Do you get annoyed with extreme mountain bike servicing costs? Regular maintenance can be the best solution for you. Guess what it will save both your cost & life. Sometimes we forget to take care of our bikes that can bring a threat to our life.
Regular maintenance enhances your bike’s durability & simultaneously improves bike performance. While you are skipping maintenance, road dust & grime will corrode your bike’s frame & other vital components. As a result, you will face a noisy, uncomfortable ride. Unfortunately, at a time, you will find damaged brakes pad, cables, etc. if you want to protect your favorite mountain bike, then follow the below mountain bike maintenance tips.
Regular maintenance will protect your bike from getting rust. Besides, you will be able to avoid frequent components of damages & servicing. However, it will change your riding experience. I am sharing a complete guide to keep your mountain bike fit, clean & safe.
Maintenance of mountain bike tips for beginners
Clean Weekly
Don’t get time to take care of your bike? It makes a high probability that you already wasted plenty of money on bike servicing. A simple weekly bike cleaning & washing is enough to avoid bike damages. After returning from any ride, remove the mud & other specks of dirt instantly when you get time. If you use your bike daily, then weekly cleaning is a must.
You should use a mountain bike maintenance kit to avoid damaging bike components or finishing. After proper cleaning, lubricating all moving parts is essential. It only takes 10-15minutes to clean & swap the bikes with the appropriate inspection. You need to inspect carefully to find any damaged cables, brake, rubbing, or losing bolts, wheels, etc.
It is vital to get a thorough bike cleaning after riding on muddy areas. Follow the below steps for full suspension mountain bike maintenance.
Vital Components
No one is indeed born with any particular skill. It is your dedication, willingness & effort that can give you expert mechanical skills. Mountain bike cleaning has a different phase. You need to do the full suspension mountain bike maintenance systematically to get the best output.
In any Mtb maintenance course, an expert mechanic suggests giving focus on vital components. It is your priority while you are doing bike maintenance. Because if your essential elements get affected, that causes enormous mountain bike servicing cost.
Hubs
Hub maintenance is mandatory to avoid any wheels issues. You need to clean them regularly & examine whether it is smooth & tight. If you find any problems, then adjust them quickly
Cranks
Fixing crank’s arms are simple. But you need a good mountain bike maintenance kit. If you find pedaling problematic, you need to adjust the cranks with the right tools. In case your cranks are moving, you must adapt the cranks. Remember, cranks are controlling your chain. So loose crank is dangerous.
Drivetrain Lubricating & cleaning
Do you disturb with odd sounds from the chain & sprockets? I know bike rubbing against metal doesn’t make a pretty sound. However, it also reduces your bike chain & sprockets durability.
Suppose you don’t take any care of your bike. That will damage your chain frequently. So, you need to replace them. The problem is replacing costs a lot of money. You can save this frequent replacing cost if you lubricate the chain regularly. Clean the chain weekly & apply a good lubricant oil. It will give a countless smooth ride.
You need the below items to apply lubricating oil.
- A disposable rags.
- A good brand lubricating oil.
- Few degreaser products.
- Toothbrush
- A flat screwdriver
You should try to remove all the dirt from the chain, chain wheels & sprockets. While you are done with the cleaning, the next phase is to slide the cranks backward. At the same time, put a few drops of bike oil on each link of your chain.
The funny parts are regular lubricating will make your lubricating time shorter.
Inflated Tires
Another vital thing to get an excellent mountain bike ride is tire pressure. While your tire pressure is low, you need to put more effort into gaining high speed. On the contrary, you can achieve high speed effortlessly with a high-pressure tire. It is wise to check tires’ pressure before starting the ride.
While you find the pressure is low, you should fix it. As a biker, you must keep a good quality floor pump with a pressure gauge. This tool is easy to use & can make your tires inflated within a minute. However, you will find the pressure recommendation on the side of your tires. Generally, the rear tires need more pressure as it handles the top riders’ weight.
It is essential to check bicycle tires regularly to get a hassle-free ride. But if you use your bike rarely, then you don’t need to maintain the inflated tires. It is better to take out the tires while you are storing it for an extended period. It will help to avoid cracking on the tires.
Tightens nuts & bolts
It is essential to inspect the bike regularly. Your maintenance of mountain bikes is incomplete without regular components checking. While you find any loose nuts & bolts, you can easily adjust it. It reduces the probability of losing nuts & bolts. But don’t tighten it hard. You know some crew holds the mudguards that protect you from the noisy ride.
Losing nuts & bolts are common issues for any bikers. After a long ride, there is a high chance of getting loose bolts. Loose screws can give an annoying riding experience. Besides, it can also bring dangers for the riders. You should give special attention to the critical areas of nuts such as axles, drivetrain, chain, etc.
Break
Rider safety is another key priority. Braking efficiency can ensure your safety. If you are a speed lover, don’t forget to check brake effectiveness regularly. While you haul the brake to the handlebar & find nothing occurs until the lever touches the handlebar. Then you need to re-position the brake pads to the rim. Well, tighten the barrel in the brake lever to adjust the brake pads closer.
First, unscrew the wires bolt, then tighten the adjusting barrel. After that, again screw the wire holding bolt. It is better to twist the wire holder bolt & then tighten it. As a result, you will get more space to adjust the brake.
Mountain bike cleaning is essential. You need to clean both the pads & braking surface properly. Make sure there is no dirt, oil, or muds. Dirty parts reduce your brake’s durability. So, regular maintenance of braking is also beneficial.
Wheels
It is essential to freely spin the wheel around the hub without hitting anything. If your mountain bike doesn’t spin correctly, then you need to fix it. It may be due to loose spokes, damaged hubs, or affected rims.
Pedals
It is essential to clean & grease the pedals, especially the joining & moving points. You should clean the pedals & put grease around the crank where the pedals rotate.
Seat
In mountain bike maintenance, most people forget this step. This simple skipping can spoil the mountain bike frame.
As a result, you need to pay full suspension mountain bike service costs. To save servicing costs, check the seat regularly, whether it can move up & down. It is better to avoid over-tightening the seat posts. You may apply gentle grease but avoid carbon.
Some people have a misconception that a mountain bike maintenance stand is mandatory. But It is not essential to buy mountain bike maintenance stands for doing basic maintenance. You can perform all the above maintenance without a stand.
Adjust Flat tube
Some MTB bikes come with a flat tube. You must find a tire removing process in any good mtb maintenance course on Youtube. You will get millions of tires removed from rim video in all languages. It is better first to watch the videos then apply my tricks. It is important to keep patience to fix your flat tube. First, manage two plastic tire levers. It makes your task easier. Follow the below steps:
- Remove your wheel.
- Remove your tire
- Remove your Inner flat tube
Another tip you should check the tires, inner tube carefully to avoid any further accidents. You need to fix a new flat tube after cleaning the tire. Punctures are very common issues. So, you should learn this basic flat-tube fixing for an emergency.
Truing mountain bike wheels or cracked rims is not basic maintenance of mountain bikes. You need to take professional mountain bike repair services. It is better to buy a new bike instead of paying colossal bike service costs in some cases.
Final Thought:
Now you are learning all the necessary maintenance of mountain bikes. If you do some practice, you can be a master of these skills. This regular maintenance definitely improves your riding experience & solves any riding issues.
Life safety is more important than any other thing. So give some little time on bike maintenance to avoid accidents. It will save both your money & life.