Drivechains (Bike Maintainence part 2):
Your BMX drivetrain consists of your chainring, rear freewheel, and the chain itself. If your bike is a throw-away, our bikeshop might not have the proper tool to remove the freewheel (department stores are netorious for non-standard setups). A high-end bmx drivetrain can net you around $200, so you're left with the decision: maintain the drivetrain, or let it wear and replace it. If you do choose to maintain your drivetrain, you'll be left with a pretty similar bill over the same period of time, but your ride will always be at its best.
Chains: On a BMX you'll want to change your chain about every 200 hours, or if you're running very little teeth on the rear freewheel, you'll want to change it about every 120 hours of riding. A decent chain will run you about $20, and it goes up from there.
Lube: For the okanagan you'll technically want a "dry" lubrication. This keeps your chain from picking up goop in a dry climate. If you lived on the coast, you could go for a more "wet" lube. The only thing you want to lubricate on the chain are the "rollers" the little silver-looking things in the middle of all the connecting pieces. One good way to lube a chain quickly is to put enough pressure on the bottle to let out half a drop of lube, and touch it to the roller.
One common mistake when lubing a chain is over-lubrication. If the rollers are covered in grease, and have no sheen, you might want to degrease your chain, let it dry, and re-lube it. On the other hand, a chain with no lube will tend to have overly shingy rollers, it might be too late.
If you're looking for a recommendation as to what lube to use, Tri-Flow tends to work in pretty much any climate including our own, and is available here in the bike-shop.
Have some wise words for the BMX community? Feel free to submit your article. E-mail, or drop it off at the shop in Oliver or Osoyoos.
Headsets (Bike Maintainence part 1)
You're sick of the bolts on your bike loosening, so you've gone to the local hardware store, bought the red lock-tight (the semi-permanent kind) and gone gung-ho and your bike. Unfortunately this isn't going to be a solution, your bike is still giong to fall apart, you just won't be able to fix it again.
Each part of your BMX needs to be adjusted in a particular way. Whether it be your hubs, spokes, pedals... everything. If you don't set it up right, your bike won't hold its adjustments, eventually it will become worse, or even unrideable. In the case of headsets, they are often set up wrong.
First tighten down the top-bolt of your a-headset type headset until there is no movement in the forks... you can check this by holding the bottom bearings (where the fork initially enters the frame) and rocking the bike back and forth (use something to keep the front wheel from moving ie. breaks, wall etc.). At this point you should be able to move the forks pretty freely side-to-side if your handlebars and wheel are on the bike, it might feel a little stiff if they are not. Now tighten down the sidebolts on the stem.
The stem does most of the work in keeping your forks attached to your frame. Once you've really torqued down on the sidebolts of your stem, you can slacken off the top-bolt. If you leave all the pressure on the top bolt, the-bolt will actually stretch, and can decrease the preformance of your headset. It's very similar to what you see on three-piece cranks.
If you really want the most from every piece of your bike, you can take the time to put a dab of grease (not lock-tight) on each of the bolts before you set them up.
Double O Bikes carries stems and headsets from all the major BMX companies.