Tools

How often does your bike need maintenance?

Tell us how you ride and we'll tell you how often you'll need to change your chain, tyres or brake pads, bleed your brakes or take it to the workshop. No sign-up.

How you ride

Your bike
5 h
In a normal week, on average.
We spread your hours: more in summer, fewer in winter.
Where do you ride?
Your rides climb less than 50 m every 10 km.
Between 50 and 150 m every 10 km.
More than 150 m every 10 km.
In what weather?
Fewer than 1 in 10 rides on wet ground or mud.
About 1 in 4, mostly in autumn and winter.
Half or more, or you commute by bike all year.
Do you ride indoors?
All your rides are outdoors.
In winter, about 1 in 4 rides is indoors.
Half your hours or more, all year.
When was its last service?If you remember, we'll tell you when each job is due.

Your maintenance plan

For your road bike, at about 5 hours a week.

  • Brake pads

    Change every 2–5 months

    The ups and downs speed up wear a little.

    Check them before a long ride or a big descent.

  • Tubeless sealant

    Check every 2–4 months

    In winter, every 3–4 months; in summer, every 2–3 months.

    If you run tubeless. It dries out faster in the heat.

  • Chain

    Change every 3–5 months

    The ups and downs speed up wear a little.

    Measure it with a chain checker: it's due at 0.5% wear.

  • Tyres

    Change every 5–7 months

    Check the production date on the sidewall: every 5 years at most, even if they don't look worn.

  • Cassette

    Change every 6–15 months

    If you change the chain on time, the cassette will last you 2 or 3 chains.

  • Full service

    Take the bike to the workshop every 6 months

    You ride over 5,000 km a year: better every six months.

    Drivetrain, brakes, bearings, cables and bolts.

  • Brake fluid

    Bleed and change the fluid every 1–2 years

    If the lever feels spongy, don't wait.

  • Chain lube

    When the chain asks for it

    Every lube lasts differently, so watch for the signs.

    Lube it again when…

    • the chain is noisy or squeaks,
    • the rollers look dry,
    • or after every wet ride.

    Clean it thoroughly first when…

    • there's black paste on the chain, cassette or chainrings,
    • it sounds gritty when you pedal,
    • you've ridden in the wet or in mud,
    • or you're switching lube type (wax needs a clean chain).

Take it as a guide

The wider ranges include factors we're still checking with workshops.

It's an estimate, not a check-up: your mechanic knows best how your bike is doing.

This is an estimate from what you told us

With sincrona, your workshop works it out from your real Strava or Garmin rides and lets you know when it's time to come in.

For your workshop

Send it to your workshop

Send them your plan and tell them that, with sincrona, they could let you know when it's due, from your real rides.

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For riders

Looking for a workshop?

Find a bike workshop in Madrid, by district, with opening hours and contact details.

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How we work it out

We start from what manufacturers and mechanics' guides say for a well-kept, mid-range component: the kilometres a chain lasts, the hours between fork services, or the months brake fluid keeps.

Then we adjust it to how you ride: water and mud, climbing, an e-bike's weight or indoor hours. And we turn it into weeks or months at your pace, which isn't the same in winter as in summer.

Some parts age even when they're not used: tyres, every five years at most; suspension and brake fluid, by time. When that limit comes first, we tell you.

It's an estimate, not a check-up. Your mechanic knows best how your bike is doing and what's worth changing.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Every figure in this calculator comes from these sources. Some pages can't be read automatically: we keep a copy on archive.org.

Chain and cassette

Tyres

Brakes

Tubeless

Suspension

Full service

E-bikes

Indoor riding

Lubrication