Bicycle Parts

They are all complex, however all bike parts can work smoother with a bit of adjustment.

Gears, Chain sets, Brakes And Wheels

Gears, chain sets and Wheels were first made from steel, strong, but heavy, then alloy was made strong and durable enough to be used, as technology changed so did the equipment, now there are two main manufacturers, Shimano from Japan and Campagnolo from Italy.

Campagnolo was the main bike part company with design and practicality, then Shimano started to make cycle parts to emulate the Italians and with the advent of mountain bikes they took over as the largest manufacturer, but Campagnolo is very popular with the road rider, but for mountain bikers it has to be Shimano.



Other Manufacturers

There are other smaller manufacturers, who specialize in making only chain sets, pedals, gears, brakes and other 'trick bits' in more expensive materials, like titanium and carbon.

These will be the envy of you friends but you will have to pay for it.

Bars, Stems And Seat Pins

There are many manufacturers of handlebars and stems for road bike and mountain bikes, as with all equipment they used to be made of steel, now it's alloy, carbon or titanium.

- Titanium is light and strong but very expensive and you can't bend it to the shape you would want for road bikes, but for mountain bike straight bars you don't have this problem. Read more about Litespeed titanium bicycles.

- Carbon and alloy are more suited to bars and stems, Carbon fibre is light, strong and expensive and flexes under stress, this is nice for comfort but you do lose power through the movement.

- Alloy is probably most people's choice it is very light and strong and can be bent into nearly any shape. All three materials are used for seat pins, the clamp at the top, where the saddle goes, can add a lot of weight, so be careful what you buy.

Saddles And Pedals



There are many saddles to choose from, but it comes down to what you are comfortable with, you might have to kiss a lot of frogs until you find your prince.

Its trial and error, but price can play its part, you could spend a lot of money and be very uncomfortable, so talk to your mates and look at what the Pros use.

Pedals used to have metal clips and leather straps to hold your feet tight to them, now we have clip less pedals, all have some movement so you don't damage your knees and have a mechanism to release your foot, but you do need a good pair of shoes to go with them.

Shimano and Campagnolo also make these, look, Time and Speedplay are the other main ones, there are some others, but it's best to stick to the best ones, it also means if you need to borrow a bike your shoes will fit, you have some weird shoe plates, your out of luck!

I will try to make your riding easier and hopefully you'll learn how a bike works, saving also some money on your pocket without taking your bike into the mechanic:

• Start reading about the basical Bicycle Repairing Tools
. Learn what tools you need to begin before start working.


• Cleaning and Greasing Bike Parts. Keeping your bike in a good condition is fundamental to prevent parts to brake, but how to do it?



• Step by step on Adjusting a front gear. If you'd like to remove the annoying noise of the chainset, just read this article



• Adjusting a Rear Gear. This is perhaps the part that more needs adjustment eventually. Would you like to shift gears like a pro? Watch the video for details!



• Bicycle Brakes AdjustmentTake a minute to look after your brakes, and they will look after you