roads I ride on most often tend to have rough or broken surfaces.

Do you ride a mountain bike?

Getting your tyre pressure right on a road bike is very different to a mountain bike, where tyres (and wheel rims) are significantly wider, the terrain is looser and you have trail obstacles to contend with.

If you ride off-road, we’ve got a separate guide to mountain bike tyre pressure.

Factors that influence optimal tyre pressure

As already noted, the above recommendations are intended as general starting points. They’ll get you in the right ballpark, but there are a number of factors beyond tyre and rim size and rider weight that affect your personal optimum road bike tyre pressure.

Size matters

Accurately determining your tyre size is crucial to calculating optimum pressure.

Despite most bicycle tyres being labelled with a specific size, such as 700 x 25c, the actual inflated size of any given tyre will depend on both the design of the tyre and the internal rim width of the wheel.

Most new tyres are now designed around the latest 2020 ETRTO (European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation) standards with a 19mm internal width, so wheels with an internal rim width wider than this will likely increase the measured width of a tyre when inflated to a given pressure (and vice versa).

The optimum pressure is, therefore, likely to be lower than if you were running the same tyre on a narrower rim.

System weight and weight distribution

While the rider makes up the vast majority of the total system weight – and, as we’ve already covered, a heavier rider will generally need to run higher pressures than a lighter rider – the weight of your bike and any kit you’re carrying also count.

If you’re riding a sub-4kg weight weenie optimised road bike and don’t have it loaded up with heavy gear, then you might need to lower your tyre pressure by a few psi.

The opposite is also true. If you’re riding a heavy touring bike or a road bike loaded with bikepacking bags, you may need to add more air to your tyres.

With road bikes, the rider’s weight is generally not evenly distributed across both wheels. The exact split will be different for every rider, depending on riding position and bike, but it’s usually the case that the rear wheel takes slightly more of the load than the front.

As a rule of thumb, it’s worth putting a few psi less in the front tyre than in the rear.

Road conditions

If you’re riding on a perfectly smooth velodrome, higher pressures are faster. However, on imperfect surfaces, such as roads, very high pressures simply increase vibrations and can slow you down.

As roads get rougher, with bigger holes and bumps, the optimum tyre pressure decreases further.

When roads get very rough, smaller tyres (anything 25mm or smaller) running at a relatively low pressure may not be able to provide enough protection for the rim or inner tube – especially for heavier riders – which can lead to pinch flats or even rim damage.

Switching to larger tyres will give you a greater amount of tyre volume to play with, so you can fine-tune the pressure to account for both rolling resistance and comfort on rough roads.

This is why the pros switch to 28mm+ tyres for cobbled races such as the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

Weather and temperature

When road surfaces are wet, or if it looks like it might rain during your ride, it’s worth dropping pressure by around 5psi on both tyres. This helps increase the amount of rubber in contact with the road, which should improve grip.

Higher temperatures, whether ambient or induced by rim braking, can also increase tyre pressure.

If you’re riding long descents on hot summer days on a bike with rim brakes (particularly one with carbon clincher wheels or latex inner tubes), be careful to not over-inflate your bike’s tyres. Doing so could lead to dangerously high pressures building up inside the inner tubes or tubeless tyres, if too much excess heat is introduced to the system.

Tyre construction

The materials and construction methods a road bike tyre manufacturer uses can also affect the optimum pressure, to a small degree.

Road bike tyres designed for racing or summer use tend to have casings that use a higher number of thinner nylon or cotton threads (this is what the Threads Per Inch or TPI number of a tyre refers to), and only a thin layer of rubber tread on top. This makes them easier to deform under pressure, making for a smoother and faster ride.

Conversely, winter road bike tyres typically have stiffer, more durable casings with fewer, thicker nylon threads. The rubber tread on top also tends to be thicker for improved mileage and puncture protection.

Given this, you may need to drop your road bike tyre pressure slightly when moving across to winter tyres because the optimum pressure for comfort and grip is likely to be a few psi lower.

Tubeless

If you’re using tubeless tyres, it’s worth remembering that the absence of an inner tube means you can safely run lower pressures without the risk of pinch flatting the tube.

Because lower tyre pressures can improve off-road grip, running tubeless tyres can be particularly useful if you’re riding a road bike with relatively large tyres and looking to take in some light off-road or gravel riding.

Fine-tuning road bike tyre pressure

So, you have all the information at your fingertips, but how do you actually go about fine-tuning tyre pressure? The simple answer is experimentation.

Start with the recommendations above and then consider what the road conditions are like where you ride. Do you have miles and miles of freshly laid tarmac? If so, the above recommendations are probably close to optimal.

If you don’t – perhaps because you live somewhere such as the UK – start with the above recommendations and experiment with taking a little pressure out of the tyres each time you go for a ride.

Start with small steps in pressure of around 5psi, and, if you pay attention, you should eventually be able to determine a sweet spot for speed and comfort.

You’re looking for a pressure that feels smooth, without feeling like the tyre is collapsing underneath you when cornering. And, as already mentioned, erring on the side of too low rather than too high is a good thing to keep in mind.

Field testing

Alternatively, if you have an accurate and reliable power meter, you could do some basic field testing yourself.

Find a long, steady climb with an average gradient of over 5 per cent, and see how different tyre pressures affect the power required to ride at a certain speed, or how fast you travel for a set power output.

The data you acquire should enable you to hone in on an optimum tyre pressure for the setup and road conditions you’re using when testing.

You’re looking for the tyre pressure that requires the least power for a set speed, or enables you to travel fastest for a set power.

As with any testing, it’s important to keep all other variables (e.g. system weight, riding position, traffic, weather, etc) the same for each test run, otherwise, you can muddy the results.

How do you store your bike tools? One of the fun things about bikes is that – if you want to – it’s easy to keep your bike maintained yourself.

Although there’s loads of stuff you can do with a hex key set or a multi-tool, your tool needs will soon balloon if you want to do anything more complex.

Bike components tend to need specialist tools such as chain whips, shock pumps and torque wrenches, so you can quickly develop quite a collection – some burly and some delicate. Many are also expensive, so careful storage is a must.

Finding the right tool quickly can be really frustrating if you’re in the middle of a messy job, so having somewhere dedicated to store your tools with some form of organisation is essential. A knackered cardboard box just won’t cut it – particularly if you get it wet.

Let’s run through the options for storing and organising your bike tools.

Saddle bag

If you’re not into fixing your bike yourself and have a friendly bike shop nearby, you might get away with a minimum of tools you can stash into a saddle bag. A multi-tool, pump and tyre levers will cover the majority of trail- or road-side repairs.

However, if anything more serious goes wrong, you’re going to be a bit stuck and may need to get a lift home before heading to the shop for repairs.

You’ll probably find yourself deciding to buy the tools required to fix the problem next time it happens – and your tool collection will quickly start to grow.

Tool box

A bit more committed? A cantilever tool box will up your storage capacity and make it easy to find stuff because you get multiple shelves to keep smaller and larger tools and parts separate. The cantilevered drawers mean that you can see everything as you work.

It’s still relatively compact, so it’s not going to take up too much room and the handles mean it’s easily portable, so you can pop it under the stairs out of the way when you’re not working on your bike. You should be able to fit in all but the largest bike tools.

Tool bag or case

Providing similar capacity to a tool box, a tool bag or a tool case is a good option if you need to travel with your tools. It’s easier to move around, lockable and some options come with wheels and a telescopic handle, making for even easier transport.

There’s plenty of room to store your tools and the internal dividers and fixing points mean you can keep them well organised.

Small tool chest

Now we’re getting into serious tool-toting territory.

A robust multi-drawer plastic or metal chest gives you loads of storage capacity. You can add internal dividers to keep your fiddly bits organised and away from your large tools.

Most options go from two to five drawers with modular inserts, so you can choose one to match the size of your tool collection.

The tops of many tool chests have raised edges, so they’re a great place to put bolts and bearings as you work so they don’t end up rolling under the freezer.

You don’t get the manoeuvrability of more compact options though, so you’ll need somewhere like a workbench to keep your tool chest.

Roller tool chest

Next up is a roller tool chest.

With casters underneath, it’s easy to move to the site of the action on your bike.

Some chests give you the option to add rollers later and you can buy a chest with up to 100 litres capacity, so there’s room for your tool collection, no matter how large it gets.

Like the smaller versions, you typically get a ridged top with raised edges to keep your tools and parts where you want them as you work. Again, it’s a solution for someone who has the room for a dedicated workspace.

Tool wall

Okay – so now you’re just showing off.

But a tool wall is the ultimate solution for a home workshop. If your shed or garage is set up for full-on fettling, a tool wall will really help you keep your tools in tip-top condition and make it easy to find exactly the tool you want – no more searching around.

Most tool walls let you put hooks and holders exactly where you want them, so everything is to hand.

Knowing how to remove and change bike pedals is a key skill for any cyclist, especially if you’re assembling a new bike or want to try out riding with clipless pedals.

In this step-by-step guide, we talk you through the tools you need to change the pedals on your bike, including how to identify your left and right pedals, how to remove old pedals and, of course, how to fit new pedals.

If you’re looking for something new, check out our comprehensive guide to the best road bike pedals and best mountain bike pedals, as reviewed by our expert in-house testers.

If you are fitting your first set of clipless pedals, check out our guides on how to use clip-in pedals and how to set up your cleats.

Tools required to change bike pedals

If your pedals have parallel faces on the spindle between the pedal body and the crank, you will need a 15mm spanner.

Any 15mm spanner will work provided it’s not too fat to fit between the crank and pedal body. You may struggle to fit an adjustable spanner in there.

Some pedals, such as more expensive Shimano pedals, have a larger locking nut next to the wrench flats. These are used to access the internals of the pedal for servicing – don’t get confused by this.

Some very old pedals may have 9/16in pedal flats. You are very unlikely to encounter this on anything but the oldest bikes and, given 9/16in equates to 14.28mm, you might not even notice if using a 15mm spanner.

A hex key with a long handle is best for removing pedals, and a T-shaped hex key with a sliding end is ideal because it allows you to move the long part of the hex key to avoid the bike’s chainrings.

Note you always fit or remove pedals from the crank end of the pedal spindle. If your pedals have a bolt, cap or screw on the outside end of the pedal spindle, this is only used to service the bearings.

Left vs right pedals explained – what are the differences?

Left and right pedals have different threads, and ensuring you are fitting the correct pedal to each side of your bike is key.

Before we go on, for the avoidance of doubt:

• The right-hand side or driveside of the bike is the side with the gears on it
• The left-hand side or non-driveside of the bike is the side without the gears

Right pedal threading

Right (driveside) pedals are always standard-threaded.

This means they tighten by turning the spindle clockwise and loosen by turning anti-clockwise. In other words, right to tighten, left to loosen.

Left pedal threading

Left (non-driveside) pedals are always reverse-threaded. This means they tighten by turning the spindle anti-clockwise and loosen by turning clockwise.

To be totally clear, this is the opposite of the driveside pedal (and pretty much every other threaded part you are likely to encounter on a bike or in life).

How to tell apart left and right pedals

Luckily, every pedal will come marked in some way to indicate whether it is for the left or right side of your bike.

At its most basic, an L or R will be stamped onto the end of the spindle. It is also sometimes stamped onto the wrench flats of a pedal, or printed onto the body of the pedal.

If your pedal doesn’t have this, it may instead have a textured area next to the wrench flats to indicate it is the left pedal.

If your pedal doesn’t have this either, you can look closely at the threads of the pedal spindle.

A right pedal is standard-threaded and, looking at the threads, they appear to angle upwards to the right.

The left pedal is reverse-threaded and, looking at the threads, they appear to angle upwards to the left.

How to remove pedals from a bike

Step 1: How to remove the right (driveside) pedal from your bike

Rotate your cranks so, when viewed from the driveside of your bike, the right-hand crank is pointing roughly towards the front wheel (the three o’clock position).

If your pedals use wrench flats, place your spanner onto these so it is pointing towards the rear of the bike.

If your pedals use a hex key, place the short end of the hex key into the back of the pedal so the long section is pointing towards the back of the bike.

With your tool fitted, push down hard onto the tool, while holding the opposite crank, to loosen the pedal. You can then continue to unscrew the pedal by hand.

If your pedals weren’t greased when they were fitted, or if they just haven’t been removed for a long time, this may take a great deal of force.

If you cannot loosen the thread by hand, increasing your leverage carefully with an old pipe or similar implement can help.

If you do not have anything like this to hand, you can try placing the wheels of your bike on the floor and, with someone holding it steady, try using your foot instead to apply extra pressure.

Ensure your tool is very securely fitted to the wrench flat or hex socket before doing this. We also suggest you put a folded towel or old book beneath the pedal to protect your floor.

Step 2: How to remove the left (non-driveside) pedal from your bike

Viewing your bike from the non-driveside, rotate your left-hand crank so it is pointing towards the front wheel (the nine o’clock position).

Now, following the exact same steps as before, place your tool so that it is pointing towards the back of the bike.

How to change bike pedals

Step 1: How to fit the right (driveside) pedal to your bike

If you have either a used pair of pedals or a used bike, thoroughly clean the threads on both the crank and the pedals. Grit or dirt can damage and wear out threads over time.

With the threads clean, apply a thin layer of grease or anti-seize to the threads on the pedal axle.

This step is absolutely vital. At best, fitting pedals with ‘dry’ threads can lead to your pedals becoming extremely difficult to remove. At worst, if left long enough, your pedals and cranks could fuse together permanently.

Don’t be tempted to use anything other than grease or anti-seize here – chain lube or other oils won’t cut it in the long run.

Some cranks and pedals require you to fit a thin pedal washer onto the spindle before fitting. Check your bike or crankset owner’s manual if you are unsure.

With the pedal axle lightly greased, begin by threading the axle in by hand. The right-hand pedal tightens by turning the axle clockwise.

Continue threading the pedal by hand until it bottoms out on the crank. Once bottoming out against the crank, tighten up the pedal lightly with either your hex key or spanner.

The pedals do not have to be very tight – just firmly snug against the crank. ‘Wrist tight’ is the best way to describe this.

Are you sure you’re fitting the correct pedal?

You may not be able to thread old cranks or pedals with dull threads by hand.

Before turning to your tools, first double-check you are definitely fitting the correct pedal – the left-hand pedal will not thread into the crank and forcing it will cross the threads and destroy the bike’s crank.

Even experienced mechanics can be caught out here if they’re in a rush, so take the time to check you’re doing it right.

Once you are 100 per cent certain you are fitting the correct pedal, you can try using your spanner or hex key to get things going.

Step 2: How to fit the left-hand (driveside) pedal to your bike

The process is exactly the same for the left-hand pedal but, as it is reverse-threaded, you tighten it by turning the spindle anti-clockwise.

Once you’ve fitted the pedals, wipe off any excess grease from the crank and you’re ready to ride.

Tyres are one of the most important components when it comes to the performance of your mountain bike – after all, they’re the only thing connecting you and your bike to the ground. As such, getting the tyre pressure on your mountain bike just right is vital to its performance on the trail.

However, there are a number of variables that go into figuring out the ideal pressure range for a mountain bike tyre, such as the tyre’s width and carcass thickness, the rubber compound, the diameter, and the rim’s width and overall shape.

The types of conditions and trails you’re riding, and your own riding style will also have a significant impact on how much air is appropriate.

Get your tyre pressure right and it will improve the comfort, grip and speed of your mountain bike. Get it wrong and, well, everything goes in the opposite direction.

Sound scary? Well, don’t worry because we’re here to help and will run through everything you need to know to get your MTB tyre pressures just right, from the factors influencing tyre pressures, right through to our own pressure recommendations.

First, a quick disclaimer: it’s worth noting that what works for one person might not work for you – everyone has different experiences and preferences when it comes to tyre pressures.

So, treat this as a guide and not a concrete system. The key is to fine-tune your pressure so you find what works for you, your bike and where you ride.

Before we get started, we’ve also got a guide to road bike tyre pressure, if you also ride skinny tyres.

What’s the right tyre pressure for your mountain bike?

Well, it depends – unfortunately, there’s not an easy answer here. When trying to decide on the correct tyre pressure for your mountain bike, it’s all about balance.

We want a tyre to remain stable and grip well in corners, and it needs to add some insulation from trail features, such as rocks and roots, again to help with grip. It also needs to remain inflated when it suffers a big hit – nobody likes punctures!

Rolling resistance is a big factor, too – how can you find a trade-off between grip and rolling speed?

What factors influence mountain bike tyre pressure?

As we’ve already touched upon, a number of factors influence the ‘right’ tyre pressure for you and your bike. Let’s run through them.

Rider and bike weight

The logical place to start is the combined weight of you and your bike. It stands to reason that a heavier rider and bike is going to need higher pressures than a lighter rider.

Why? A heavier rider will put more force through the tyres and thus this needs to be balanced with correspondingly higher pressures. The opposite applies to a lighter rider.

Terrain

Likewise, where are you going to ride? If you’re riding somewhere super-rocky and rooty, perhaps on fast terrain so you might be hitting those features at speed, you might need to up your pressure a touch.

Higher pressures mean less tyre deformation when you hit a rock, and so less chance of it puncturing – though if pressures are too high, you may increase the risk of tearing your tyre’s carcass on a sharp edge.

Conversely, if you’re riding on smoother terrain, or perhaps at lower speeds (think super-steep muddy and rooty tech trails), lower pressures will allow the tyre to deform more, enabling it to better mould to the ground’s shape, boosting grip.

As you’ll notice, there’s also some nuance here to appreciate – a track in the dry might be very different when it’s wet, and so your pressures might have to change depending on the trail’s condition.

Riding style

Though less ‘measurable’, a rider’s style might also be taken into account.

If you’re a bit more precise with your riding, weaving smoothly through obstacles, you might get away with a couple of psi less. However, if you’re someone with more of a point-and-shoot style, you might need to pay a little more attention to puncture protection.

How does a tyre’s construction influence tyre pressure?

Now let’s look at the tyres themselves. After all, even the best mountain bike tyres come in a wide range of widths, diameters, compounds and carcass types – all of which can influence the pressure required.

Tyre width

First up is the obvious one – the width of the tyre. This also relates to the overall shape and volume of the tyre, which itself is dependent on the internal width of the rim of the mountain bike wheel it is fitted to.

A wider tyre will have a larger volume of air inside it. Likewise, a given tyre, on a wider rim, will inflate wider than the same tyre on a narrower rim.

As a general rule, a larger volume tyre can handle lower pressures before it feels imprecise and there’s excessive movement of the tyre on the rim, or before it becomes more susceptible to punctures or burping, whereby the bead of a tubeless tyre pulls away briefly from the rim, expelling air.

Furthermore, running a higher volume tyre at too high a pressure makes it more likely to feel pingy and skittery.

As a rule of thumb, a higher volume tyre can be run at slightly lower pressures than a lower volume tyre setup.

Rim width

Going a bit deeper into this, wider tyres tend to perform better on correspondingly wider rims. A wide tyre on a narrow rim can be more lightbulb-shaped once inflated and prone to rolling side-to-side on a rim, leading to an imprecise feel.

A narrow tyre on a wide rim becomes too square, which changes the feel of the tyre as you lean in a corner, and can lead to the shoulder treads squirming. Cornering lean angles can also be reduced.

So, what do we mean when we talk about ‘narrow’ rims and ‘wide’ rims? And what’s the best match between tyre width and rim width?

• Though there are variations, a narrower 2.2in tyre will be better mounted to a rim with an internal width of roughly 25mm
• A 2.4in tyre mounted to a 25mm to 30mm rim is a good starting point
• At 2.5 to 2.6in wide, we’d be looking for a 28 to 35mm rim
• Finally, 2.8in tyres are likely best suited to a 35mm+ rim

Tyre carcass

The next key variable with the tyre is its carcass and this comes down to the construction. Quite often, tyre brands will supply the same tyre tread and width with a number of carcasses because different carcasses have pros and cons, depending on the intended use.

A thicker carcass will have more puncture protection and may have a more ‘damped’ feel to it. However, it’ll be heavier and as there’s more material in the sidewall of the tyre it could be less supple – this can change how efficiently it rolls.

As a thicker carcass tyre is inherently stronger, in a mountain bike application we might be tempted to run a little less pressure. The tyre should add some puncture protection back into your setup and, as the tyre is more robust overall, it should also retain a bit more stability on the rim.

A thinner tyre, on the other hand, might be run at a touch higher pressure to guard against punctures. With the additional suppleness that comes with a thinner carcass, it’ll still deliver the grip and comfort you want.

As always, the carcass you choose will depend on the balance you want between weight, rolling efficiency, puncture protection and grip.

Tyre compound

As well as the tyre carcass type, you will also want to consider the tyre compound. Tyre compound refers to the blend of materials made up to make the rubber – some will be softer than others.

A soft compound tyre will give more grip for a given pressure, as the rubber itself boosts traction. Here you might consider adding a touch more pressure because this will give the tyre more protection and stability, while retaining that grip you want.

Should a rear tyre be pumped up harder than the front?

Finally, let’s look at the job of the front and rear tyres, and what impact that has on pressure.

The front tyre’s role is very much one of grip – both for braking and cornering.

We know that lower pressures increase grip so, as long as you’re not so low as to induce tyre roll, we want to increase grip as much as we can, to boost control.

At the other end of the bike, the rear wheel generally has to put up with more abuse – it’s the one most likely to suffer a puncture. On top of that, the rear tends to be the draggier of the two wheels due to rider weight distribution between the wheels.

While the relationship between pressure and rolling efficiency is complex, on a mountain bike it’s advisable to run the rear tyre pressure a little higher than the front – it usually makes it roll faster and adds puncture protection.

So, what pressure should you run your tyres?

As you’ll have learnt by now, there’s a lot of detail here, and finding the right pressure for you and your bike is part art, part science.

Everything we’ve covered illustrates why tyre pressure is a continuous process of trial and error, to find the right pressure for your setup, the terrain and conditions.

Now we’re going to delve into a few numbers to help you pick a starting point. However, before we kick things off, we’re going to make two very quick assumptions about your tyre setup.

First off, we’re assuming that your mountain bike is set up tubeless. This means the inner tube has been removed, the rim sealed with a rim strip or it’s a UST (Universal Standard Tubeless) design, and a tubeless valve and tubeless sealant have been added.

A tubeless setup will give you more protection against punctures and help provide a better ride quality because the friction between an inner tube and the inside of the tyre can inhibit the tyre’s ability to deform to the trail.

You can also run tubeless tyres at slightly lower pressures because you remove the risk of pinch flats, where an inner tube gets pinched against the rim and punctures. If you’re running inner tubes, we’d recommend looking into the advantages of tubeless for mountain biking.

Secondly, we’re not talking about tyre inserts in this guide. Tyre inserts are rings of foam that sit inside a tubeless tyre. They offer a range of potential benefits, including increased tyre stability, puncture protection and tyre security. Generally, they’ll allow you to run lower tyre pressures too.

Tyre pressure guide for mountain bikes

As we mentioned at the top, the best tyre pressure can vary from one rider to another and is influenced by a wide range of factors. As a result, our goal here is to give you a starting point from which to experiment with your individual setup, rather than make cast-iron recommendations.

Let’s take BikeRadar’s technical editor Tom Marvin as a case study when looking at tyre pressure for all-round trail riding. He weighs, fully kitted up, around 80kg.

If he’s on his regular trail bike, riding mixed terrain and in mixed conditions, with 2.4in tyres on a 30mm-wide rim, with a medium-strength carcass and regular stickiness compound, his starting point would be:

• 21psi in the front
• 23psi in the rear

This should give a good combination of grip, control, tyre stability, rolling resistance and puncture resistance.

If he was to pop a 2.6in tyre on the same trail bike, he’d look at dropping to:

• 19psi in the front
• 21psi in the rear

Alternatively, a 2.2in tyre on a slightly narrower rim (approx. 25mm) would equate to:

• 24psi in the front
• 26psi in the rear

As we’ve already covered, terrain and conditions have an impact, and on rocky terrain Tom might add a couple of psi, but if it was wet and muddy, he’d drop down a couple of psi – even as low as 18 to 19psi in the front tyre, if it was nice and wide.

There will be riders who want to ride at higher pressures, for other reasons. For example, if you regularly burp tyres or have a particularly aggressive cornering style, then higher pressures will keep the tyre securely locked into the rim

If you find burping tyres to be a problem on your trails with your riding style, then you might even look towards pressures in the high-twenties.

From our examples, hopefully you can start to work out what’s right for you. It’s worth noting that the differences in pressures look relatively small – a couple of psi here or there. However, we’ve found that the bigger the tyre volume, the more noticeable small changes are.

We’d recommend using a digital pressure gauge to adjust your tyre pressure. It’s a really handy tool to get accurate readings and also allows you to fine-tune pressure out on the trail if you’re really trying to get things dialled in. We’ve got a round-up of the best tyre pressure gauges.

Context is everything, so if you’re going to start experimenting with tyre pressures, we’d strongly recommend getting hold of a digital pressure gauge and using it consistently to get a good impression of how the various factors we’ve spoken about influence one another.

How do you know if you’ve got the right tyre pressure?

Finally, assuming you’re now starting to fine-tune your tyre pressures, how do you know when you’ve landed on the right numbers?

Well, if you’re on steep, slow technical tracks or fast and high-load tracks, and can feel the front tyre roll as you push it, or if you start feeling harsh knocks and dings through the rim when you hit a rock or root, you should add more air in your tyres to give better stability and puncture protection.

On the other hand, you’re likely to be too high in pressure if, when you ride over rocks or roots (and especially if they’re crossing your track at an angle), your tyre feels like it pings or slides off in an uncontrolled manner.

Equally, if you’re struggling to hold a line when the trail is off-camber, perhaps you need a little less pressure in there.

Remember, it’s a real balancing act, so get out there and start experimenting.

A bike tool kit is a great choice if you’re just getting into cycling or you’re looking for a more comprehensive set of tools for the car or garage.

Many people build up their collection of bike tools over time, but a specialist tool kit is an easy and often more affordable way to get all the tools you need for virtually any bike maintenance, from changing a cassette to installing new brake cables.

Take a look at the best bike tool kits that we have tried and tested below, and our guide to some of the essential tools a kit should include.

Essential tools for a bike tool kit

Many modern bikes might seem more complicated than bikes of years gone by, but at their core, they are still relatively simple to work on and use the same selection of tools for most maintenance.

In addition to your basic pump, tyre levers and puncture repair kit, these are the essential bike-specific tools any home mechanic’s tool kit should include and will cover some of the most straightforward jobs on a bike.

Allen/hex keys

A multi-tool is great for on-the-road repairs and adjustments but try to have a good set of Allen/hex keys in your toolbox.

A decent T-handle set with a ball end on the long side is a good place to start – this allows you access to awkward bolts with reduced risk of rounding.

Torque wrench

Torque wrenches are available cheaply and you can get very compact bike-specific ones. The bonus to using them is that you avoid over-tightening anything, which can affect your warranty on – or simply break –  parts you regularly tighten, such as the frame, fork or handlebar.

Just remember to undo the torque adjuster before throwing it back in the box.

Pedal spanner

A proper pedal spanner will give you a better chance of leveraging off pedals, especially if they haven’t been removed in a long time. A good pedal spanner is usually flatter and thinner than a regular spanner, which you may struggle to get between the pedal and crank arm to undo.

Always apply anti-seize compound to the pedal thread before installation to avoid wrestling with your pedals in the future. Check out our comprehensive guide on how to remove and change bike pedals for more info.

Chain breaker tool

A chain breaker tool is an essential bit of kit you should get familiar with using properly.

Use it to repair stiff links and to take your chain off for serious cleaning and so prolong the life of your chain and parts. You can even use it to take out a link and put a speed-link in to make removal/cleaning even easier.

Chain whip and cassette lockring tool

A chain whip holds the cassette in place and stops the freehub from spinning when removing the lockring of a cassette. It is also used to remove the cog from a fixed-wheel bike.

A good chain whip will have a decent length handle that will help you gain some mechanical leverage and make light work of removing a lockring.

Check that the chain whip is compatible with the width of the chain that you run on your bike. For instance, is it suitable for 11-speed chains?

You will also need a splined cassette lockring tool if you want to remove your cassette for replacement or cleaning. SRAM, Campagnolo and Shimano all use different standards for these.

Bottom bracket tool

A bottom bracket (BB) tool helps you remove or install a bottom bracket into the bottom bracket shell of a bike.

There is a wide variety of BB tools available due to the numerous bottom bracket standards out there and the different ways of installing and removing a bottom bracket, so making sure you have the right tool for the bottom bracket on your bike is a must.

Shimano Hollowtech II is arguably the gold standard with many brands opting to use it for external bearing and threaded bottom brackets. Shimano Hollwtech II tools also fit a wide variety of BBs from different brands and often work with adaptors for other standards.

Best bike tool kits

PRO Advanced Toolbox

• £200 / $290 / AU$453 as tested
• Quality feeling tools
• Needs to be topped up to be comprehensive

The PRO Advanced Toolbox has 25 tools that are well-made, a decent weight and feel like they’ll endure the test of time, as you’d expect of PRO (Shimano’s in-house parts brand).

Rubberised handles give great grip and enhance usability. The Allen keys have a precise fit and both the cassette tool and chain tool are 12-speed compatible. Quick-link pliers are a handy addition to the set.

The custom-cut foam inlay keeps the tools firmly in place, while the metal clasps on the carry case are robust and secure.

Ideally, it’d include a complete Torx set (it has T20, T25 and T30 wrenches) and a 1.5mm Allen key. If we’re being really picky, a flat-blade screwdriver would be nice too, but overall, there’s little to criticise with this excellent kit.

• Read our review of the PRO Advanced Toolbox

Birzman Essential Tool Box

• £150 / $178 as tested
• Professional-looking kit
• Pricey

The Birzman Essential Tool Kit is a professional-looking kit, with each of the tools stowed in a labelled foam pocket within the hard plastic case.

Thirteen ‘pieces’ are provided (20+ tools), covering most of what’s required to build a bike. The chain and pedal wrenches are long enough to unstick seized parts. Notches on the Allen keys are useful for checking they’re inserted far enough.

Adaptors are provided so you can use the cassette and bottom bracket tools with the 8mm Allen key, avoiding the need to add an adjustable spanner.

We’d downsize the chain rivet extractor and add a pair of cable cutters.

LifeLine X-Tools Bike Tool Kit 37-piece

Alex Evans / Immediate Media

• £70 / €79 / $104 / AU$145 as tested
• Wide selection of good quality tools
• Some tools that won’t get a lot of use

The tools in the LifeLine X-Tools all have a quality feel that exceeds this kit’s budget price.

We particularly like the Allen keys, which fitted nice and tightly in every bolt we tried. The cassette tool can be used with SRAM XD cassettes, and the chain whip and chain tool are 12-speed compatible too, with the latter working especially well.

The dedicated ¼in bit driver makes the kit ripe for expanding in the future, as your mechanic’s skills grow.

The case feels fairly low-quality and the contents rattle in it when it’s carried. This kit includes an internal BB tool and crank puller, which aren’t that useful for modern bikes. It’s a shame there isn’t a full set of Torx keys, only T25 and T30.

• Read our review of the LifeLine X-Tools Bike Tool Kit 37-piece

Topeak Prepbox toolbox

• £320 / €320 / $400 / AU$600 as tested
• 36 usable, good quality tools
• High price

The Topeak Prepbox has 36 tools and is fairly comprehensive. The tools feel weighty and high-quality.

The long Allen keys are easy to use, and the inclusion of the 1.5mm size is a bonus. It’s great to see a torque wrench included too, and we found the chain tool particularly good for helping to free sticky links.

The case is sturdy, with foam cut-outs for each tool and zipped covers. During transit, there was no rattling and the tools remained in place.

While the cable cutters are sharp, they don’t have the smoothest action. The cassette tool’s chamfered edges mean it doesn’t engage that securely with SRAM XD 11- and 12-speed cassettes.

A couple of the tools – the internal BB tool and crank puller – are virtually redundant now and could be replaced.

• Read our review of the Topeak Prepbox toolbox

Also consider

The following tool kits scored lower than the four out of five stars required to make our best list, but are still worth considering.

Halfords Bikehut 30pc Bike Tool Kit

• £60 (international pricing N/A) as tested
• Plenty of tools covering most jobs
• Solid performer but could do with some improvements

The Halfords Bikehut 30pc Bike Tool Kit is a solid performer and should complement the budding mechanic with a host of bike-specific tools that serve well as a segue into more technical tasks.

The rubberised handles on the larger tools are comfortable to hold. The 8mm Allen key proved useful and doubles up as a ½in driver for other tools in the kit, but the driver can easily slip off. We found the quick-link pliers worked well and the tyre levers feel robust.

The Allen keys are short, so they only offer limited leverage for loosening tight bolts.

We found the combined pedal spanner/chain whip frustrating to use as a spanner because the chain contacts your hands, and the whip is a tight fit with 12-speed cassettes.

During transportation, the tools all remained in place, helped by the central foam separator, but they did rattle around. The plastic carry case is durable and locks closed with metal clasps.

• Read our review of the Halfords Bikehut 30pc Bike Tool Kit

Halfords Essentials 25-piece cycling tool kit

• £35 (international pricing N/A) as tested
• Wide range of tools
• Large size tools

The Halfords Essentials Tool Kit is an 18-piece kit that combines a large number of tools (Allen key sets, etc, are counted as single ‘pieces’) in a sensibly priced package.

There’s no T25 Torx wrench, though, which is widely used on modern mountain bikes.

The chain whip, 8mm Allen key and external bottom bracket tool have very long handles, which help when trying to loosen seized bolts. Angled jaws on the equally large pedal spanner reduce the risk of skinned knuckles.

Lower manufacturing tolerances mean the tools don’t have the same high-quality, durable feel as some of the others on test, and removing and replacing tools in the plastic box is fiddly.

Lezyne Port-A-Shop

• £110 / $120 as tested
• Allen and Torx wrenches
• Glueless patches

The Port-A-Shop from Lezyne is more of a (well-presented) multi-tool expansion kit than the portable workshop its name suggests.

However, it provides a range of tools that should cover most car park bike-tinkering needs. The bulk of them are contained within three high-quality multi-tools.

There’s a wide range of Allen and Torx wrenches, and the inclusion of traditional and glueless patch kits is a nice touch. A separate spoke key would be easier to use than the one integrated into the chain tool.

The range of tools falls short of other kits here if you’re looking to fully assemble a bike.

Pedro’s Starter Tool Kit

• £170 / $150 / AU$200 as tested
• Tool wrap case
• Some extra tools needed

Presented in a durable-feeling tool wrap, this selection of 19 high-quality tools is a good starting point for the home mechanic to expand upon.

Pedro’s ‘cog wrench’ is a hassle-free alternative to a chain whip, with a great handlebar-grip-style handle. The cable cutters are another highlight, slicing through both inners and outers easily.

You’ll need an adjustable spanner (not included, but there is room for one) to make use of some of the tools.

At this price, we’d expect common bike tools such as a T25 Torx wrench and bottom bracket tool to be included.

There’s no point spending big on a bike then storing it somewhere where it’s vulnerable.

For those of us without the space to store our pride and joy inside the house, garages and sheds are the next best thing, but they can still be vulnerable to break-ins.

If you want to keep thieves at bay, we’ve got some handy tips to make your bike shed storage more secure.

The first rule of shed club…

The first rule of bike storage is simple: don’t let people know you have a bike. A garage or bike shed is never going to be up there with Fort Knox in the security stakes, but it doesn’t need to be if you take the right approach.

If the local ne’er-do-wells don’t know you have a valuable bike in your shed, they are unlikely to put much effort into breaking in, especially if you fit enough basic security measures to convince them to move on to an easier target. It’s easier said than done, but there are some simple things to avoid.

Do you use Strava? It’s crucial that you either don’t start recording your ride until you’re a few miles away from your house, keep your profile private, or set up a ‘privacy zone’. The last thing you want is to provide thieves with a direct map to your front door.

It’s also tempting to put up pictures of your shiny new bike on social media. While it’s great you are proud of your bike, be cautious. Think about whether your profile gives away enough clues to work out where you live, as well as showing exactly how lovely your new bike is and where it may be stored.

Location, location, location

Where you choose to store your bike will depend on a number of factors, including the value of the bike or bikes, your budget and the amount of available space, but the key criterion should be the location.

If you live in a dodgy area, even bricks and mortar may not deter the criminals. On the other side of town, a wooden shed with a few extra security measures may be enough.

There are five main types of storage to consider:

1. Inside your house – This will depend on the amount of space you have and the tolerance levels of your partner/spouse/flatmates. Overall, security is high, especially if you can lock your bike to an immovable object.
2. Garage – Perfect. You can store your bike and work on it, without worrying about getting oil stains on the carpet. The drawback? Not everyone has one or has the space/money for one. The door is generally the weak point, but you can improve security by fitting a Garage Door Defender. Internally, you can beef up security by using a ground or wall anchor (see below) and a decent motorcycle chain.
3. Brick/breeze-block shed – The next best option, but if you haven’t already got one they’re not cheap and may need planning permission. See below for some tips on making it more secure.
4. Flat-pack shed – They’re relatively cheap, easy to put up and will hide your bike(s) from view, but they’re far from secure. For the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on this type of storage because it’s a common choice and there are some simple precautions you can take to make your shed much less attractive to thieves.
5. Standalone bike shelter – If you’re short of space and need somewhere dry to store your bike, these are an option. In many cases they are no more secure than a shed (or considerably less so) and offer no room to work on your bike, but there are much burlier options out there, including metal bike sheds from the likes of Asgard. See below for more tips on making a standalone bike shelter more secure.

Are your bikes insured?

Insuring your bikes will provide peace of mind should the worst happen. You should always pay attention to the small print when taking out an insurance policy but, in this instance, if you’re not storing your bikes inside then it’s particularly important to ensure any policy covers a wooden shed or wherever you choose to keep your bikes.

Only some policies cover bike storage in lockable wooden sheds and almost all require bikes to be secured to an immovable object.

If you’re looking for a quick comparison of the best bicycle insurance on the market, check out our insurance comparison tool, developed in conjunction with QuoteZone, which will provide quotes for cycling-specific coverage from a wide range of leading providers.

5 top tips for bike shed security

Whether you’ve decided on the wooden shed option, or just want some ideas on making other forms of storage more secure, here are some handy tips:

1. Be realistic

A shed is never going to stand up to a serious attack by thieves. Offenders have been known to pry open a whole side panel or roof to get inside.

The trick is to site it in an area where it is difficult for thieves to operate, avoid drawing attention to it, and install as many security measures as possible to protect your precious bike(s).

The harder you can make a thief work, and the longer it takes them to crack your defences, the more likely they are to pass up the opportunity, or give up and move on to an easier target.

2. Choose your shed location carefully

The ideal site for your shed is somewhere difficult for thieves to reach, yet not so tucked away that criminals can operate without fear of being seen.

In this case, the shed below has been built in a backyard/driveway accessed by a private road. The shed can’t be seen from the main road and because the access road is only used by a handful of households, any strangers in the area will immediately arouse suspicions.

The neighbours are friendly and several are around during the day. The shed can be seen from a number of surrounding houses and is within range of a security light fitted with a movement sensor. When a car is parked in the driveway next to the shed, the door can’t be opened, providing extra security.

3. Take care when choosing the type of shed

There are three main types of shed: wood (cheap and blends in well but prone to rotting and less secure), metal (strong, durable and fire retardant but prone to rust, and walls are very thin on cheap models) and plastic (low maintenance but prone to condensation). Generally, the more you pay, the thicker the walls will be and the more secure the shed will be.

4. Think about the design of the structure

If the shed is going to be used purely for storage, and not as a workshop, consider getting one without windows because these are an obvious weak point. The door should be clearly visible, either from your house or neighbouring properties. Double doors will enable you to get bikes in and out more easily.

5. Work out the shed’s weaknesses

In this case, the door hinges are secured by small screws, the lock provided with the shed is extremely basic and the windows mean the contents are on display. Inside there is nothing to lock your prized possession(s) to.

Step-by-step guide to improving bike shed security

In the first half of our guide, we showed you how to improve the basic security of your shed. In part two we’ll explain how to really beef-up your shed’s security.

1. Toughen up the hinges

In this case, the hinges are attached to the soft timber door using seven short screws. If a thief shoulder barges/kicks the door with enough force, these could just rip out of the wood.

Failing that, it wouldn’t take a determined thief long to simply unscrew them all.

To make life harder for the crims, take out the screws, widen the holes using a drill and replace the screws with nuts and bolts.

Then you need to make sure thieves can’t simply unscrew the bolts. In this case, we’ve added a drop of superglue where the shaft of each bolt meets the nut.

Other options include using Allen key bolts and hammering ball bearings into the end so they can’t be unscrewed, or using one-way security screws.

2. Add hasps and padlocks