If you hear a click every full pedal stroke, the culprit is almost always one of three things — a loose pedal, a stiff chain link, or a cleat that's worked itself loose. All three are reasons your ride is about to end early, badly, possibly with a tow home. All three are caught by a 30-second check before you turn the cranks.
Most of the bikes that come into the workshop on the back of a friend's car had warning signs at the driveway. The owner just didn't look. Here's the check that means you won't be that bike.
The ABC — what it stands for, and why those three
A = Air. B = Brakes. C = Chain. Three things, in that order, before every ride. Takes longer to read this paragraph than to do it.
Those three matter because they're the systems that fail in ways that strand you. A loose saddle is annoying. A flat tyre at km 15 is a walk back. A brake that doesn't grip when a car pulls out is a hospital visit.
A — Air
The fastest check: pinch each tyre between thumb and index finger near the valve. The tyre should give a small dent under firm pressure, then push back. If you can squish it flat, it needs air. If it's rock hard with no give, you've over-inflated and the ride will rattle your fillings out.
Pressure targets, rough:
| Bike type | Pressure (PSI) |
|---|---|
| Road bike (700×25c) | 80–100 |
| Hybrid (700×35c–40c) | 55–80 |
| Mountain bike (29×2.2) | 25–40 |
| Kids' bike (16"–20") | 30–45 |
| Fat bike / sand tyres | 10–20 |
For the UAE specifically: in summer, drop your pressure 5–10 PSI from the cooler-weather target. Heat expands the air inside, and a tyre that was 80 PSI in your air-conditioned garage will be 90+ on a hot tarmac surface — which makes the ride harsh and the tyre prone to pinch flats.
One trick I tell every customer: keep a floor pump with a gauge at home. AED 80 once, and you can stop guessing.
B — Brakes
Squeeze each brake lever individually, hard. Don't pump it gently — pump it like you're stopping fast. What you're checking:
- Does the lever stop pulling about halfway to the bar? Good. That's the right cable tension.
- Does the lever pull all the way to the bar? Bad. Cable's stretched, pads are worn, or both. Don't ride. Adjust the barrel adjuster (the little dial where the cable meets the lever) by turning it anti-clockwise a quarter-turn at a time until the lever firms up. If a full turn doesn't fix it, workshop.
- Does the bike actually stop when you wheel it forward and squeeze? Push the bike forward at walking pace with both brakes on. It should refuse to roll. If it scrapes forward, the pads are dead or the rim/disc is contaminated.
While you're there, look at the pads. Look at the brake track on the rim (for rim brakes) or the disc rotor (for disc brakes). If the brake track has a deep groove worn into it, the rim is on the way out. If a disc rotor is shiny-smooth with no machining marks, it's been overheated and the pads will glaze. Both are workshop jobs.
C — Chain
Glance at the chain in good light. Three states:
- Black and slightly oily. Perfect. Ride.
- Grey and dusty, doesn't reflect light. Needs lube. Apply a drop to each roller while pedalling backwards, wipe off excess. Then ride.
- Orange flecks of rust, especially on the rollers. Don't ride yet. Wipe it clean with a rag, apply lube generously, work it through by pedalling backwards 30 turns, wipe again. If the rust is on the side plates only, you can ride. If it's deep into the rollers, the chain's probably stretched too and is due for replacement — workshop job.
While you've got eyes on the chain, eyeball the rear derailleur — that's the spring-loaded contraption hanging from the right side of the rear wheel. The two little wheels (jigger wheels or pulleys) should spin freely. Sand and old lube cake up here in the UAE — if they're not spinning easily, drop the bike in for a cleanout.
The unofficial D — Drop test
Once you've done A, B, C, lift the bike by the saddle and drop it ten centimetres onto the ground. Listen. A healthy bike makes one short metallic "tonk." A bike with loose parts will rattle, click, or make a long sustain.
If you hear a rattle:
- Check the bottle cage bolts.
- Check the seat clamp bolt.
- Check the wheel skewers/thru-axles.
- Check the headset (turn the bars left and right with the front brake on, then push the bike forward — feel for knocking through the bars).
Loose bolts cost you nothing to tighten and stop fatigue cracks before they start.
If anything doesn't pass, don't ride
This sounds obvious but most bikes that come into the workshop are here because the owner thought "I'll just go a few km, see how it feels." A few km is more than enough for a worn brake to fail at a junction or a stretched chain to skip and put your knee through the top tube.
If your ABC turned something up, message us on WhatsApp first — most failures we can talk you through fixing at home in 10 minutes (cable adjustment, pad clean, lube). For anything that needs the workshop, we either arrange collection from your address UAE-wide, or you're welcome to drop the bike at the warehouse during opening hours if you'd prefer to see the work done. AED 30–100 for the kind of fixes that otherwise spoil a Friday ride.
One last thing — kids
Teach the ABC to every child old enough to ride alone. It takes ten minutes to drill in, and you've handed them a maintenance habit for life. The seven-year-olds I taught last summer now do the check on their own bikes before they leave the compound — without being asked.
— Hadi, workshop
