7 Foot

My bike is in need of a service and seeing is I suddenly have a lot of time on my hands I thought I would do it myself.

Are there any useful websites or pages with hints/instructions on maintenance.

There is not anything noticeable wrong with it but a few of the gears are a little noisy and need adjusting.

It's a Marin Hawkhill if it makes a difference.

PG

Haynes manual ?

flat4

shame you don't get what mountain bike every month you get hints & tips to cleaning, maintaining, setting up etc.

not sure if there are any websites around, never looked


kev











can't believe i spelt mountain wrong

[Edited by flat4 - 8/8/2003 1:29:31 PM]

Marin

iTrader: (1)

Get some Muc Off - pink liquid, probably available in Halfords BikeHut. Spray over all the oily bits, chain etc. Leave for a few minutes and hose off. Dry everything of, spray the chain with WD40 and leave overnight, lube with dry, wax type lube in the dry weather and wet lube in the winter.

Brake and gear cables - release the outers from the cable stops, spray WD40 down the outers and slide them backwards and forwards repeatedly, wiping off the dirt that comes out the ends. Keep doing this until they feel smooth.

Clean rims with a fine grit wet and dry paper to get pad residue off and do the same to the pads themselves.

This should at least help things...

Check www.whatmtb.co.uk as that may have links to relevant sites or www.singletrackworld.com

[Edited by Marin - 8/8/2003 1:37:55 PM]

wiltshire_boy

Shimano have some good tips for setting up your gears:-

Shimano Europe

Pete Croney

MarkO is yer man for this one

7 Foot

Thanks guys, will give it a wirl over the weekend

PG

lol @ Pete,

Where is MarkO on this one

Luke

I think marko cleans bikes at £3.00 (Scottish pounds) a go.

Check to see if he has got all the dirt out of the chain... Hes new to the job so go easy on him

Project ST

http://www.mbuk.co.uk - check out the magazine, plus take a look at the 4ums as well.

They're not all 15 year olds (just the majority ).

Al

Riftzone

should be lookin at the followin:-

- give the chain a thorough degrease and re-lube
- check all cables for fraying
- check bottom bracket for play by holdin each pedal and trying to
wobble sideways (shouldnt be able to)
- with front brake on, push backwards and forwards (shouldnt be
any play, if there is headset is loose and needs tensioning)
- strip down your brakes (if v's) - easy to do, just follow your
nose. its surprisin how much crap gets in there
- make sure pedals are secure and lube the spd springs
- check suspension for smooth action, clear crud from seals
- check tyres for splits, tread depth
- check rims for wear, replace if too concave
- check spoke tensions
- make sure quick releases are seated properly and firm (without
being too tight)
- check frame for cracks
- check gear shifting
- check chainrings for missing/bent teeth

etc etc where to stop.

the maintenance forum on bikemagic is very good for specific questions.

MarkO

Never fear, Bicycle Repair Man is here.

Actually, I couldn't contribute yesterday 'cos I was out on mine. Unfortunately, though, due to an incident involving a large stick, a good dose of chain suck, and some very bad luck, it's now in the workshop, where they'll be attempting to straighten the frame and repair the damage. Otherwise it'll need some welding done on it.

As for maintaining the bike, well - do what I do, take it to the bike shop and get them to do it.

Oh, and BTW, for those who were wondering, I won't be taking the mechanic job.

7 Foot

Thanks again

MarkO - What was the deciding factor then, was it the £?

unclebuck

LOL @ MarkO

Had to happen sooner or later. Coming unstuck is part of the package.

now if you'd had a *proper* bike etc... etc....

UB

MarkO

7Foot - the deciding factor was two-fold, really. Firstly, whilst it might be fun to do it for a year or two, it's not a 'career', and the money wouldn't be enough long-term, so I'd want to get back into IT at some point. Secondly, I know the guys up there well, and it just wouldn't be fair on them to take a whole load of time and effort investment to get my fully-trained, and then 6 months later p1ss off back into a well-paid IT job....

UB - you're misunderstanding. I didn't crash - I was just riding along a flat wide piece of fire-track (100yds from where I was last Sunday when my bottom bracket disintegrated ), when a stick threw the chain down into the space between the hub and the cassette. As the bike moved forwards, the chain jammed, and yanked the rear mech up and around, bending the frame's mech-hanger in the process. It could have happened on any bike, regardless of size/make/type.

The only advantage I have is that because mine's a steel frame, it's less likely that the hanger will snap whilst it's being bent back, and even if it does a new one can be welded back on - if it was an Al or Ti frame, it'd be more likely to snap and I'd need a new frame if it did. So in this particular case, you're right - a heavy frame was better.

The annoying thing is that my wife suggested that if it's going to be dangerous, I should just replace the bike altogether. <red rag to a bull> . Shame I don't have the cash...

Looks like I won't be out on it tomorrow morning though...

Project ST

MarkO - most, if not all ally and ti frames should be equipped with a comparatively weak removable mech hanger these days. Bit gutting when that sort of stuff happens though

Al