6 Things To Do Before Putting Your Bike Away for the Winter

1. Clean your bike

Chances are your last ride was in the fall when muddier trails or dirtier roads are common in Jackson Hole. Or if you’re like me you just got back from a trip to Moab and your bike has red dirt where the sun doesn’t shine. Taking the time now to clean your bike not only makes it significantly easier to clean but also won’t be when you’re rushing to get out for your first bike trip in the spring.

Now is the time for a deep clean, take apart the entire bike, If something comes off it’s probably best to take it off at this point. Take off your cranks, your cassette, take your fork out, your seatpost, clean, grease, and re-torque everything to spec. While you’re doing this you are checking all the bearings in your wheels, bottom bracket, headset, and linkage for full suspension bikes.

2. Lube Your Chain and Re-Grease

During storage cleaning you’re going to be removing all the grease and lube with the cleaning solvents. Now you need to make sure you re-apply that lube on the chain and grease on all the axles, crank, headset, and bearings. Not sure where you need to grease? Basic rule of thumb is grease anything that rotates, moves, or anywhere 2 different types of metals touch. Sub fibergrip instead of grease for carbon seatposts and handlebars.

3. Service your bike

It’s been a long, hard, rough, and dusty summer for your bike. Chances are you’ve already started to feel something that isn’t performing optimally but maybe your bike has been running perfectly all season? If it ran great all season that’s probably because it started the year off in great shape so let’s make sure you have another successful season by servicing your bike before putting it away. Right now is the best time to bring your bike in for service at the bike shop as we have the time to both do the work or get the parts while you’re shredding pow in Jackson Hole.

You should check your drivetrain wear, and think about replacing your chain now as doing this early will help save your cassette and chainrings which are significantly more expensive. It’s also not a bad idea to replace all your cables and housing. For most riders this is something that you can probably get away with only doing every other year but you can avoid a ride calamity halfway through the summer by replacing a cable that works now.

If you have a suspension fork or full suspension mountain bike now is the perfect time to get your suspension serviced. Changing the seals and oil on your suspension typically needs to happen at least once a year with larger damper services done every other time. We find most of our customers can’t remember the last time their fork was serviced which usually means it needs a full overhaul requiring the parts to be sent away taking a couple weeks. These are precious weeks in our short alpine summers so take care of it over the winter!

4. Pump up your tires

This is a simple one, a flat tire gets damaged when it sits on the ground. So make sure you pump up your tires especially if your bike is stored on the ground. Additionally if you run tubeless tires they will deflate faster than a tubed tire so you may want to check your tires periodically over the winter. For tubeless tires you’ll also need to refresh your tire sealant before the start of next season as it will dry out. This is best done in the spring before your first ride. 

5. Remove batteries

If you have an e-bike, bike lights, or a computer on your bike you should remove the batteries. There are possibilities for corrosion especially in humid climates or outside storage so it’s best to take your batteries out. Modern batteries will discharge faster in cold temps but being stored in a dry cold place will not damage the battery. 

6. Store in a dry place

Humidity and moisture is the worst thing for a bike in storage. So find a dry place preferably indoors to store your bike. As mentioned earlier cold isn’t a problem so a garage or storage unit is fine provided both are dry. If you’re short on storage a clean, well maintained bike can make for great wall art!