cleaning/maintaining kids bike

[The Dwaff Family]

Hello. My DS2 got his Islabike Cnoc 16 on Friday and I am very keen to look after it. I know hardly any of the named parts on a bike, so a labelled diagram would be fab!

How often should I clean it? Are there any daily things I should do? Anything on a weekly or monthly basis and where on the bike are these things?

He's only 5 but he'll be partaking in the looking after it with me, is only a 16" but will be seeing quite a few miles so want to keep it tip top!

 

[Cubist]

 

[Cubist]

Cleaning is a matter of how dirty it gets, and how much you need to keep it spotless. It can be an obsession!

Daily checks of tyres and brakes for safety reasons, weekly checks of tyre pressures and all bolts and screws.

Weekly lube of chain and gear mechs, more often if it gets wet.

Check for chain wear once a month, and at the same time check gear indexing and cable tensions.

Enjoy it, it's all part of the fun!

 

[Globalti]

Its more what he DOESN'T do that matters.... don't let him throw the bike down or leave it out in the rain on its side. Don't let him pull skids or bang into things. Don't let him abuse it generally and it will last longer and keep its resale value.

Islabikes are good aren't they? GTI junior has one, it rides fantastically and handles very nicely.

 

[ianrauk]

It's a kids bike, kids bikes get filthy. Give it a good old rag down now and again including the chain.
There's some good advice above.

What is a DS2?

 

[The Dwaff Family]

Cleaning is a matter of how dirty it gets, and how much you need to keep it spotless. It can be an obsession!

Daily checks of tyres and brakes for safety reasons, weekly checks of tyre pressures and all bolts and screws.

Weekly lube of chain and gear mechs, more often if it gets wet.

Check for chain wear once a month, and at the same time check gear indexing and cable tensions.

Enjoy it, it's all part of the fun!

That's great, thank you Cubist. We have it kept inside the house(utility room), will defo keep up with the suggestions and thanks for the picture

Globalti- He knows to lean it against something or gently place down, he's also very keen to look after it which is great. He'll be on a mixture of all types with the Go-ride club he attends, races on Wed and road training on a Sat, then plus towpath, redways, woods with us aswell. He has covered 40+ miles this week so really need to look after something he'll be using so often.

Ianrauk- Sorry, DS2 is short for darling son number 2.

 

[The Dwaff Family]

Its more what he DOESN'T do that matters.... don't let him throw the bike down or leave it out in the rain on its side. Don't let him pull skids or bang into things. Don't let him abuse it generally and it will last longer and keep its resale value.

Islabikes are good aren't they? GTI junior has one, it rides fantastically and handles very nicely.

He noticed a huge difference the minute he got on the bike! Took a minute off a 1.5 mile lap he does round a lake, at bike club on Saturday he took 8 seconds off his previous time trial, I have noticed just how much easier he can get up hills and today he did 13.5 miles but really looked like it was a walk in the park and could have gone on and on and on, now just can't wait for him to be big enough to get on a 20" with gears

 

[The Dwaff Family]

There is lube stuff on the seat post/clamp, some on peddle bearings?? and other parts aswell, now when I have cleaned the dirt off, I am wipng away some of the lub in these places aswell through no choice. What lube should I buy? And how do I get it into all those tiny spaces without it ending up all over the bike frame aswell? I told you I know nothing about bikes, but I would rather ask silly/dumb questions than continue doing something wrong for fear of looking a numpty

p.s. How would I clean the brakes?Would I have to loosen them off? Not sure dad is any good with putting brakes back on that's all

 

[The Dwaff Family]

Duplicate post

 

[Cubist]

There is lube stuff on the seat post/clamp, some on peddle bearings?? and other parts aswell, now when I have cleaned the dirt off, I am wipng away some of the lub in these places aswell through no choice. What lube should I buy? And how do I get it into all those tiny spaces without it ending up all over the bike frame aswell? I told you I know nothing about bikes, but I would rather ask silly/dumb questions than continue doing something wrong for fear of looking a numpty

p.s. How would I clean the brakes?Would I have to loosen them off? Not sure dad is any good with putting brakes back on that's all

The lube you're seeing is excess grease that has been left on. Don't worry about cleaning it off, as it's all internal on these points. The seatpost needs to have a light smear on the inside where it sits in the tube to stop it seizing, and the pedals will have grease inside the bearings and bushes. Once you have cleaned the bike you need to make sure it's dry and then give the exposed metal parts (except for the brakes and rims) a quick squirt and wipe of GT85 as a protective layer. It comes with a little red plastic tube for accurate squirtage.


The brakes won't get more than a bit of mud or dust in them. If you wash the bike with car shampoo and a brush or sponge, they'll be clean enough.

Occasionally you'll get a build-up of pad compound on the rim (squid-ink !) and this can be removed with a nylon pan scourer.

You don't need to disassemble the brakes.

 

[Mad at urage]

Its more what he DOESN'T do that matters.... don't let him throw the bike down or leave it out in the rain on its side. Don't let him pull skids or bang into things. Don't let him abuse it generally and it will last longer and keep its resale value.

Islabikes are good aren't they? GTI junior has one, it rides fantastically and handles very nicely.

No!! Please not this!
He needs to have fun on it, it's not an adult obsession/work of art. Let him ride it around fields, off (lowish ) banks and skid doughnuts into the dust-pans. If he gets good he'll be able to leave rubber on the local playground . Leaving it in the rain for weeks will cause it to rust, but a few hours or a day in the rain will only require a wipe down and a light spray over with GT85/WD40 (plus oil the chain). He's a kid - let him play on it!

It's a kids bike, kids bikes get filthy. Give it a good old rag down now and again including the chain.
There's some good advice above.

+999
Surely a kids bike isn't about preserving resale value

 

[The Dwaff Family]

He has loads of fun on his bike, out in the garden, road, towpath, grass and down hills at quite some speed! I couldn't give two hoots about re-sale value, but about keeping the bike in good working condition for him to get full use out of it as he's doing 20-40 miles a week as he loves it so much(got it Friday and has already done 27 miles). Goes to Go-Ride races on a Wednesday(lods of fun) and race training on a Saturday. School is 5 miles away but he forces me to put his bike in the car so when we get there he rides up the huuge hill to the school gates, the pride he show's in getting up that mighty hill is lovely, very much like when Rocky get's to the top of those steps

Cubist-Thanks again for explaining brilliantly for me, who is a complete dumbo

 

[Mad at urage]

That's great kids dad, it's just that Globalti's answer did seem to be on about preserving resale value - glad you aren't thinking along those lines