Taking care of your bike is very important if you want to keep it looking brand new and shiny, but also safe for you to take out and ride. By following some basic bike care tips you can keep your bike practically as good at the day you bought it!

Ignoring your bike tyres is the most common way people abuse their bikes. When the tyres don’t have enough air in them the tyres start to soften and make riding very difficult. This can happen for about a week on a normal bike, or a month on a mountain bike because the air seeps out of the rubber. Some people just decide to ignore a flat tyre and simply stop riding the bike because they think getting it fixed is too much hassle. Others don’t even notice they have a flat until it’s too late and they’ve ended up damaging the wheel on a pothole or loose rock.

You can easily pump up your own tyres with a bike pump and it’s best to give them a top up every week or so on a road bike and every month on a mountain bike and check them before each journey.

Because a bike is made up of moving bits of metal, eventually after a while of grinding together these can end up getting stuck- so keeping your parts well lubricated is essential. The wheels, pedals and headset connected to your handlebars should be well greased when you buy them, and every year you should look into getting them regreased to keep them smooth. Because this can be quite messy and difficult it’s best to get a proper bike mechanic to do it as the whole bike needs dismantling.

Using a light lubricant like Triflow on your chains and brakes is something you can easily do yourself, and it only takes a little to keep it in working order. You can tell when your chain needs lubing because it will look shiny and squeak a lot when you change gears. You can tell the same with your pedals and brake pivots- simply apply a thin layer of lube and wipe away the excess.

Anyone who rides in the mud needs to keep a good cleaning kit nearby. All this need is some soap and water, and a hosepipe. Simply prop the bike up against a wall after your ride and hose off the thick of the mud- always from above, never from the side- and avoid hitting any of the greased parts. Then wipe off the excess with the sponge and soapy, warm water. You might need a few small brushes and clothes for the harder to reach places, and you have to remember to re-lube the parts of the bike when you’re finished. This is because the water will have rinsed it off, and if you leave it wet it will rust up quickly.

Always store your bike indoors. It might seem safe leaving it outdoors as long as it’s covered, but the moisture in the air will get into the metal and make it rust up. Keeping it inside, or in a dry shed or garage on a hook so it’s lifted away from the floor will ensure your bike is kept well protected and dry. A well stored bike will last much longer.

Try to be careful with your bike- especially if you go mountain biking and stunt jumping. Don’t land too heavily and jar the suspension and make sure that before and after every ride you inspect it for damage. Check your brake cables and pedal pads regularly and if they start to show signs of wear, get them replaced. It’s money you have to spend if you want to keep your baby in good working condition so you can use her again and again. Learning good techniques on how to sit and handle your bike will also ensure that not only are you protecting your bike, you’re protecting yourself.

Biking on the tarmac of roads and pavement is something everyone can enjoy, and womens road bikes are designed for just that. The drop handlebars and lightweight frame make them ideal for this kind of riding, and although the purpose is basically the same, it’s worth taking into account your age and ability before buying.

As with all bikes, your main focus is the frame size as this what determines which size person can ride which bike. Thinks like wheels, handle bars and the saddle can be replaced later on, so don’t be taken in by flashy extras if the frame is cheap and not likely to do its job properly. Carbon, titanium and aluminium are the most popular kinds of materials for a womens road bike, and aluminium is the most common and can be found in many different price ranges, the same follows with carbon. Both are lightweight and durable, but if you want to pay that little bit extra for something of real quality a titanium frame has an excellent feel and long life. Try out a range of womens road bikes to see what you like the feel of.

If you’re wanting to do racing, you need to look at light, stiff bikes that will give you good speed. You can get custom bikes as light as 14st, but off-the-rack will weigh a little more at around 16 st. Proper womens race bikes can have up to 11 sprockets at the back to give you a wide gear range for all type of riding and feature double chainsets. Wheels are important, but if you’re serious about racing you’ll be upgrading them to race wheels at a later date anyway. Whilst some bikes give more attention to speed, rather than comfort it will be worth it on short distance races and the advantages of speed and good gears will definitely compensate for any soreness afterwards.

For those wanting to do more long distance racing, a sports bike is the way forward. This combines speed and stamina with the all important factor of comfort and although it looks about the same as a normal bike, if you look closely there are differences. A shorter top tube means you’re sitting in a more upright position and can save your back a little, and the frames aren’t as stiff so you don’t tire right away. You can have a choice of chainsets as well, with either a compact- which is the same as a double on a normal bike, but just a tad easier to use- or a triple which has a wider range of gears that are a lot easier to use and stronger than those on a compact. It’s all a case of what you feel you as an individual will need.

If you’re planning to do a lot of training it might be worth getting a training bike rather than wearing out your posh, new bike training on it all the time. Some training bikes are a little heavier than the bike you’d use normally to enhance the effects of your training, but it’s up to you. This bike should be the correct specifications for you and be basic enough for you to rough around in training without any worry, but technical enough for it to do what you’d do with your usual bike. You should also make sure you have a bottle cage to freshen up on long journeys.

Mudguards are a nice little bonus if you want to keep yourself and everyone behind you in the race clean if you’re cycling on less than favourable ground. You don’t have to buy these already on the bike, however, and you can buy them later as a clip on extra. Remember, however, buy cheap and you get cheap.

Because mountain biking is still a relatively new sport, the designs for womens mountain bikes
are changing constantly and new technology and design ideas mean more suspension power and faster stopping, which means you can really push your limits when it comes to biking. Whatever style of riding you like, you’ll be able to find a womens mountain bike to suit it.

Womens mountain bikes are designed to withstand any sort of handling, be it an easy cycle down a country road or a gruelling rocky path filled with twists and bumps. To ensure a wide range of gears to come with any kind of descent or uphill ride a triple chain set is used. Chunky, knobbled tyres mean you can have good traction on any rocks or mud you have to cycle over and in regards to suspension there are two different kinds: Full suspension, with suspension at the front and back, or hard tail suspension where suspension is only on the front of the bike. This suspension helps you control the bike on rocky surfaces and absorbs the shock of the uneven ground beneath you.

If you’re not wanting to do anything too dramatic, hard tail suspension should be sufficient, but if you’re planning to go off terrain or into very rocky ground then you really need full suspension. Beware of cheap offers, however, as quality matters and you should be willing to pay for it for your comfort and safety when out biking.

Whilst previously many cross country bikers went for hard tail due to the lightness, dual suspension no longer means having to put up with carrying the extra weight on your ride because new tech has redesigned it to give the same great results, only lighter! Whichever suspension you choose to have, it’s worth remembering that XC bikes have slightly less travel than your average trail bike as they’re focused purely on speed rather than how comfortable the rider actually is. The flat bars and flat bar ends make cross country bikes favourable to trail bikes for cross country riders due to the steeper head angles which create better sprint speed and climbing on the bike.

Enduros, long distance womens mountain bikes for racing, are becoming more popular with the increase in off track racing. In these, the rider not only needs to handle tough descents, but also long climbs as well- so they need a bike that is up to the challenge. Due to the slackness of the trial bike’s head angle it is better for handling on those steep downhill rides by allowing you to balance your weight and the more lightweight trail bikes have taken this into account with their new design.

Downhill racing is completely different all together and as such the bikes need to be just right to give the rider confidence on the fast downhill rides and need the right level of control and speed to get it just right. Downhill bikes have slacker angles on the head tubes and the wheelbases are longer to give high-speed stability at the cost of low-speed manoeuvring. Because weight is not an issue there is good strong suspension on the bike to absorb the impact of the drops.

Bridging the gap between downhill bikes and trail bikes are freeride bikes and the all-mountain bike. They have the travel of a downhill bike, but the riding position and gearing of a trail bike to allow you to ride on flats as well. Because of the steeper head tube angles, there is low speed stability for doing stunts and freestyle riding- meaning it is virtually limitless.