Coach’s Corner — Top Tube Damage
How to Avoid Damaging Your Bike When Leaning It
Our Coach’s Corner series is your chance to have your biggest cycling questions answered — right from longtime cycling coach Darryl MacKenzie. In these short Q&As, Coach Darryl speaks from his 35+ years of cycling and coaching experience to help you become a stronger, smarter cyclist.
Concerned Cyclist:
Coach, the paint has rubbed off on both sides of the top tube of my bike. How does that happen and how can I prevent it from getting worse?
Coach Darryl:
Subtle paint damage on your top tube is a sure sign you’ve been leaning your bike frame against other objects. It’s a common practice among cyclists— but you should never do it.
Leaning your bike against its top tube will always lead to scratching your paint. So it’s best avoided entirely. But what should you do instead?
There are a few different options to consider when leaning your bike, but not all of them are good ones. I actually know two cyclists whose bikes were irreparably damaged when they fell while leaning against something.
One cyclist left his bicycle leaning on its pedal on a horizontal curb. When it fell over and hit a concrete wheel stop in the parking lot, the top tube cracked. Another rider parked his bike against his car. When it fell and hit the curb, the seat stay was so badly damaged, it was no longer ridable.
In both cases, these cyclists didn’t follow best practices for safely leaning their bikes. Even if they just wanted to protect their paint jobs, leaning the bike on a car or loosely attaching it to a curb were bad ideas.
So, what should they have done? Here are the basic rules for safely leaning your bike:
• Find a level spot to lean your bike. Avoid parking your bike anywhere that’s tilted in either direction to avoid rolling.
• Lean your bike on its saddle. Move your bike about a foot from a nearby wall, pole or tree, then tilt it so that the saddle is the primary point of contact. When possible, use the handlebars as a secondary point of contact, with the front wheel angled slightly toward the wall. Both components are relatively cheap, and you don’t risk any paint damage.
• Strap your helmet to the back wheel. Clip the straps around the spokes and the two seat stays to prevent the bike from moving more than an inch in any direction. This also slows down a potential thief.
• Avoid curbs. Never balance your bike pedal on top of a curb. Even the slightest touch will send it tumbling to the ground. If there is no wall available, try to find something vertical at least knee-high to prop your pedal against, and be sure to lock your back wheel with your helmet.
• Don’t lean your bike on a car. You risk either scratching your car or the bike falling over and damaging its frame. If you have no other options, slide your bike’s rear wheel in between your car’s tire and body (the wheel well) as far as it will go to prop it in place.
If you follow these tips — and ALWAYS avoid leaning the bike against your top tube — you’ll keep your bike looking great and prevent serious damage to your frame.
