A simple bike maintenance schedule by mileage

Most bike maintenance advice is organized by the calendar, which doesn't make much sense — a bike that rides 200 km a month and one that rides 2,000 km wear completely differently. Mileage is the honest yardstick. Here's a simple schedule built around how far you actually ride.

Every ride / weekly

• Quick once-over: tyre pressure, quick brake check, anything loose or rattling.
• Wipe the chain if it's visibly dirty, and re-lube after any wet or gritty ride. A clean, lubed chain is the cheapest way to make your whole drivetrain last longer.

Every ~200–300 km

• Clean and lube the drivetrain properly (and pick the right lube for your conditions). More often if you ride in the wet or on dusty trails.
• Eyeball the brake pads for obvious wear.

Every ~500 km

• Check chain wear with a chain checker or ruler. This is the highest-leverage check on the whole bike — see how to check chain wear. Replacing the chain on time protects the much pricier cassette and chainrings.

Every ~3,000–5,000 km

• Replace the chain (sooner if it hit its wear limit earlier). This range varies a lot with conditions and maintenance.
• Inspect the cassette and chainrings — if a new chain skips, the cassette is likely due. See when to replace your cassette and chainrings.

Every ~2,000–6,000 km (condition-dependent)

• Brake pads: check often and replace before the friction material is gone. Disc and rim wear differently — see when to replace brake pads.

Every ~8,000–15,000 km

• Replace the cassette — typically every two to three chains if you've been swapping chains on time.

Yearly-ish (or by feel)

• Cables and housing: replace when shifting gets vague or sticky — often around once a year for regular riders.
• Bar tape / brake fluid (hydraulic): refresh tape as needed; bleed brakes per the manufacturer's interval.

By feel / hours, not strict mileage

• Bottom bracket and hub bearings: replace when you feel grinding, play, or roughness — commonly 15,000–25,000 km, but it's really about how they feel.
• Tyres: highly variable — replace at the wear indicators, when the casing shows, or after repeated flats. See how often to replace your tyres.

The hard part isn't the list — it's remembering

Every part on this page wears on a different clock: the chain in thousands of km, the cassette in tens of thousands, bearings in tens of thousands more. Holding all of that in your head (or a spreadsheet that's out of date by Sunday) is why things get missed and small problems turn into expensive ones.

That's the whole reason we built BikeVitals — connect Strava once and it tracks the mileage on every component for you, then emails you before each part wears out. Instead of remembering this schedule, you just get a heads-up at the right time.