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When you’re out on the trail, miles and miles from home, you don’t want any serious mechanical situations occurring with your bike. Pushing your bike up and down steep, slippery slopes is not what mountain biking is all about. You want a fun, exhilarating ride, and the best way to ensure this is by keeping your bike in good mechanical order. Here we look at a few things you should do to keep your bike in shape.

Clean your bike after each ride

When you’re out all day on the trail, you’re bound to get dirty, and so is your bike. While you might not mind staying dirty for a while, your bike does. When you get back to camp or when you load your bike into your car, give it a quick clean with some spare water. If your bike is caked in mud, clean the excess gunk with a stick. When you get your bike home, give it a thorough clean. Take particular care in getting all the mechanical parts as clean as a whistle.

Keeping your chain lubricated

Once you have cleaned all the crap off your mountain bike, then you need to lubricate the chain. A dry chain will eventually lead to big problems, including kinks and broken links. And Murphy’s Law clearly states that this will happen at the worst possible time, when you’re miles from anywhere. Before you lubricate the chain, make sure that it is clean. Also, clean the gear sprockets with a small brush. There are special chain lubricants available specifically designed for the rigors of mountain bike riding, so use these instead of a general purpose lubricant.

Lubricating your brake cables

While we’re on the subject of lubrication, every now and then you should lubricate your brake cables. You don’t need to do this as often as your chain, but you should do it periodically. It’s really quite simple to do. Remove the cable from both the brake housing and the levers and then remove the cable from the plastic covering and lubricate the whole length of the cable before putting it all back again. If your brakes feel sticky, then this may be all you need to do to fix it.

Adjusting your brakes

Your brakes can really come in handy when you’re on a big downhill ride, so the last thing you want is for them not to be working properly. Before going on a ride, always check your brakes are properly adjusted. Firstly, if you have cantilever or V-type brakes, check that your brake pads are not too worn and that they are adjusted properly. If they need replacing, then do so. It may be a good idea to have some spares just in case. Alternatively, they may just need a little adjusting which is a simple procedure. It may just be a little fiddly and may require some trial and error. Next, adjust the cable from the brake and then do the fine tuning from the handlebar brake levers. If you have disc brakes, these will require a more complex service so you should closely follow the directions in your owner’s manual.

You should do a full service on your mountain bike periodically. The length of time between services will depend on how often, and how hard you ride, and the conditions in which you’re riding. If you enjoy spending time on your bike in the great outdoors, then you’ll need to be prepared to spend a little time with your bike in the garage as well.

When you’re out on the trail, miles and miles from home, you don’t want any serious mechanical situations occurring with your bike. Pushing your bike up and down steep, slippery slopes is not what mountain biking is all about. You want a fun, exhilarating ride, and the best way to ensure this is by keeping your bike in good mechanical order. Here we look at a few things you should do to keep your bike in shape.

Clean your bike after each ride

When you’re out all day on the trail, you’re bound to get dirty, and so is your bike. While you might not mind staying dirty for a while, your bike does. When you get back to camp or when you load your bike into your car, give it a quick clean with some spare water. If your bike is caked in mud, clean the excess gunk with a stick. When you get your bike home, give it a thorough clean. Take particular care in getting all the mechanical parts as clean as a whistle.

Keeping your chain lubricated

Once you have cleaned all the crap off your mountain bike, then you need to lubricate the chain. A dry chain will eventually lead to big problems, including kinks and broken links. And Murphy’s Law clearly states that this will happen at the worst possible time, when you’re miles from anywhere. Before you lubricate the chain, make sure that it is clean. Also, clean the gear sprockets with a small brush. There are special chain lubricants available specifically designed for the rigors of mountain bike riding, so use these instead of a general purpose lubricant.

Lubricating your brake cables

While we’re on the subject of lubrication, every now and then you should lubricate your brake cables. You don’t need to do this as often as your chain, but you should do it periodically. It’s really quite simple to do. Remove the cable from both the brake housing and the levers and then remove the cable from the plastic covering and lubricate the whole length of the cable before putting it all back again. If your brakes feel sticky, then this may be all you need to do to fix it.

Adjusting your brakes

Your brakes can really come in handy when you’re on a big downhill ride, so the last thing you want is for them not to be working properly. Before going on a ride, always check your brakes are properly adjusted. Firstly, if you have cantilever or V-type brakes, check that your brake pads are not too worn and that they are adjusted properly. If they need replacing, then do so. It may be a good idea to have some spares just in case. Alternatively, they may just need a little adjusting which is a simple procedure. It may just be a little fiddly and may require some trial and error. Next, adjust the cable from the brake and then do the fine tuning from the handlebar brake levers. If you have disc brakes, these will require a more complex service so you should closely follow the directions in your owner’s manual.

You should do a full service on your mountain bike periodically. The length of time between services will depend on how often, and how hard you ride, and the conditions in which you’re riding. If you enjoy spending time on your bike in the great outdoors, then you’ll need to be prepared to spend a little time with your bike in the garage as well.

There are many makes and models of mountain bikes on the market today. In fact, you can usually find exactly what you want – right off the showroom floor – without ordering specialized mountain bikes. However, sometimes specialized mountain bikes can offer more of what you want in a ride!

Bikes can be specialized in a variety of ways – depending on what type of performance you want from the bike. Some bikes are even specialized simply to look a certain way, and the specialization has little or nothing to do with performance. Again, it all just depends on what you want and what you need – and how much you are willing to pay for it.

Many people request or make very small changes to the bike – but certain changes turn an ordinary mountain bike into a specialized mountain bike – no doubt about it! For instance, many people want specialized frames, but everything else about the bike is factory standard. A large majority of people want specialized ultra-smooth suspension seat posts or fully adjustable handlebars made of alloy.

Specialized suspensions are common requests and modifications that a large number of mountain bikers make. Specialized tires, which are suited to specific types of terrain, are popular as well. Of course, specialized paint jobs or designs are the top requests and modifications made by those who place a great deal of importance on the look of the bike as well.

Specialized parts and components cost a lot of money in most cases, but some specialization and customization can be done affordably, if you are willing to do the work yourself and only pay for the needed parts. Having to pay a shop to do the work starts driving the costs up quickly! So, if you want to customize your bike in anyway, try to learn what you need to know to do the work yourself to keep costs down.

Some people have major specialization work done, and by the time the work is complete – the bike rides and looks like a totally different bike! Of course this type of specialization should be reserved for expert riders who know exactly what they want, and how those customizations will affect their ride or their techniques. This type of specialization runs into the thousands of dollars – over the cost of the bike without the specialization!

Beware of the word specialized! It doesn’t always mean what you think it means. For instance, many bike shops use the word ‘specialized’ in their business name – this doesn’t necessarily mean that they sell specialized bikes. It is also important to note that a specialized bike, in most cases, does not mean that you are the only person in the world with that type of bike – unless you’ve ordered a specialized bike that is guaranteed to be one-a-kind (most bike shops will not make this guarantee, but you could get such a guarantee from a major manufacturer).

Beginners do not need specialized bikes. Again, the average rider can find exactly what they want and need in a bike shop, or at an Internet bike store. Some bikes arrive at the store for resale already specialized – in almost every case you have the option of getting a bike that you see in a store customized to suite your needs, but it usually costs quite a bit, and you have to wait for the parts to come in and the work to be done before you can take the bike out of the store and onto the trails.

The best way to get a specialized mountain bike is to order one at an online bike store, or directly through the manufacturer. This is the best way to ensure that you are getting the right specialization to suit your needs and desires. Just make sure that you have enough experience with mountain bikes to know what kind of specialization you want before you just start adding or changing components without fully planning or thinking things through – sometimes specialization can ruin your ride, as opposed to improving it – which is what specialized mountain bikes are supposed to be all about!