- Keep your chain clean. You don’t have to use their stuff, either. I use Simple Green, available everywhere, and clean all the grease etc. from my chain, dry it TOTALLY (this is important, make sure all the cleaner is gone, too) in the sun for a day, lube it up with Pedro’s Extra Dry and I’m ready to go again. Lots of people just keep throwing lube on there like there was no tomorrow. Bad idea.
- If you want to keep your drivetrain wear free and riding smooth I think you should replace your chain every four months if you ride hard. It’s relatively inexpensive (I pay about $13 for a Sachs M-55 chain from Nashbar) and prevents you from wearing out your chainrings and freewheel teeth in back. After all, it’s cheaper than replacing your freewheel casette, chainrings, AND chain.
- If you have an aluminium or carbon fiber frameset, watch out for chainsuck. They’re making frames from the lightest and most thin walled material ever now, and chain suck is becoming a big problem because instead of just scratching (like it did to your old steel frame), it’s eating through the aluminum. Keep your chain well adjusted, and buy a Ringle Anti-Suck Chain Thing. I can’t stress this any more. If I had a shop, I would issue an Anti-Suck Chain Thing with every aluminum bike sold. Props to Trek for including built-in, adjustable chain deflectors on their new frames.
- Wanna keep your wheels in true longer? Have them trued up well, just to the place you like them, and then apply some Lock-Tite or similar substance to the spoke nipples. Spin the wheel hard, and let the stuff work its way into the threads. Kind of the poor man’s solution, but it should keep you in true much longer.
- Take 40-60 grit sandpaper and sand your rims down. (Providing you’re not sanding a brand new ceramic rim down!!) Helps braking a lot. If you want to go super old school BMX, you can even apply Coca Cola to your rims and let dry. I wouldn’t rely on it as my new trick for optimum braking performance, but it works for a little while!
- Drill your rims for Schrader valves, and get a Presta adaptor for about a buck. Lets you ride a Schrader rim with a Presta tube, but then if you flat, you can use any style replacement. You can even get tubes at K-Mart if you need to. (Not to mention that schrader tubes are lighter, cheaper, and have less parts, so they wont break as easily.)
- Use good tubes. It pays off. Paying $10 for a tube is a little painful at first, but when you compare the quality of the product with that the standard cheap Taiwanese made rubber you usually buy for $5, it’s really worth it. Flat solution in your tubes also is a great way to stop flats from thorns, glass, etc… (but wont help with snake-bite flats. The only way to stop those is to keep your tires inflated properly.) Flat solution also only works with Schrader valves. (Well, not true. You can use stuff like Slime with presta valves if you take a knife, cut a hole in the uninflated presta tube, squirt in the slime, and patch it back up. I wouldn’t reccommend it.)
- Get a good bottom bracket. It’s worth it, and it won’t even cost too much. If you have a $500-$1500 bike, you probabaly have the standard, cheap Shimano bottom bracket, which only costs about $14. The XT ones are only about $30, and work a hell of a lot better and last a lot longer. If you’re willing to spend $50-$75, you’ll be riding with the pros.
- Wheel BS: Up until a couple of years ago, all wheels used to come with 36 spokes, but now it seems that 32 has become the standard. This sucks. I NEVER used to screw wheels up as much as I do now. The next set of wheels I buy are going to be 36 spoke. It’s worth it. If you’re concerned about weight, just use a half-decent hub and maybe alloy spoke nipples, and you should not see any weight difference between the 32 and 36 spoke wheels. Just a big strength difference. Some people have told me that 32 spokers hold up fine if you keep them constantly tuned up. This may be true, but most of us don’t have the time to sit down and true our wheels after each ride. (If you even know how!) Plus, slam a 32 spoke and a 36 spoke wheel into a big rock and see which one looks better.
- CamelBacks are cool. Very easy to drink from on the trail, and hold lots more water than a big water bottle. Try the CamelBack Mule. The resivoir holds 90 oz. of water and is sold with a snazzy little backpack which can hold your tubes, pump, tools, food, etc…
- Do you have a Shimano Hyperdrive C drivetrain? Yes? Do you spin your drivetrain out all the time? Yes? Then replace your lousy 42 tooth stock outer chainring, with a 46 tooth one (48 if you can hack it), and if you have an 11 tooth outer ring in back, change it to a 12 tooth cassette cog and watch your speed go through the roof. (Note that it may take quite a bit of tinkering to make your front derailleur work with the larger chain rings)
- Magura Raceline brakes must be the best brakes ever. People say they are so expensive, but think about it. They include the brakes, levers, and cables. Now add up the price for top of the line front and back cantilever brakes, decent levers, and great cables, and the two are equal. Now compare performance? The Magura wins every time. The downsides? The cantis will always be lighter, and if you’re not a pro mechanic, these things can be a nightmare to set up.
- Want really cool brakes wthout shelling out the cash for the Maguras? Get Onza HO brakes. They work very well, cost about $50 a set, and adjust to where you want them in a second. (If you can find them now that Onza has gone bankrupt!)
- Spend a few more dollars and pick up the Shimano V brakes. They work very very well and have a real positive feel that requires no pressure to activate. The only problem is that if you don’t already have Shimano brake levers, you have to shell out $60 extra. All in all, they’re probabaly going to end up costing as much as the Maguras, but they’re much lighter.
After riding we always recommend to comprare cialis.
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