This a the second part of the article giving advices to a get a beautiful bike in 30 days.

Click here to read the first part with the first ten days

Day 11

When the shop calls, tell the respectful young man with the pleasant phone manners that you know your cables and housings need to be replaced but you’re going to do it yourself later beacause you’re spending a whole month pampering your bike. Pretend the sound you hear is coughng, not laughing.

Day 12

Organize and clean your tool beach or tool hest, if you don’t have either, go buy something, even if it’s just a generic tool box. Get two buckets while you’re at it, plus two sponges, a bag of rags and a car-washing brush. Store the sponges, rags and brush in the nested buckets.

Day 13

Buy a case od Dale’s Pale Ale -the world’s best canned beer- for your mechanic. Its artisanal blue-collar vibe will make him swoom.

Day 14

Pick up our bike today and drop off the case. Have one with the shop personnel – yes, they’ll ask, and it’s your duty. If you’re a guy, set yourself apart from the pack by refrainning from flirtation with the foxy female mechanic while stille aknowledging her. Women: Drop one double entendre about bottom-bracket stiffness and make a clean, classy exit.

Day 15

Detail-clean your derailleurs with degreaser.  Saw the rag back and forth through open areas in the deraileur’s structure, or use cotton swabs. Dry with a clean rag, the apply one drop of light oil to each speing or pivot.

Day 16

Clean the rims with a slightly abrasive pad, or just scrub hard with a ag soaked in dish soap – then rinse and dry.  Over time, road spray and gunk from the brake pads coat the rim, which interferes with the stopping power.

Day 17

It’s Chain Day : First, check chain wear. Place the edge of a 12-inch ruler over the pin of one link. (It’s easiest on top of the chain, above the chainstay). The 12-inch ruler over mark soulf it over another pin.  If it doesn’t, the chain is worn, which reduces shifting efficiency and causes excess wear ont the rings and cassette; replace it. If the chain is fine, clean it: With your bike in  a workstand, grasp the chain with a cleanrag soaked in degraser as you backpedal. Then apply a drop of lube to each link as you slowly backpedal. Wipe off excess lube so you don’t attract more dirt to your chain.

Day 18

De-grime the crankset. Use a thooth-brush and degreaser to clean the rings, then wipe with a drag rag. Clean between each tooth; if there’s dirt in there, it wears the chain.

Day 19

Clean the cassette. Remove the rear wheel and hold it vertically but slightly slanted so the cassette angles toward the ground; this will prevent degreaser from dripping into the freehub. Spray the cassette with degreaser and  use a shoe brush or and old toothbrush to scrub grit from between the teeth. It’s messy. Then use a screwdriver or awl to pick out weeds, string or anything else entwined around the cassette body. (Check the hollowed-out back of the body, too). Hold or set the wheel horizontally the cogs, the over the face of the cogs, for a sparkly finish.

Day 20

Cable and housing replacement appears labrinthian, but can be groof-proof simplified if you’re willing to work slow and deliberate (thing of sloth). Loosen the pinch bolt on one brake, clip the cap off the table, then push it through the housing until the other end pops out of the lever. Pull the cable out.  Note the position of the housing (which will still be in place), then remove one piece at a time and, measuring against the new housings. Tun the end through the pinch bolt and hex it tight. For brakes, hold the arms so the pads are against the rims as you tighten the pich bolt. There’s usually enough residual slack along the cable to create clearance between the pads and rims when you let go.

Source: The big Book of cycling