New to mountain biking...maintenance tips please

[Deantdi]

Hi all,just bought my first mountain bike,a Giant rincon ,which i belive to be a good first bike,thoughts on this if you differ.

Just after some tips regarding cleaning and keeping gears and chain in peak condition really as not sure about WD40 on bikes as a preferred lubricant.

Cheers all and hope to see you on some trails soon.

[Parrot of Doom]

I just use engine oil on mine. People might laugh but its cheap and does the job. You can use a diesel soaked rag to clean the chain, it works brilliantly, or buy a chain removal tool and duck it in a bucket of diesel.

Whatever you do make sure you don't use any high pressure hoses on the bike. A gentle sprinkle with a garden hose followed by a rub down with a mucky rag is good enough. Make sure that chain is always slightly slick with oil, if you come back to an orange chain then you haven't been looking after it enough.

Bear in mind your chain and rear cassette will wear down much more quickly than a road bike, due to the crud that sticks to the chain. As soon as the chain starts hopping over teeth, its time to replace both.

[SCOOTERMAN]

Deantdi said:

Hi all,just bought my first mountain bike,a Giant rincon ,which i belive to be a good first bike,thoughts on this if you differ.

Just after some tips regarding cleaning and keeping gears and chain in peak condition really as not sure about WD40 on bikes as a preferred lubricant.

Cheers all and hope to see you on some trails soon.

Correct, WD40 (and GT85) are poor chain lubricants. You want something (! Everyone prefers dirrerent brands. I just found those two as examples) like this:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod... or http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod... with the exact one you use being dependant upon the conditions through which you'll be riding. Apply to the inside of the chain, wipe away the excess, and job done.

[gbbird]

An old toothbrush with warm water works wonders to clean crud from the front and rear mechs. Always worth keeping these things clean so as not to hinder gear changing performance.

g

[Trooper2]

Deantdi, you may find this useful:

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=85

[Saddle bum]

Invest in a bike maintenance stand.

Recommend you do not use engine oil on chain/gears. Use a proprietry lube on chain.

Gear rollers should be removed and regreased on a regular basis, get a spare set and rotate them.

Cleaning chains - use a chain bath gizmo, with a cleaner like Hyper Clean by Comma. Its water soluble. Clean chain spray off with water. Use WD40 to drive out water, dry and lube. Remove wheel to clean chain, lay a piece of dowell across the rear ends to take up the chain slack.

Use car shampoo on rest of bike.

[BOR]

Slags,

my next bike will come with discs. How do you go about cleaning the bike without contaminating the pads ?

I'll be using Mucc Off as a cleaner. Do I need to cover the discs/callipers with a plastic bag, or is that not necessary ?

Ta.

[Pablo16v]

BOR - Muc off won't contaminate the pads. I've never had to cover the calipers in all the years I've used discs and I use everything from Muc off to fairy liquid when I clean the bike. It's when you come to lube the chain, cassette, rear mech etc that you have to be careful. I use GT85 or TF2 spray to disperse the water after cleaning and you can't really afford to get that on the discs or pads.

[BOR]

Thanks Pablo. And welcome.

I'm a big fan of WD40 to protect against corrosion, but I think some of the Pedal Powerers are against it. I think if you wipe of the excess it should be OK. I definitely won't get that stuff anywhere near the brakes.