Is this really how it is?

[Irulan]

with mtn biking, you might as well resign yourself to things breaking. The important part of this is when it happens ON THE TRAIL ( and it will) what are you going to do about it?

I've seen
-broken seat post
-derailleurs broken off
-broken chains
-chains sucked so hard that you can't get them out
-brake levers snapped off ( try riding 5 miles downhill with just a front brake sometime, this one was me)

It helps to ride with someone that has McGuyver like tendencies.

[Aggie_Ama]

Sundial- Hmmm I just stole the Mavics he had on his hardtail but I think they are the Crossland, who knows I just see they are better than my stock Scott wheels. I know they do disc and tubeless, don't know much else except the do ride better.

Tahoe- Maybe I will just go over to the shop tomorrow and check on the lube. They are next door to my work. We think the RnR is good for it but maybe they have a different suggestion. It has been so dry this summer that we are riding in dust bowls. I don't think we need to break down bikes in the winter, in Texas there is no riding season. We have rain 30 days a year and only hit 40 in the winter, it is ride time anytime. But since the bike only has 300 miles at this point I think just a solid tune up again for spring race season will be in order.

Irulan- I am trying but dang I thought dropping almost his entire bonus on the bike would mean a little less problems. I am used to road riding where I might spend $100-200 a year on parts and labor including paying for a tune up. I am learning a lot over on the dirty side.

[TahoeDirtGirl]

sometimes the brakes are there and sometimes they aren't??
this is a really bad thing, right? Is this a disk brake thing? I don't have disk brakes, but if I upgrade I'd probably be looking at them. But, are they reliable? mine may be noisy and not grab as good when really muddy, but at least they still work to at least slow me down. I'd hate to suddenly be without brakes!!!
vickie

It's something with the Juicy 7s. I thought I had a bubble in the fluid somewhere, as that is what happened with the old style car brakes when you would have a bubble or air trapped in your brake line. Apparently this is something they have seen out here (on the east) and just to be a stickler, I called my LBS out west and they said the same thing.

I shouldn't have said it like that, you still have a little braking power but not much. Enough to slow you down but not to stop. I'm having all of my lines replaced to make sure there isn't a microleak in the lines, which was my idea. Sometimes you just have to take over....It does get better after pumping them, which makes me think air. Thus the line replacement. They are disk brakes and thus the point that the better the equipment, sometimes it requires a little more preventive maintenance as well as repair.

[Irulan]

I am going to have to look into that Juicy 7 thing, had not heard of any issues.

[Irulan]

oh, and wait until the medical bills start coming in.

We've had a rough summer here. DH broke his pelvis and collarbone and I blew up my shoulder. I will know in a few weeks if it will require surgical repair or not.

[limewave]

oh, and wait until the medical bills start coming in.

We've had a rough summer here. DH broke his pelvis and collarbone and I blew up my shoulder. I will know in a few weeks if it will require surgical repair or not.

Oh no! Take care of yourselves. Injuries are no fun.

I think I read in an earlier post about a "creaking" fork. My front suspension creaked for the longest time. It was so loud and embarrassing, everyone could hear me coming or going. I had the LBS look into it, experienced mtb buddies, and no one could figure it out. Then finally . . . it just went away.

I think the change had something to do with use. Normally I mtb just 5-6 times a year. This season I've made it a point to mtb at least once a week. All this to say the creaking may not be anything important.

[stephanie1129]

Working at a bike shop, I would have to say that the repair work sounds pretty typical of someone doing regular riding for six months. You should be lucky that that was all that was needed, pretty soon he'll probably need new brake pads, and suspension overhaul, and pretty soon after that he'll need a rebuild kit for his suspension which usually runs at leas $100 plus more for labor.

[fastdogs]

it sounds kind of like buying a used mountain bike might be risky, no? If these things are common after only 6 months of riding, probably you would have to plan on making all these repairs to any used bike you might buy?
vickie

[Irulan]

it sounds kind of like buying a used mountain bike might be risky, no? If these things are common after only 6 months of riding, probably you would have to plan on making all these repairs to any used bike you might buy?
vickie

To ANY bike you buy. It's just mountain biking. Dirt, dust, mud, miles, rain, grit, crashes---it's just hard on a bike is all. I have four mountain bikes, two of which I acquired used, two new. Level of maintenance is relative to how much each is ridden, and in what conditions. One of the used bikes I bought was pre owned by a shop owner and in cherry condition. To this day ( it's a 2001 formerly top line model) I have NEVER rebuilt the rear suspension, although I did replace a fork on it. That was from riding style and not failure. The other one - it did require a total rebuild but that was because it hadn't been maintained at all

There are great buys out there for used mountain bikes. I check CL twice a day, and I amazed at the bargains out there on really fine mountain bikes. New or used, a well ridden MTB is going to go through parts at some level whether you like it or not. One school of thought is the "ride it til it breaks" school but that can get you into trouble on the trail. Another school of thought is to do all your own maintenance so it gets done when you think it should be done and not what LBS suggests.

[stephanie1129]

it sounds kind of like buying a used mountain bike might be risky, no? If these things are common after only 6 months of riding, probably you would have to plan on making all these repairs to any used bike you might buy?
vickie

buying a used bike of any kind is always very risky, especially if you don't know a lot about specific components and brands. However, a lot of the people that I see that are selling their mountain bikes, have never really ridden it much off road if much at all and are still in decent shape. Bikes can be expensive to maintain, and just like a car, the more expensive it is, the more expensive it will be when things start to break down or need replacement.