Bicycles are very durable little machines. However, like any mechanical thing, they do need some maintenance sometimes. If you ride a lot of kilometers per year, maintaining your bicycle is even more important. Even more so in long distance riding. You wouldn't want something to break when you're 300 kilometers from home. How do I maintain my bicycles? I ride two bicycles, a fixed gear bike for work commuting (32km per day) and for running errands. Another bicycle I own is for long distance riding, I tend to ride three to four long distance trips every month. For the every day bicycle, maintenance is very minimal and easy. Fixed gear bikes are very durable as they don't have much that can go wrong very easily. I keep the chain lubricated and clean. I keep the bike reasonably clean overall. Periodically I check that the chain is not streched too much and that chainring and sprocket are not worn too much. They are easy and cheap to replace. On my fixed gear bicycle I have a
