I don’t think there was much substance at all in this article. They talk about how parts of a bike are safety critical in a very surface level way and it just kind of meanders. I get it, if a part of your bike breaks you can get hurt so it’s important that your bike doesn’t break and we should all think about that. Great. Thanks.

If you are riding at high speeds, doing MTB, or some other sporty activity, on a carbon fiber bike with pro components, then sure. If you’re just commuting or going to the shops or whatever, on a cheap old bike, then you can probably just fix everything yourself and be fine. I’ve been doing almost all servicing on my bike myself, screwed up plenty of stuff (including my rear brakes once), and it was fine. I just stopped using the front brakes and learned a lesson.

A qualified mechanic is great at making sure every bike that leaves the store is functionally safe. But that’s not where the bulk of safety issues come from. The safety problems occur after a bike build.

Low tire pressure? All the time. Loose skewers? There’s a reason forks have little tabs on them. Poor shifting? I’d love to know someone who never has dropped a chain.

Keeping a bike safe means knowing what and how to inspect a bike. I follow and recommend to friends the M check. It’s fast, so it can be done before every ride, and with point-and-call you’ll never miss a part that will throw you over your bars. An example M-check is Park Took’s video.