Quick Tips: The 4 Essentials of Gravel Bike Maintenance
Gravel is tough on components, so regular bike maintenance is the key to avoiding unexpected mechanicals or expensive repairs. Fortunately, basic maintenance jobs are easy for pretty much any rider to do at home, and the bigger, more complicated jobs generally only need to be tackled once a year. Just follow these easy maintenance tips, and you’ll increase your bike’s reliability, help it last longer, optimize its performance, and save money in the long run! This is how to keep your gravel bike in top condition.
1. Clean and Lube Your Chain
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DO THIS WEEKLY
Cleaning and lubricating your chain is the most important piece of regular maintenance you need to do. A clean and lubed chain is faster and more efficient than a dirty or dry chain, and it reduces wear on important drivetrain components. Chainrings and cassettes are expensive! A clean and lubricated chain helps them last a lot longer, saving you money and headaches later on.
We recommend cleaning and lubricating your bike chain weekly, but this can vary depending on how often you ride and your riding conditions. If you’re knocking out big miles or riding in a lot of rain, mud, or dust, you may need to clean and lube your chain daily. If your bike gets ridden once a week and it doesn’t get very dirty, then you might need to do it every few weeks.
Personally, I clean and relube my gravel bike every few rides, or around every 100-200 miles. If I hear any squeaking or grinding noises, I clean and lube the chain as soon as possible. Some athletes track the mileage of their bike using an app (like Strava) and lube the chain based on mileage. Don’t put off cleaning and lubing your chain. If your chain gets dry and squeaky, or it’s covered in a sticky black grime, then it’s causing unnecessary wear to your drivetrain!
How to clean and lube your chain:
If your chain and drivetrain are relatively clean (i.e., the chain and cassette aren’t coated in sticky black grime that will require a brush and degreaser to remove), you can get away with cleaning your chain by giving it a thorough wipe down with a rag or towel. For a more thorough clean, you can spray a small amount of degreaser or rubbing alcohol on your towel, or use a product like Silca Gear Wipes.
If your chain and drivetrain are super grimy, then you’ll need to clean them with a brush and degreaser first. Spray your degreaser of choice (bike-specific degreasers are great, but Simple Green is easy to find and works well too!) on the chain, cassette, and chainring(s), then agitate it with a brush. Rinse it off with a hose or spray bottle full of water. Dry it off with a dry towel or compressed air. The chain and drivetrain components need to be dried after washing to prevent corrosion and before applying lube.
Once your chain is clean, you can drip lube onto the rollers. Ensure you get a drop of lube on each roller. After applying lube, wipe away all excess lube with your rag or towel. The rollers inside the chain are the only part that needs lube! Any lube left on the surface of the chain or on your chainrings or cassette cogs will just attract dirt and grime, so wipe that away before you ride. (Watch the video above where we demonstrate how quick and easy it is to apply lube and wipe it away.)
What chain lube to use:
As long as you are cleaning and lubing your chain regularly, any bike-specific lubricant will be fine. At the Obed factory, we use Rock-N-Roll Gold because it’s super affordable and available at most bike shops. It’s also designed to clean as it lubes, so it reduces the amount you need to wash/degrease your chain, and it keeps your chain and drivetrain fairly clean. It doesn’t last as long as some other lubes, but it’s very efficient in most riding and racing applications.
If you want to nerd out on lube performance, check out the results of independent lube tests and decide for yourself which lube to try. Test it out on your local gravel roads. What works in some places might not work as well in others. If you want to get serious about performance, chain waxing is super trendy right now, but that’s a whole different can of worms that will require its own article!
2. Wash or Wipe Down Your Bike
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DO THIS WEEKLY-TO-MONTHLY
A clean bike is a happy bike, so try to keep your gravel bike clean(ish)! Riding your bike hard and putting it away wet can lead to corroded hardware, worn bearings, gummed-up cables, annoying squeaks, and even hidden frame damage. It can dull your beautiful paint, too.
Keeping your bike clean doesn’t mean you need to do a full wash with a hose after every ride (though some do). We like to give our frame a quick wipe down after super dusty rides with a clean microfiber cloth and a spray-on cleaner like Pedro’s Bike Lust or Silca Ultimate Ceramic Waterless Wash to remove the dust, sweat, and carb mix that gets stuck to it.
When it’s time for a deep clean (e.g., it’s caked in mud), then it’s time to use a hose (or spray bottle if you don’t have access to a hose) and a soft sponge or brush. When washing your bike, bike-specific soaps are perfect, but you can also use automotive soaps, Dawn blue dish soap, or diluted Simple Green. Whatever soap you choose should be gentle to prevent damage to your paint and components.
Don’t leave your bike or drivetrain wet after washing. Dry it completely with a towel or with compressed air. This will prevent things like water spots and corrosion. After drying, you can lubricate your chain. You can also apply a protectant to your frame, like Pedro’s Bike Lust or Silca Ultimate Ceramic Waterless Wash, to protect your paint.
If you’re riding indoors on a trainer, don’t think that means you can ignore cleaning your bike! Indoor riding produces a lot of sweat, which is one of the most corrosive things you can get on your bike. Wipe sweat off your bike after trainer sessions, especially any sweat that has pooled in bolts or hardware.
MMR Downtube Storage Cleaning
If you’re riding the new MMR gravel bike with downtube storage, remember to clean out your downtube storage from time to time, too!
3. Inspect Your Bolts, Chain, Tires, and Brake Pads
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DO THIS MONTHLY
Loose bolts can cause annoying distractions, ruin a ride, damage your bike, or even cause serious injury. That’s why we recommend doing a full bolt check at least once a month. It’s super easy to do yourself. Ideally, use a torque wrench or torque key to ensure your bolts are properly tightened.
A torque wrench is one of the best bike tools to own.
The key bolts to check are:
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Stem bolts
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Seatpost binder and saddle rail clamp bolts
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Bottle cage bolts
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Derailleur mounting bolts
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Wheel thru-axles
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Disc brake caliper mounting bolts
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Disc brake rotor bolts
A monthly bolt check is also a great time for a quick inspection to check over key wear items on your bike, like your chain, tires, and brake pads.
Most bikes need a new chain after 1,000-3,000 miles, but this can vary depending on how well you clean and lube it, and riding conditions. After cleaning and lubing, checking chain wear is the next most important piece of drivetrain maintenance because a worn-out chain will destroy your drivetrain. This can lead to expensive repairs where you have to replace your chainrings and cassette, so avoid riding a worn-out chain at all costs!
You can track the mileage on your chains with an app (like Strava), or you can use a chain checker to periodically check chain wear. The most accurate yet affordable chain checkers are the Pedro’s Chain Checker Plus II or Park Tool CC-4.2 Chain Checker. Most chains should be replaced by the time they reach or exceed 0.5% wear.
To avoid punctures when you’re far from home, inspect your tires for cuts, dry rot, or flat spots. If your tire knobs are worn smooth, your tire might be cooked. If your tires are set up tubeless, check your sealant levels or add more if it’s been a few months since your last refresh.
Brake pads usually only need a visual inspection. If you’re riding in a lot of rain or mud, you might be surprised how quickly brake pads can wear out! We recommend replacing any brake pad that has been worn beyond 50% to maximize safety, braking performance, and brake feel.
4. Get an Annual Full Bike Service
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DO THIS ONCE A YEAR
Winter is the best time to get your bike into the shop for a full service. You can avoid the pre-season rush if you get this done early! If you’re handy with a wrench, then this is something you can tackle at home, too. YouTube and Park Tool are amazing resources for aspiring home mechanics.
A complete annual bike service generally includes:
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Full wash
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Drivetrain tuning to dial in shifting
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Replacing cables and housing (for mechanical drivetrains)
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Firmware updates (for electronic drivetrains)
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Bleeding hydraulic disc brakes
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Replacing any corroded or stripped bolts
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Chain replacement
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Brake pad replacement
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Tire/tubeless sealant/tubeless tape replacement
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Checking headset bearing
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Checking bottom bracket bearings
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Checking hub bearings
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Truing wheels
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Frame inspection for cracks/damage
Staying on top of annual services will help your gravel bike last longer and keep it riding like new for years to come.