Things to Ask Before You Leave the Bike Shop with Your New Bike

New Bike Day! It’s so exciting. At the bike shop, everything seems just perfect but then you get home and you have no idea how to get the wheel off, shift the gears or what you were supposed to do with that weird little piece of plastic they gave you and said was very important for your disc brakes. If you’re purchasing a bike for the first time, the learning curve can feel a little overwhelming. Hopefully you are at a great bike shop that walks you through your new bike but if not, ask your bike shop to walk you through these things:

Seat height
Bring the shoes you plan to wear while riding your bike and make sure the seat height is set correctly. This may be a part of a more extensive bike fitting process or it may be a quick adjustment. Once the seat height is set, use a piece of electrical tape or a sharpie (I use silver on a black post) to mark the height. If you have to move it for any reason, you’ll know where to readjust the height to without measurements.

Removing the Wheels
Make sure you know how to take off the wheels, specifically the front wheel. If you’re putting your bike in your car or using certain bike racks, you’ll need to remove the wheel. Some wheels require an allen wrench to remove the skewer (this is good, it makes the wheel hard to steal) so make sure you have the proper tools to remove the wheel. Ask the shop to show you how to remove the wheel and then practice it yourself.

Disc Brake Spacer

Brakes
There are two types of brakes - rim brakes (brakes with pads) and disc brakes. Disc brakes are becoming the standard feature on most bikes but you’ll still find a good number with rim brakes. If you purchase a bike with disc brakes, make sure your shop gives you a spacer (or a few) and also shows you how to use it. If you squeeze the brakes while the wheel is off without the spacer, the brakes will lock up. Note, you can use a credit card in an emergency situation.

If you’re purchasing a bike with rim brakes, make sure you know how to open the brakes and align the wheel. It’s not uncommon to forget to close the brakes when you put the wheel on so be mindful of that. It’s fairly easy for rim brakes to get knocked off kilter so I’d ask the shop to show me how to do some minor adjustments to my rim brakes. Nothing sucks more than rubbing brakes on a hilly ride.

Shifting
Although shifting is usually pretty standard on bikes, the way the shifters work is different depending on what type of components you have on your bike. Make sure you know how to shift into different gears. It’ll take a while to get the hang of it but knowing which gear makes it easier and which one makes it harder will make a hilly ride more fun.

Other Components
If you get a mountain bike it may have features like stability, a dropper post or other buttons that enhance your cycling experience. Make sure you know what every lever does and how to reset the bike to it’s original position.

Flat Kit
You should never leave a bike shop without the tools you’ll need to change a flat tire - even if you purchase a bike with tubeless tires. Ask your shop to put together a flat kit based on your tube size and valve type so you’re prepared for any emergency

Tires
Find the psi for your tires. Your tire will likely say what it is (in really tiny font) but you’re going to want to pump your tires up to a certain psi based on the size of the tires, the type of terrain you’re riding, your weight and the weather conditions. On that note, make sure you have a pump and check your psi before every ride.

The chain
I like to find out if there’s anything tricky about the chain and have the shop show me how to put it back on if I drop it. If you’re riding a ‘one-by’ (single chainring), you’re less likely to drop a chain than if you ride a big/small ring. Also, find out the best type of lube for your chain and type of riding and go ahead and get a bottle. If you ride mostly off-road, your chain will get muddy, dusty, wet and need to be lubed more often.

Take a Test Ride
Ideally, you want to take a test ride before you leave the store. Practice shifting, make sure the brakes feel right enough, practice clipping in and out, and just get a feel for the bike. If you have other questions after your test ride, ask!

Maintenance Plan
Talk to the shop about how often you should bring the bike in for tune-ups, sealant (tubeless tires), or any other general maintenance. When I went to tubeless tires, I learned that I needed to get new sealant every4-6 months based on weather, how often I rode, and time between maintenance.

A good bike shop should spend 45-minutes to an hour setting you up with a new bike and going over all of this information. If the shop is busy, ask if it would be better to come back at another time. Chances are you’ll need something tweaked after your first few rides or have questions. Don’t be afraid to go back in and ask those or ask for someone to walk you through things again. Sometimes it seems really easy when you’re in the shop but feels super frustrating when you try to do it at home. Typically employees at bike shops love to talk about bikes and show people all of the cool parts of their new bike.

Also, you can find lots of resources on YouTube! If you get stuck, don’t be afraid to google it!