Rule#1: Do any significant changes well ahead of the race. ’Bike Prep’ is the first part of this guide because its something you can’t leave until the last minute. If you’re planning on any pre-race upgrades, new parts or significant maintenance, do it at least a full week in advance of the race. You want all the bugs worked out well before race day. Untested gear or adjustments is one of the top reasons for DNF’s.
Don’t leave even minor maintenance until the day before the race. Inevitably you’ll inadvertently cause some problem, or discover a bigger issue, neither of which you’d have time to fix. So big changes weeks in advance, minor pre-race maintenance 2-3 days before the race. Most of what I am recommending below can be considered minor maintenance.
Lighten up: Take off any accessories you don’t need: racks, bag bottle cages (more on this in the Part #4 and #5 on nutrition and hydration), bells, etc. Except streamers, streamers make you faster. A lighter bike is a faster bike, and the simpler your bike is, the less there is to go wrong.
Smooth shifting: Make sure your shifting is set up as smooth and accurately as possible. You will be pushing your derailleurs and drivetrain harder than ever, and most likely flubbing your shifts, so you want the bike working as well as it can. If you can’t adjust these yourself, bringing it into the shop for a tune-up would be worthwhile.
Brakes: Brakes that are rubbing are going to waste energy, fix them. Other than that, yes, you can fine tune your brakes for optimal performance but modern brakes generally work well-enough and are low-maintenance. If you do want to fine-tune, see Rule #1.
Clean Your Bike: Regularly cleaning your bike won’t just help it look better, it will reduce corrosion and wear. Also, it will allow you to give it a look-over regularly so you can find and fix problems before there is a failure. Making it clean and shiny before the race will make you seem more "pro" and oddly enough, might just give you more confidence. Waxing your bike can reduce the build up of mud.
Clean Your Drivetrain: Most people don’t take good enough care of their chain even though a sad chain can be a major source of friction. There are a lot of ways to go about this, in order of time investment and effectiveness, you can:
1) Remove the chain from the bike and give it a scrub with a small wire brush or old toothbrush using degreaser, WD-40, or concentrated Simple Green. Re-lube very thoroughly, and reinstall.
2) Buy a chain cleaning tool/scrubber and run it through that. Then re-lube thoroughly.
3) Wipe all the grime off with a rag. Then saturate the chain with lube, spin the cranks for a while to work it into the chain, wipe off the excess until nearly none will wipe off, and repeat as necessary until the chain is gunk free.
NOTE: If at any point in this process, if you see rust on your chain, toss it out and buy a new one. If there is a little rust on the outside, typically there is a lot on the outside. Rust causes excess friction and accelerates wear, nothing you want to happen on a performance bike.
Lube Your Drivetrain: Generally speaking, a “dry lube” will be your best choice for racing as they are low-friction and don’t pick up dust. They don’t last as long as some wet lubes, but they take dirt with them as they flake off the chain, keeping your drivetrain cleaner. They don’t generally fare well when its wet, but usually MTB races are canceled if its going to be wet and muddy.
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