If ever there was a group of people who collectively were not prone to suffer fools gladly, it would be Pro team bike mechanics. Sure, you may have heard stories about Pro mechanics being brusque and none too helpful, clearly however, Andy Stone was not among that particular focus group. Andy has been in the trenches for years as Shimano's key man at the U.S. Races, but for 2010 he's signed on a Team BMC mechanic. We caught up with Andy at the BMC team camp where he found some time to answer a few quick questions regarding bike set-up.

Tip #1 - “Most of the bikes are pretty similar out there. What I can do differently for my riders to give them an advantage is the air pressure and lubricants. Every part of the bike needs different lubes. Sometimes you’ll have todilute a heavier lube to get into tight areas. I learned a lot about lubes from the gun and car world.”

Tip #2 - “After being a Shimano tech for many years, I had to learn Campagnolo. No matter what components are on the bike, I’d say it takes a week or so to get a bike tuned in a way that I can say I know the bike. It takes me about two hours to actually build a bike up.”

Tip #3 - “I’m starting to find a sweet spot with the different rim and tire combinations— and they are different. The rim and tire work together—they protect each other. With deep wall rims everything starts to change. In regards to how much air pressure to run with tubulars, it’s important to not change the shape of the tire by running too much pressure.”

Tip #4 - “The front derailleur is the hardest thing to adjust on a bike. I learned my most important tip on how to adjust a front derailleur from the stories I once heard about a blind mechanic. For him it was all in the feel of the cable. Your hands will feel what your eyes can’t see. My bikes will find their ‘happy space’ in the cables after about a half hour of riding.”

Tip #5 - “An important bike tip for every rider is that they don’t need a super-light bike, they need a super-efficient bike. I’ll leave it at that!”

Tip #6 - “I use regular dishwashing soap to clean the bikes. Don’t use a heavy degreaser on the chain. Use something like 409 or Simple Green. After the bike is clean, lube a rag and run the chain through it. Just like with air pressure, you can overlube your chain.”