An electric bike is a considerable investment and, for many, their only mode of transport. Therefore, you need to look after your new electric bike.
Regular maintenance will ensure your electric bike is in excellent condition and make it last longer. Also, looking after it will prevent things from breaking, making it reliable.
In this post, we will go into the ideal ebike repair and maintenance checklist.
What Are the Maintenance Schedule for Ebike Should Be?
The many ebike maintenance checks can be broken down into simple checks before each ride, every week, month, and year. There are also some things to look at before and after each ride.
You may already be doing some of these checks. But others may not be so obvious. Therefore, we are going to go into them in detail.
These tasks are not complicated, so there is no need to be intimidated by them. Just make sure you get into a routine, and your electric bike will remain in top condition.
Weekly Ebike Checklist
When you ride your electric bike regularly, things can come loose. This can cause wear and tear in your bike's components while also being potentially dangerous.
The great thing about these checks is that they are easy to do and only require basic tools.
Here is what you need to check every week on your electric bike:
1. Wipe down chainrings, cassette, and derailleur pulleys, and lubricate the chain
Cleaning grime off your drivetrain components will prevent them from wearing out prematurely. You should also lubricate your chain with the appropriate lube to keep it running smoothly.
2. Check and tighten crankset
Your crankset is constantly in use while you ride. Therefore, it can come loose over time. So you must check that it is nice and tight to prevent it from being damaged.
3. Inspect brake pads
The extra weight of an electric bike requires more stopping power than a regular bike. This causes the brake pads to wear more quickly than you may be used to.
Each week, you should inspect your electric bike's brake pads to ensure that they have sufficient braking material on them. If they look low, you need to change them, so you can stop when you need to.
Monthly Ebike Checklist
Every month you should take a couple of hours to give your electric bike a more thorough inspection. You may need to do a bit more research on these tasks, but here is what you need to do:
1. Check for chain wear
The electric motor on your bike has lots of torque. This puts lots of strain on your electric bike's chain. Therefore it can stretch over time, but it will also wear out.
Use a chain stretch gauge to determine if your chain is the correct length. But also check if your chain looks worn. If so, change your chain for a new one.
If you continue to ride with a worn chain, it will wear out the other drivetrain components. These can be pretty expensive to replace.
2 . Wipe down and lubricate suspension sliders (if applicable)
If your bike has suspension, you need to look after it. Regular cleaning will keep grime at bay, as will lubrication. While you do this, you should check the rubber seals on the suspension. If they are damaged, you will need to replace them. You may want to take your bike to a bike shop for this.
3. Lube all braking and gear shifting cables
To ensure that your gear shifting and braking is accurate and reliable, it is a good idea to lubricate the cables. All you need to do is drop some oil in the cable housing and let it run through.
If your gear cable looks worn or corroded, you may want to replace it. This is not too complicated, but you need to know how to index your gears for them to work correctly. There are plenty of YouTube videos for this.
4. Degrease and lubricate chain & all chainrings, both front and back
Cleaning your chain and cassette will make them last longer while allowing them to run as they should. You can buy a chain cleaner, which is very efficient and effective at removing grime and grease.
You can clean your rear cassette with a brush and some degreaser. Rinse it off with water before lubricating the drivetrain components.
Annual Checklist (But you can do it more often)
The following electric bike maintenance tasks can be done several times a year. This is especially the case if you ride your electric bike all the time.
It is a good idea to give these maintenance tasks more time. Put aside a sunny afternoon, and get to work, making your electric bike great again.
Alternatively, take your electric bike to a shop. Their mechanic will do a thorough job and save you some time.
1. Adjust brakes to ensure proper functionality
If your electric bike has mechanical brakes, you should ensure that the cables have the correct tension. This will mean the function properly, as long as you have some good brake pads.
2. Adjust gear shifters to ensure power functionality
Riding an electric bike is more than just scrolling through the assistance levels. You should be combining them with proper gear changes for optimum efficiency and power.
To ensure that your gear shifting is accurate, ensure that they have the correct tension.
It is wise to change brake and gear cables for new ones every year or so too.
If your electric bike has hydraulic disc brakes, you may want to change the fluid. This provides more reliable braking, as it gets rid of contaminated or boiled brake fluid. It also removes any air from the system.
3. Lube both brake and gear shifting systems
While you change the brake and gear cables, it is worth lubricating them. This is much easier to do at this stage, as you can ensure the oil goes all the way through the cable housing.
4. Check your frame bearings
You may notice that your bike is making a squeaking or creaking noise. This could be down to many things, but one of them is worn frame bearings.
Changing your frame bearings requires the right tools and a reasonable amount of time, especially if you are new to bike maintenance. Therefore, you may want to get a bike mechanic to do this for you.
If your bike makes any noise, don't ignore it. This could be a simple thing to fix or something more severe. But, simple things can turn into serious and dangerous problems if ignored.
Things to Check Before Each Ride
There are a few things you should check before you head out on your electric bike. These will give you peace of mind that your bike is safe and ready to ride.
1. Check Tyre Pressure
Having the correct tyre pressure will mean that your electric bike will run as efficiently as possible. It will also ensure that it will handle as it should, which will keep you safe thanks to it having the appropriate traction on the road.
All you need to do this is a tyre pressure gauge and a pump to inflate the tyres to the correct level.
2. Inspect Your Brakes
Make sure the bolts on your brake callipers are tight, so the callipers don't wobble. You can do this with a 5mm Allen key. While you are there, check the brake pads to see if they have enough braking material on them.
The next thing to do is slowly ride your bike and apply the brakes. This will let you know that they are working as they should.
3. Check All The Bolts
The quickest and most efficient way to check your bolts is with the M-check.
Start at the front wheel, and check the tightness of all the bolts, following an M shaped pattern, up and down the frame to the rear wheel. This will ensure that you get to all the bolts, and they will be tight enough.
Don't over tighten them, though, as this can cause more severe problems.
4. Check Battery Charge
Before you set off, make sure your battery is charged. Just switch on your bike, and check the battery level. If it is too low, change it for a charged battery, or catch the bus.
Things to Check Post Ride
1. Clean Your Chain
It is good practice to clean and lubricate your chain after a ride. You may not need to do this after every ride, especially if the weather is dry and you ride around the city.
However, if you ride an electric mountain bike off-road, cleaning and lubricating your chain is more critical.
You can use a chain cleaner, or use degreaser and a clean cloth. Make sure the chain runs through the cleaner or cloth a few times.
It is worth mentioning here that your electric bike should be switched off. You don't want to lose any fingers while cleaning your bike chain.
Once your chain is clean, apply lube as the electric bike manufacturer instructed.
2. Clean Your Frame
You may not need to properly wash your electric bike, but it is a good idea to at least wipe down the frame. This removes and traffic film or salt from the road, which will eventually corrode it.
3. Charge Battery
Returning to your electric bike the following morning and finding a flat battery is not a good start to your day. Therefore, make sure you put it on charge, so you can use your bike when you need to.
Where to Get the Best Electric Bike Deal?
If you are in the market for a new electric bike, you may want to check out the options from SDREAM.
SDREAM manufactures two electric bikes; both are excellent value for money and are packed with features. They are also super stylish, so you can look cool while riding.