Emily Tobin and her rickety, rusty 4-year-old Huffy Redrock bicycle do not get along.
When the English junior's mode of transportation is coated with rust or springs a sprocket, she is ready to blow a gasket.
"A few weeks ago, it broke a sprocket on the back wheel, so I could not move it. I had to carry it to the bike shop down by Bessey (Hall)," she said.
"It really bothers me that it always seems to happen at a bad time. I mean there's never really a good time, but it happens every couple months that something breaks."
After months of being chained to metal racks and taking the brunt of winter's frigid force, bicycles like Tobin's have returned to sidewalks across campus.
For those bikes that bore the effects of freezing temperatures and blustery snow of months past, many maintenance problems are sure to pop up.
And with rattling chains and rusty cables populating campus grounds, local bicycle outlets have seen an increase in repairs from MSU students, have plenty of advice to keep bikes pedaling at full health.
Tim Potter, marketing sales coordinator for the MSU Bike Project — which houses a full-service repair operation under the Bessey Hall auditorium — said the campus program has tended to a couple hundred bikes as a result of harsh seasonal aftereffects.
He said that many of the most common repairs the operation performs can be avoided with regular maintenance.
"This time of year, we see a lot of chains that are completely rusted to the point where they don't even work," Potter said. "If people buy a cheap can of oil and keep maintaining it, they can avoid those problems."
Something as simple as properly inflated tires can have a significant effect on bike performance.
"But you'd be surprised how many bikes you see riding around that are damaging their rims and taking more energy than they need," Potter said.
In addition, Potter said during the winter, "brakes also tend to not function that well because they tend to get rusted," adding that those repairs are difficult for students to perform on their own.
At Velocipede Peddler, 2758 E. Grand River Ave., students can get a $45 tune-up to fix repairable damages incurred during the winter season.
The tune-up includes inflating and aligning tires, adjusting shifters and railers, adding lubricant to cables and chains and tightening any loose ends.
"A lot of people get tune-ups, which cover mostly everything on the bike, but mostly it's brake adjustments and flat fixes," said Tom Hayward, a mechanic and salesman at the store.
"We'll do just about every kind of repair there is."
Hayward said a few easy steps can be taken during the cold weather season to prevent needing many of these repairs in the future.
"Either keep bikes inside or under some sort of cover," he said. "Or at least make sure they keep them clean and lubed."
While Potter and Hayward say occasional maintenance can help prevent most operational problems, many students have yet to heed their advice — and have seen the consequences year after year.
"I barely ride my bike because the chain gets locked up," English sophomore Danielle King said of her 2-year-old Huffy Blackwater. "I tried antifreeze so I can use it, but still it's so cold sometimes, it still doesn't work — so I only try to use it when it's really nice outside.
"After this winter, it's going to be like that forever until I try to get it fixed."
Still, history sophomore James Halgren, who sports a two-decade-old Farrago bicycle with minor rusting and a slightly torn seat cover, said even the most brutal climate hasn't weathered his ride.
"I didn't really do much for it, but it's a really old bike, so all I did is check the chain and it wasn't even rusted up," he said. "Whenever a problem comes up, I just try to fix it."
