When To Service Your Bike? A Practical Guide for Every Rider
How Often Should You Service Your Bike?
There’s no single answer that fits every rider. How often your bike needs servicing depends on how you ride, where you ride and how many miles you cover.
As a general guide:
- Occasional or leisure riding
- Once or twice a year is usually enough to keep everything running as it should.
- Regular riding or commuting
- A service every three to six months helps prevent wear building up unnoticed.
- High mileage, off-road or all-weather riding
- More frequent servicing is recommended, especially if you ride through winter or on rough terrain.
Mileage matters, but so do conditions. Wet roads, grit, dust and mud all accelerate wear on moving parts.
Signs Your Bike Needs A Service Now
You don’t need to be a mechanic to spot when something isn’t quite right. These are the most common signs your bike is asking for attention:
- Gears slipping, jumping or shifting slowly
- Brakes squealing, rubbing or lacking bite
- Creaking, clicking or grinding noises
- Rough or vague steering
- A general drop in smoothness or speed for the same effort
If your bike no longer feels effortless to ride, a service will usually restore that lost performance.
What Happens If You Leave It Too Long?
Most bike issues don’t appear overnight. They develop gradually.
Leaving servicing too long can lead to:
- Worn parts damaging other components
- Small, affordable fixes becomming costly replacements
- Reduced efficiency, meaning more effort for the same speed
- Increased safety risks, especially with braking and steering
Regular servicing is preventative care. It protects both performance and long-term reliability.
Home Maintenance vs Professional Servicing
There is plenty riders can do at home. Keep the bike clean, lubricate the chain and check tyre pressure. It all adds up.
However, professional servicing goes deeper:
- Bearing and headset checks, with parts cleaned or replaced as needed
- Cable tension and brake alignment set correctly
- Early wear spotted before it becomes visible
- The whole bike checked as a complete system
Even experienced riders benefit from a regular check‑over.
Making Servicing Simple
Servicing should be easy, convenient and trustworthy. That is why Ribble works with a growing network of approved independent workshops through Ribble Service Outposts. You get professional servicing close to home, carried out to Ribble standards.
If your bike is due a check‑up, find your nearest Service OutPost here to book a service and get your Ribble back to its best.
Tyre Choice and Pressures for UK Gravel
Tyres can make or break your gravel ride. This blog cuts through the guesswork on width, tread and pressure, showing you what actually works for UK conditions.
Getting the right set up is half the battle
Getting your gravel bike set up right is the difference between enjoying the ride and counting down the miles. This blog breaks down the key adjustments that actually matter, from saddle height to bar position and tyre pressure, without drowning you in jargon.
Just because it’s wet and cold, doesn’t mean we’re not having fun
February gravel isn’t about hero rides. It’s about quiet trails, mixed surfaces and riding for the sake of it. This blog dives into why Ribble staff and the Outliers keep choosing gravel when winter drags on, from traffic-free routes to bikes built to handle proper UK conditions.
Post Ride Checks That Keep Your Gravel Bike Running
Winter wrecks bikes. This blog shows you how to fight back in five minutes flat. No tools, no faff. Just the simple checks that stop small issues turning into expensive problems. From wiping down grit to spotting tyre cuts and keeping your chain alive, it’s the bare minimum that makes a massive difference. Ride more. Fix less. Your future self will thank you.
Winter Gravel Essentials: What Actually Works in UK Conditions
Winter gravel isn’t about suffering. It’s about turning up and staying comfortable. This guide shares no-nonsense kit advice from Ribble staff and the Outliers on what actually works in a UK February.
When To Service Your Bike? A Practical Guide for Every Rider
Looking after your bike doesn’t start and end with a clean after riding. Regular servicing keeps it working at its best, no matter how often you ride. The tricky part is knowing when a service is needed. Too early feels unnecessary. Too late and the problems have already crept in. This guide breaks it down simply so you can ride more and worry less.
Staying Motivated: Winter Wisdom From The Ribble Family
When winter kills your motivation, even the pros feel it. The difference is they’ve built strategies that keep them riding when willpower runs out. Here’s how they stay consistent, break through the slump, and keep the pedals turning through the toughest months.
Clean: A Quick Wash Guide With Tom Couzens
Winter rides = filthy bikes. But it doesn’t need to be a chore. Ribble Ambassador Tom Couzens shares a quick 10-minute clean that keeps your bike running smooth and makes getting back out tomorrow a whole lot easier.
FTP Booster Plan
This 4-week plan is built to boost your Functional Threshold Power (FTP) with a mix of threshold efforts, sweet spot sessions, VO₂ max intervals, and progressive endurance work—targeting the key adaptations for sustaining higher power longer.
Electric Road Bike vs Road Bike – What’s the Difference?
Electric road bikes deliver the same ride, handling and thrill as traditional road bikes, just with a discreet boost that helps you go further, faster, and ride more often.
Cycle to Work Day - The UK's biggest cycle commute
Big tyres and big gears for the big outdoors