Pre-ride (or pre-drive) checks.

[beardy]

I know all the proper practice on this and back when I shared vehicles I used to perform these as a matter of course.

Nowadays with my own vehicles, I never perform them as I think that I will detect faults through feedback and regular maintenance.

I realise that with my car (which I have had over 10 years now) I do not even check the oil or water unless going on a major journey because neither ever go down. Tyres only get checked when I feel suspicious about them unless you count looking at them as I walk to the car.

Same for the bike, nothing ever gets a pre-ride inspection, though they may get a pre-tour service.

As for those who do a pre-ride check for every journey, does that have a minimum journey length or will you inspect even for just a ten mile ride? Does that mean that on a hundred mile ride you should inspect every ten miles or so in case?

Do people who make these checks budget time to deal with any faults they find? I rather find that checking the vehicle when you intend to use it puts you in a bit of a spot compared to regular servicing in the comfort of your workshop.

[Si]

given that mine gets locked up in all sorts of dodgy places I always do an abc, or at least an ab and visual. It has thrown up one or two issues that were easily fixed there and then but might have been a bit of a pain out on the road.

However, my work bike gets M checked very regularly as I use it to demo checks to others so it's rare that I specifically do a major home check on it.

[Brucey]

I try to do regular checks in addition to 'long run' checks but no-one is perfect.

I think with bicycles, nearly everything is on view, or you can feel it, so it is a question of remaining alert and observant to some extent.

I habitually find myself 'inspecting' other people's bikes before group rides. I quite often notice things that their owners hadn't spotted; last week it was a failing/badly set V brake noodle on a front brake; one hard pull and the brake would have failed...

cheers

[Vantage]

I give the tyres a quick squeeze before each ride. The brakes are used within a minute of riding and at low speed anyway so any issues there are noticed straight away. That's it really.
Various bits are given a wiggle during a wash or when parts are replaced and once a year it gets stripped and rebuilt.
The bike has an easy life anyway compared to some as I'm not a particularly strong rider (actually I'm a wuss) so things breaking and failing aren't a worry for me.

[Lance Dopestrong]

BESTCOP before every ride, ABC if the bike has been out of my sight a short while, such as while I nip in the shop.

[PRL]

I tend to give the brakes a good squeeze before starting off. Just once I felt a cable give way on me. Better that when stopped than on a steep hill.

[reohn2]

The car tyres,oil and other levels get a check fortnightly,and definitely before a long 200mile+ run.

The bike gets a tyre pressure check before every ride,unless I'm riding consecutive days,and a check for foreign bodies etc,about every third or fourth ride,unless I've ridden some particularly suspect roads or tracks.
Brake levers get a flick for adjustment as I set off.
I tend to check bolts and other safety checks,etc when I lube the chain,(usually at about 300miles) or when I clean the bike whichever comes first.

[[XAP]Bob]

Squish the tyres, grab the brakes as I settle...

There's more to do?


The car just has the doors checked..

[Brucey]

I realised that I was getting slack with the car when I went to drive it away and didn't notice that one of the tyres was completely flat until I'd actually started to drive it. Admittedly I did notice inside the first six feet of driving and the tyre's flatness was disguised by the adjacent kerb but even so, I'd walked right past it.

Not as bad as one guy I know though. He went to drive off and immediately there was a loud clunk and the car dropped by 6". It turned out that the wheels on the other side of the car had been nicked, and the car fell off its small stack of bricks as soon as it started to move....

cheers

[[XAP]Bob]

Ok, that's funny....

I do look at the tyres quite often, but with a car on a slope they always look a bit flat to me...

[Vorpal]

I check tyres and brakes frequently: once per day if commuting or before a ride if I haven't used the bike in at least a day. I also check the kids' bikes, and encourage them to. Similarly, if the bike has been parked someplace vulnerable, I at least check it visually.

I do more thorough checks periodically, too. How often & when depends on the bike. My commuter gets a more thorough check approximately once every 5 or 6 days of commuting, and service as needed. My mountain bike, on the other hand, hasn't been used much since early spring (it was used with studded tyres in the winter), but I'm taking it up to Rallarvegen in a couple of weeks, so it will get a service this weekend, in case I need to get any bits or change anything (I suspect I need a new chain).

[MartinC]

I always check that the car is there before I get in it. I have however, some time ago, forgotten to check that I went to work in the car before walking home.

[ArMoRothair]

I always squeeze the tyres as I pick up the bike and touch the brakes as I climb on.

On the motorbike I usually touch the brake and check I can see the glow from the brake light illuminating the garage before I leave.

In the car I find TPMS useful, I tend to flick through to the TPMS screen and it's comforting to see the tyre pressures all equal. Beyond that I do leave it up to modern electronics to warn me of any impending doom; and even then when it does tell me something like "parking sensor failure, go to dealer" I've learnt to simply switch off and start again and they usually go away.

[Flinders]

Years ago in London, where I used to have to lock my bike up in public every day, I'd check brakes, tyres, and also check no toerag had nicked the batteries in my Ever Ready lights (because they did one night ). I used to have to adjust brake cables practically once a week - these days cables don't stretch like they used to and being rural now I don't do the stop-start mileage- they go a year without needing adjustment.

Pre-run checks now are tyre pressure (by finger and thumb, and additionally by pump if in doubt) and brakes as I roll across the drive. Also I try to remember to reset the computer, but sometimes forget.

[Lance Dopestrong]

At risk of starting that debate all over again, brake cables do not and never have stretched. Pads wear, outers can compress fractionally and settle into the stops, but they do not stretch.