Spring Tune-Up Checklist: What Your Road Bike Actually Needs After Winter

Let me save you some money.

After three months of indoor training — or three months of the bike sitting in the garage while you waited out the cold — your road bike needs some attention before spring. But it probably doesn’t need everything the internet tells you it needs. I see the opposite problem in the workshop every August: riders who’ve been told they need a full $280 service when three specific fixes would’ve done the job, and riders who genuinely need a full overhaul but think a “quick tune-up” will cover it.

Here’s what I check on every bike that comes through the shop after winter, in order of what’s most likely to need attention. This isn’t a generic checklist from a cycling website — it’s what I actually find when I put bikes in the workstand.

1. Chain Wear (Check This First)

If you’ve been riding indoors, your chain has been sitting in sweat. Sweat is corrosive — more corrosive than rain, because it’s salty and it sits on the chain for hours between sessions. I’ve seen chains go from 0.25% to 0.75% wear in a single winter on the trainer.

What to do: Get a chain checker. They cost $15. If you’re at 0.5% wear, replace the chain. If you’re at 0.75% or above, you’re probably replacing the cassette too — a worn chain stretches the cassette teeth, and a new chain on a worn cassette will skip under load.

A chain is $50-80. A cassette is $150-400. Check the chain before it costs you the cassette.

Workshop finding: About 40% of bikes I see in August need a new chain. About 15% need chain + cassette. That $15 chain checker pays for itself the first time you use it.

2. Brake Bleed (Hydraulic Disc Only)

Hydraulic brakes don’t lose fluid over time like they’re leaking — but they do accumulate moisture. DOT fluid (SRAM) is hygroscopic; it absorbs water from the air. Mineral oil (Shimano) doesn’t, but it still degrades with heat cycles.

If your brake levers feel spongy — if they pull closer to the bar than they did in May — the fluid needs replacing. A brake bleed at the shop takes about 30 minutes per end. Don’t wait until you’re descending Akuna Bay at 60 km/h to discover your brakes have gone soft.

DIY or shop? If you have a bleed kit and you’re confident, go for it. If you’ve never done it, pay the shop. A bad bleed job is worse than no bleed at all — air in the system makes braking unpredictable. I charge $55 per brake. It’s cheaper than a hospital visit.

3. Shifting and Cable Tension

If your shifting was perfect in May and now it’s hesitating between gears, it’s usually one of two things:

• Cable stretch (mechanical groupsets): New cables stretch in the first 500km. A quarter-turn on the barrel adjuster usually fixes it. If you’ve been adjusting all winter and the barrel is nearly maxed out, the cable and housing need replacing.
• Contamination (electronic groupsets): Di2 and eTap don’t go out of adjustment on their own. If shifting is inconsistent, check the derailleur hanger alignment first — a bent hanger is the most common cause of “my electronic shifting has gone bad.” Second most common: a sticky pawl in the freehub sending chain slap through the drivetrain.

Workshop finding: 8 out of 10 “shifting problems” on electronic groupsets are actually a bent derailleur hanger. The hanger alignment tool takes 5 minutes. Don’t let a shop sell you a new derailleur before they’ve checked the hanger.

4. Bearings (Headset, Bottom Bracket, Hubs)

Sweat doesn’t just sit on your chain. It drips onto your headset and bottom bracket. If you’ve been on the trainer without a sweat catcher (the towel thing that drapes over your top tube), your headset bearings have been marinating.

How to check: Lift the front wheel off the ground and turn the bars. If there’s a notch — a point where the steering catches or feels gritty — the bearings are corroded. Same for the bottom bracket: pull the cranks sideways. Any play = worn bearings.

Headset bearings: $30-50 to replace. Bottom bracket bearings: $40-80. Catching them early is the difference between a bearing swap and a frame repair.

Heads-up: If you use a “smart” trainer with the bike clamped at the rear axle, your hub bearings haven’t moved all winter. The grease can settle and harden. First outdoor ride, listen for a grinding sound from the hubs — if you hear it, the bearings need servicing.

5. Tyres

Tyres age whether you ride them or not. Rubber compounds harden over time, especially in Australian garages that hit 40°C in summer. A tyre that’s been sitting since April might look fine but have the grip of a plastic cutting board.

What to check:

• Cracks in the sidewall — replace immediately
• Flat spots — if it sat on a concrete floor for 3 months with 40 PSI in it, the contact patch is squared off
• Tread wear indicators — most road tyres have them. If they’re gone, the tyre is done
• Age — anything over 4 years old, regardless of tread, should be replaced. Rubber degrades

6. Bar Tape

Not a safety issue, but it’s the cheapest way to make your bike feel new again. Bar tape absorbs sweat all winter, and in August it looks like it. Fresh tape is $35-50 fitted. While it’s off, I check the handlebar for corrosion — sweat soaks through old tape and pits aluminium bars. Carbon bars are less susceptible but worth inspecting anyway.

Workshop observation: A surprising number of riders book a “full service” when what they actually want is fresh bar tape, adjusted shifting, and a chain that doesn’t sound like gravel. Those three things cost about $100. A full service is $280. Know which one your bike needs.

7. Torque Check (Carbon Bikes)

Carbon doesn’t fatigue like metal, but bolts can loosen. Temperature changes (cold garage → warm house for trainer sessions → cold garage again) cause expansion and contraction that works bolts loose over months.

Five bolts to check with a torque wrench:

1. Stem faceplate bolts
2. Stem steerer clamp bolts
3. Seatpost clamp
4. Saddle rail clamps
5. Thru-axles (especially if you’ve been removing the wheel for direct-drive trainers)

A torque wrench costs $60-100. Cracked carbon costs a new frame. Do the maths.

What You Probably DON’T Need

Some shops will tell you the following are “essential spring services.” They’re not:

• Wheel trueing — Unless you’ve hit a pothole, your wheels haven’t moved all winter. If they were true in May, they’re still true.
• Suspension service — This is a road bike article. You don’t have suspension. If you’re reading this and you do have suspension, wrong shop — but I’ll still check your headset bearings.
• “Full bearing overhaul” — If the bearings spin smoothly with no play, they don’t need replacing. I tell customers this and lose revenue on unnecessary bearing jobs. I sleep fine.
• New cables “while we’re in there” — If they’re shifting fine, leave them. Cables don’t go bad from sitting still.

The 30-Minute DIY Spring Check

If you’re handy with tools, here’s what you can do at home on Saturday morning:

1. Chain check (2 min) — Chain checker tool. Replace at 0.5%.
2. Brake lever feel (1 min) — Squeeze. Firm = good. Spongy = bleed.
3. Shifting test (2 min) — Run through every gear on the stand. Listen.
4. Bolt torque (10 min) — Five critical bolts with a torque wrench.
5. Tyre inspection (5 min) — Sidewalls, tread, pressure.
6. Bar tape assessment (1 min) — Does it look disgusting? Replace.
7. Test ride around the block (10 min) — Listen for creaks, clicks, grinding.

If everything passes, your bike is ready for spring. If anything fails, bring it in — we’ll fix what actually needs fixing, not what the upsell script says.

When to Bring It to the Shop

If your bike fails any of the checks above — or if you’d rather spend Saturday riding than wrenching — book it in. We service road bikes the way we’d service our own: fix what’s broken, don’t touch what isn’t, and tell you honestly what can wait until next time.

Book online → bradsbikes.com.au 2 Military Rd, Neutral Bay Workshop rate: $110/hr