Bike maintenance comes down to checking the right things every so many miles: tire pressure and brakes before every ride, a clean and lubed chain every week, chain and brake pad wear every 300 miles (500 km), bolts, cables and wheels every 600 miles (1,000 km), and a thorough tune-up once a year (or every 100 hours if your bike has suspension). That heads off almost every expensive repair, and most of them start out cheap: a chain replaced on time saves a cassette that costs a lot more.
The intervals in this guide are for normal riding in dry conditions. In rain, mud or dust, cut them in half. And if something squeaks, rubs or moves where it shouldn’t, don’t wait for the schedule.
Bike maintenance schedule
| When | What to check | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Before every ride | Tire pressure, brakes, wheel axles, lights and batteries | 2 min |
| Every week or 100-200 miles (150-300 km) | Clean and lube the chain; look over the tires | 10-15 min |
| Every 300 miles (500 km) or monthly | Chain and brake pad wear; basic bolt check | 10 min |
| Every 600 miles (1,000 km) | Cables and housing, headset and hub play, spokes, tires | 20-30 min |
| Every 2,000-3,000 miles (3,000-5,000 km) | Cassette and chainrings, bar tape or grips, bearings, brake bleed if needed | At home or at the shop |
| Every 2-7 months | Tubeless sealant | 15 min |
| Every 50-100 hours or yearly | Suspension service; full tune-up | Shop |
You can save your bike’s details (wheels, drivetrain, measurements) in My Bike and pull up its spec sheet to have on hand when you work on it or take it to the shop.
Before every ride (2 minutes)
- Tire pressure. Tires lose air on their own, especially with latex tubes. Check with a gauge the pressure that’s right for your weight, tire width and terrain: you’ll find it in the tire pressure calculator and explained in our bike tire pressure guide.
- Brakes. Squeeze both levers: they should feel firm well before they touch the handlebar. If one comes back too far or feels spongy, sort it out before you ride.
- Wheel axles. Thru-axles or quick releases fully closed. Lift the bike and give each wheel a sharp tap: there shouldn’t be any play.
- Lights and batteries for your electronic shifting or e-bike, if you’ll need them.
Every week or every 100-200 miles (150-300 km)
- Chain. Clean it and lube it. With a drip lube, do it when it looks dry or starts making noise, and always after a wet ride. Zero Friction Cycling, the independent lab that has tested more lubes than anyone, stresses that dirt mixed with oil is what really wears a chain. The step-by-step is in how to clean and lube a bike chain.
- Tires. Look for cuts, embedded stones and worn spots. On the road, a rear tire that’s squared off (flat in the center) or showing its casing needs replacing.
- General cleaning. Low-pressure water and mild soap, without aiming at the bearings or the e-bike battery. The order and products are in our guide on how to clean a bike.
Every 300 miles (500 km) or once a month
Chain wear
Measure stretch with a chain checker or a ruler. Replace it at 0.5% if you run 11 or 12 speeds and at 0.75% if you run 10 or fewer, as Park Tool recommends. It’s the check that saves you the most money; the details are in when to replace a bike chain. If you replace it, the chain length calculator tells you how many links you need.
Brake pads
Pull the wheel or look through the slot in the caliper and check the pad thickness. Each brand measures it differently: Shimano counts only the friction material; SRAM measures the pad including its metal backing plate (how to replace them and bed them in is in our disc brakes guide):
| Brand | Replace the pads when there’s |
|---|---|
| Shimano | Less than 1 mm of material (never below 0.5 mm) |
| SRAM | 3 mm or less of pad plus backing plate (about 0.5-1 mm of friction material), per its brake maintenance guide |
| Hope, TRP | Less than 1.5 mm |
| Magura | 2 mm |
On rim brakes, most pads have wear grooves: when they disappear, it’s time for new ones. Also check that the rim doesn’t have deep grooves worn into it.
Basic bolt check
Stem, handlebar, seatpost and cranks. Use a torque wrench and follow the torque printed on each part (if it isn’t marked, see our bike torque specs chart in N·m); on carbon it’s essential. An overtightened bolt can crack a carbon handlebar, and a loose one can let it rotate on a descent.
Every 600 miles (1,000 km)
- Shift cables and housing, and mechanical brake cables. If shifting hesitates between cogs or is slow to drop, it’s usually dirty housing or a frayed cable.
- Headset. Hold the front brake and rock the bike back and forth: if you feel a clunk at the headset, there’s play.
- Hubs. Grab the wheel by the rim and push it side to side: there shouldn’t be any play.
- Spokes and rim. Spin the wheel and watch whether it wobbles against the brake pad or the frame. You can find a loose spoke by squeezing the spokes in pairs with your hand. If the wheel wobbles, follow the steps to true a bike wheel.
- Derailleurs. Check that the derailleur hanger isn’t bent after a crash.
Every 2,000-3,000 miles (3,000-5,000 km)
- Cassette and chainrings. If you’ve replaced the chain on time, a cassette lasts through several chains. If a new chain skips on the cogs you use most, the cassette is worn.
- Bar tape or grips, which break down with sweat.
- Bearings in the bottom bracket, wheels and headset: if they feel rough when you turn them by hand, it’s time to check them.
- Hydraulic brakes. If the lever feels spongy or its travel changes as you ride, the system needs a bleed. The shop does it at the yearly tune-up; if you want to do it yourself, see how to bleed hydraulic brakes.
- Brake rotors. They have a minimum thickness stamped on the rotor itself; if it’s below that, replace it.
Tubeless, suspension and e-bikes
Tubeless sealant
Sealant dries out over time. Stan’s NoTubes says it stays active for 2 to 7 months, depending on climate. If you get a puncture and it doesn’t seal, there’s probably no sealant left. The whole process is in our tubeless guide.
Fork and shock
Suspension service is measured in hours of use, not miles:
| Brand | Basic service | Full service |
|---|---|---|
| RockShox | Every 50 hours: clean the lowers and change the bath oil | Every 100 hours or yearly (air spring and damper) |
| FOX | Clean the outside after every ride | Every 100 hours or yearly, at an authorized service center |
Both brands say to service sooner if you ride in a lot of mud or dust or at bike parks. After every ride, wipe the stanchions with a soft cloth: dirt on the seals is what wears them the most. To figure out how many hours you’ve put in, divide your mountain bike miles by your average speed: 930 miles (1,500 km) at 9.3 mph (15 km/h) is 100 hours.
E-bikes
On top of everything above, check the battery contacts and that the battery clicks into place, and at the yearly tune-up ask the shop to read the battery and motor status with the manufacturer’s diagnostic software. Charging and storage tips are in how to take care of an e-bike battery. E-bikes go through chains and brake pads faster because of the extra weight and motor torque: measure more often.
Common mistakes
- Waiting for something to fail. A chain wears out silently, and by the time it skips, it has already taken the cassette with it.
- Using a pressure washer. It forces water into the bearings, the headset and the suspension seals.
- Lubing over dirt. Fresh oil mixes with grit and forms a paste that wears parts faster than anything.
- Tightening by feel. On carbon parts and stems, always use a torque wrench.
- Not tracking suspension hours. A lower leg service costs far less than replacing scored stanchions.
- Forgetting the tubeless sealant until the day you flat and it doesn’t seal.
Frequently asked questions
How many miles between bike tune-ups?
Do a light check yourself every 300-600 miles (500-1,000 km) (chain, brake pads, bolts, wheels) and a full shop tune-up once a year, or every 2,000-3,000 miles (3,000-5,000 km) if you ride a lot. In winter or mud, shorten the intervals.
How often should you service a suspension fork?
RockShox recommends cleaning the lowers and changing the bath oil every 50 hours and doing a full service every 100 hours or once a year. Fox sets service for its forks and shocks at every 100 hours or once a year, and sooner if you ride in mud or dust.
How often should I lube my bike chain?
With a drip lube, when the chain looks dry or starts making noise, and always after a wet ride; each product lists its own interval. With immersion wax, Zero Friction Cycling recommends rewaxing about every 190 miles (300 km) on dry roads.
How often should you replace tubeless sealant?
Every 2 to 7 months, depending on heat and humidity (Stan's and Schwalbe both give that range; Schwalbe also mentions about 1,250 miles, or 2,000 km). In summer and in dry climates, check it every 2-3 months.
Sources
- FOX, owner's manual: "Service Intervals" for forks and shocks
- Pedal Power, "RockShox Suspension Service Intervals" (RockShox table: 50 and 100 hours)
- SRAM, "Brake Maintenance Guide" (3 mm minimum for pad plus backing plate)
- BikeGremlin, "When to Replace Bicycle Disc Brake Pads" (minimum thickness by brand)
- Park Tool, "When to Replace a Worn Chain"
- Stan's NoTubes, "Stan's Original Tubeless Sealant" (sealant life)
- Zero Friction Cycling, "Chain / Lubricant Maintenance Guide" v5 (2025, PDF)