How To Store a Bicycle Long-Term

When it comes to bike maintenance it’s really easy to fall down a rabbit hole of tips, tricks and hacks from Youtube and elsewhere. Today we wanted to shed some light on something we don’t see mentioned all that often which is the best way to store your bike whether long term (hopefully you’re riding your other favorite bike) even for just a day or two.

An external drive train will function with the use of cables and more importantly springs that will allow you to shift through your gearing via the front and rear derailleurs.  Any spring will deteriorate over time causing a loss in performance. Storing your bike with those springs in the tensioned or “loaded” position will speed up this wear.

Pictured below is how you do not want to store your road bike (The chain shifted to the largest chainring in the front and the largest cog in the cassette causing the most tension on the springs and cables).

Now before you store your bike you’ll want to shift into your bike into the smallest ring in the front and rear like so:

There you are! The best way to give your springs and cables the longest life possible!  RIDE ON!