Horrendous mountain bike maintenance costs

Jeepers – I ride almost every day and spend virtually nothing on spares. think I put a new chain on my commuter a couple of years ago – oh – and a gear cable. Tandems had nothing in the last 3000 or so miles bar a pair of tyres. MTB has had little use recently Think it had some new pads a couple of thousand miles ago

Jeepers – I ride almost every day and spend virtually nothing on spares. think I put a new chain on my commuter a couple of years ago – oh – and a gear cable. Tandems had nothing in the last 3000 or so miles bar a pair of tyres. MTB has had little use recently Think it had some new pads a couple of thousand miles ago

Yes, but he’s doing decent mileage on an MTB, and as Jamba said you can easily spend more than it costs to run a car (except fuel of course). But tbh all off-road sports are cost heavy, try moto-x (or on another thread, horses…).

Since Christmas I’ve bought (all to replace worn out and/or broken items):
– front tyre, £45
– pads * 2, £20
– spd pedals, £34
– winter spd boots, £109
– XT 11 speed rear mech, £60
– cassette, £70
– front ring (oval direct), £40
– chain, £12
– light battery, £15

And maintenance-wise:
– obviously all the above
– Pike lower leg service
– Fox shock can service
– new rear hub bearings inc freehub

I ride 3 times a week (2 nights and 1 day), in the wet, rocky, rooty Tweed Valley – such as tonight, night-ride at Innerleithen.

Oh and 3/ get a HT singlespeed, and learn how to maintain your brakes. I treated mine to a new chain this year, £8, and it might need some new pads in a month or two depending how much it rains.

Not an option. I struggle on steep climbs as it is with a 1 x 10 setup with a 30T chain ring and the lowest gear 42 at the back on a 29er. Going singlespeed will make this problem a lot worse.
The last thing I want is rigid. I also struggle and get pains after riding due to the suspension not soaking up trail clatter very well (it’s not working as well as it used to thats for sure) so the last thing I want is rigid. I’d probably find walking less painful!

OP do you check your bike over before and after a ride and how often do you clean and lube it?
Putting a muddy bike in the shed and pulling it out again for the next ride is going to increase wear massively over a properly cleaned and lubed bike.

OP – how are you cleaning your bike?

I usually wash the bike with the Mobi V17 Jet Washer after each ride. Before anyone thinks this is a conventional Jet Wash its not. Its mobile battery powered and only the same pressure as a hosepipe. I nearly always degrease the chain and relube between rides.

Your mechanic is laughing all the way to the bank there.. £51 for discs.. blimey

Yes. Thats the one that stands out as a rip off the most. The mechanic told me the originals were getting worn out (after just over 1 years use) and needed replacing immediately, but I didn’t have time to look at how to fit them or what to get, so I just left him to it. I’d never do that again since I found out how easy they are to fit.

brakes don’t just need bleeding on a regular basis. They are sealed, nothing gets in or out. Fluid should last years and years.

They were bleed numerous times because I kept replacing componants when trying to fix the leaking Shimano Brakes.

OP, another tip is that even badly contaminated pads can be returned to life with a bit of sandpaper and an hour or two in the oven.

But wouldn’t doing this contaminate the oven ? Last thing I want in the oven is oil off pads ?
If I could restore my pads this would save me a lot of money as I’ve got loads of contaminated pads in the garage.

£300 to change the bearings is a ridiculous price anyhow. Sounds like your mechanic has taken you for the proverbial ride

This is not for bearings. Frame bearings he said were likely to be £40-£50 for parts and £40 for labour. The £300 is for all the work and replacement componants that are currently needed on the bike, which in addition to the frame bearings; a bottom bracket replacement, a new rear wheel, new chain, a new rear mech and the bushings to be replaced in the fork.

Be interesting to know what kind of maintenance failure caused ride ending rides requiring a taxi.

One was the freehub failing. The bike was only about 15 months old.
The other was the mech getting ripped off the bike. The people I was with managed to turn it into a singlespeed, but as it’s not a hard tail, the chain won’t stay on, so I had to turn back and go home.

I’ve not the whole post but just seen your cost breakdown , your mechanic is taking the piss ! Find another one, there are plenty of good ones around who will treat your fairly.

Since moving house I’ve found another home mechanic. I have not used him much yet but I’ll see if he treats me more fairly.

There is a balance – many jobs can be done in less time than it takes to get the bike to a shop/mechanic with just some basic skills and cheap tools.

My mechanic (at both my previous address and my current address) has always been less than half a mile away so it doesn’t really take any time to ride to his house and walk back home.

If you have a dry garage or shed you can do the jobs in then for me that’s half the fun…..love having a go myself and learning how to do stuff on the bike. I only tend to pop to the LBS if i don’t have a specific tool.

I’ve got a garage and it is dry. So far most of the stuff I’ve tried to do myself (replacing a boken spoke and trying to sort out the faulty Shimano Deore’s) I’ve hated doing it and it’s been time consuming. It’s not put me in the mood to try and take on other jobs. But I will try when I get round to it to learn some new skills and try to learn each job one-by-one. But there’s no way I’m going to be able to learn how to fix everything that needs doing on my bike right now.

Unsure why you are complaining about prices

Because some of the componants seem to be made out of cheese the amount of times they need replacing. Bottom bracket last changed in October needs doing again now, for example. Pivot bearings only lasting only 10 months, another example.
The repeat problems with the brakes and suspension fork has lead me to being ripped off and I shouldn’t have paid for repeat repairs, looking back, and won’t be paying again to take something back to the same mechanic soon after he’s supposedly fixed it.

….and using Rebound Suspension….as I found out to my cost, they (or I think it’s just the one guy, Jason) are a joke.

Completely agree 100%
piss-takingly expensive as well

OP, I’m in Hindley, where’s the Mechanic based mate ?

Near the bottom end of Boresdane Woods
It’s not a bike shop, he works from home. BTW this not the mechanic I was using last year. I’ve only just starting using him very recently, so don’t really know what hes like yet. The only thing that has concerned me so far is that he’s telling me to replace a contaminated rotor.

It certainly does, personally I’d rather be cleaning/fixing than pretty much anything. Each to their own I guess.

Other way round for me! I’d rather be doing pretty much anything other than cleaning/fixing.

Rigid Singlespeeds are just admitting defeat unless your a complete masochist or live somewhere really dull.

Completely agree and if I got a single speed I think I’d find it too painful to ride it anywhere other than a dull route. Plus my main problems have been with the brakes anyway!
I’ve got to try and somehow not let the maintenance of a full suspension geared bike beat me.

Ive read and thought about and reread this, and what I’m still not clear about is that theres a lot of “constant fork problems” and “on-going brake problems” without it ever really being clear what the symptoms that led to that conclusion are.

Whats actually wrong with the forks? not going bouncy bouncy? going bouncy bouncy too much? too much sag, not enough sag?

Similar question with the brakes – Whats the actual problem? Not stopping very well? wheel not spinning properly?

Forks – loosing air, seals (at the top) came off once, one time they locked out completely, harsh ride, knocking, loosing travel. These have all come up at least once over that period and explain why it’s had to be fixed 3+ times.
Brakes – Constant contamination. Howling with piss poor stopping power. This is despite changing the pads numerous times, cleaning the rotors, and replacing the calipers.

Shimano brakes leaking oil is a known problem that’s been going on a good few years.

Send back under warranty if less than 2 years old.

Can probably replace the caliper with deore ones (not tried myself but should be fine).
I am planning to send back the 2x leaking calipers and 1x failed brake lever to Shimano and hope to get a refund or at least a set a of new ones. But I doubt they’d replace all the pads that it has ruined ?

Or the OP is a DH pro without the sponsorship and a team mechanic?

The bike has just been used for general trails mainly in the south pennines and some peak district. It’s never done any DH.

you can easily spend more than it costs to run a car

Going off my July-December 2016 repair bills it has cost me £0.40p per mile in maintenance. I doubt my car costs 40p per mile including everything (maintenance, petrol, car insurance and car tax put together!) Although my car will probably cost me at least as much over a year due to the higher milage that it does than the bike.

From the op’s location I’d also guess a chunk of the riding involves Rivington’s finest muck and abrasive gritstone. If that is the case, a basic hardtail 2nd winter bike would make the full sus last much longer and allow it to be taken out of service for some tlc.

A friend moved to south lakes and found bike parts lasted significantly longer…

Best mtb workshop in Lancashire is probably Ride On in Rawtenstall but quite a trek for you. Have also heard good things about bounce suspension in Preston but never used them.

As a priority I would ask for recommendations of good mechanics/bike shops rather than assume the most convenient will do the best job.

From the op’s location I’d also guess a chunk of the riding involves Rivington’s finest muck and abrasive gritstone. If that is the case, a basic hardtail 2nd winter bike would make the full sus last much longer and allow it to be taken out of service for some tlc.

Most of the riding is around Bury/Ramsbottom/Rochdale/Littleborough/Calderdale/Rivington/Darwen. I’ve got 3x mudguards though (two on the front and a mud hugger on the rear).

As a priority I would ask for recommendations of good mechanics/bike shops rather than assume the most convenient will do the best job.

If the bike shop is only in driving distance away, its going to cost car money and time.

For example, Rebound Suspension is a 20 minute drive away. This will be multiplied by 4X (Drop off/Return Home/Pick Up/Return Home) nearly an hour and half of my time. Going off my salary, this is worth about £30 of my time. Plus the costs of running the car for an hour and half driving a car-something I don’t enjoy doing. Plus the fact I’d need to have at least two bikes, because they often take about a week to fix it! This shows why I prioritise convenience.

Again , go and see Ben in Chorley

http://www.thebikecabin.com/

You can combine a visit with a ride around healey nab/rivington

An lbs can send off forks for servicing to TF Tuned although you’ll be paying postage. You need to find someone you can trust with your bike, for me that has meant round trips of up to 100 miles but I know it will be done properly.

Some posts have mentioned getting a hardtail and that’s definitely worth considering, check out Classifieds. I’ve always used a hardtail in Winter, just makes sense.

I doubt my car costs 40p per mile including everything (maintenance, petrol, car insurance and car tax put together!) [/I]

Are you sure, add in depreciation, interest (if on a loan) etc and then tell us.

Out of interest OP, what do you think all this should cost? You could save a fortune if you moved within a mile of CRC?

My point is convenience costs. Yes you can get everything in the above lists cheaper (including labour) but it requires a little effort from you in either skill/time in fitting it yourself or in the driving time/cost of going further afield.

You say you can’t/don’t want to do any of that, but then whinge at the cost of not doing it.

I do think your old chap took the piss, but your commitment to not doing anything for yourself allowed him to as he had a monopoly on your business

…it requires a little effort from you in either skill/time in fitting it yourself or in the driving time/cost of going further afield.

While most cycle owners don’t want to be a tinkerer, stripping down forks, and bushings every weekend…every bike owner should be capable of basic mechanics, to my mind you are simply not putting in even a little effort to get more comfortable with jobs on the bike, practice and you’ll get quicker and more competent.*(so long as you’re not a hamfisted idiot)

And you should at the very least be able to conduct your own trail side repairs, otherwise its make you an irritating ride companion, at worst it make you a liability.

Seeing as how all the experts are here I’m reposting my unanswrred thread here

Have been recommissioning some old original hope minis that have been left unused for a decade. Stripped and cleaned added new lines and put back on bike. Front bled fine but rear was not playing ball the bleed pressure gun was just going to zero with very little liquid coming through. Tighten the bolts on the caliper and then bled using the old fashioned squeeze lever method and it worked. Are bleed guns sometimes a problem or am I likely to go back in the morning to a squidgy lever and a pool of brake fluid on the floor?

Bleed gun is a motorbike one, works on the Wing!!

What’s convenient about having to ride a bike that doesn’t work or forever being without it because it’s in for repairs?

You really need to find a compromise. You are spending money to save you time and hassle, but that clearly hasn’t worked as it has caused more of both. Learn a little to help yourself a lot. You can figure out what things actually need replacing and do a few simple things yourself, plus understand part and servicing costs. That way you can keep better tabs on what does and does not need replacing, rather than giving your bike and credit card to a mechanic for a week.

a basic hardtail 2nd winter bike would make the full sus last much longer and allow it to be taken out of service for some tlc

+1. Having a hardtail knocking around to ride takes away the repair panic of needing to get the bike sorted for the weekend, and gives you a bit longer to potentially do the repairs yourself (or give to a mechanic without being as stressed about turnaround time).

Even better, build the hardtail up yourself from a frame only as a project 🙂 That’s where I learnt most of my spannering skills.

I know it probs sounds hard to hear, but if I was you OP, I’d be reluctantly giving up one ride a week for maintenance instead. Winter is especially hard on full sussers round here.

I know you’ve said you’re reluctant to take on these jobs, but like anything, once you’ve done it once and learned from that, you’ll be better next time. There’s many a youtube vid, and there’s a pretty decent Haynes manual that you can get from most Halfords that has all the basics covered. But if you want to cut down on costs then something else has to give. You either pay to have it replaced by a mechanic, or buy the bits and do it yourself, those are pretty much the only options. I think there’s prob enough folk on here who could help out with advice and so on as well.

Good luck!!

I’m sure it’s already been mentioned but making more use of warranties on such new parts in future could save a heck of a lot of this cost. Most cycling companies are pretty good so long as you don’t take the p1ss

I intend on trying to learn more jobs so that I’m not as dependant on the mechanic. Obviously there are some things I doubt I’ll ever be able to do, such as wheel repairs, full fork and shock servicing, but most of the other stuff I think doesn’t sound like it’s impossible for me to do one day.

I have got a hard tail (Specialized Crave) but I don’t like it because it has such an uncomfortable stretched out position when I’m on it, so always end up on the full suss.

Sounds like it’s too big, have you tried a shorter stem or adjusting the seat, maybe looking at changing the bars?

Or just sell it and get one that fits

get one of the bike maintenance books or IIRC poark tools have decent guides on the net.

also – stop degreasing your chain so often – its strips out the lube in the rollers and its hard to get that back in unless you use the putoline solid was stuff – I use this and get thousands of miles out of chains used offroad

I’m not reading through the thread again, but I’m pretty sure someone local to you made an offer to give you a hand/show you some things next time in exchange for some beers. Could be well worth your time following up.

I’d like to see a picture of this bikes condition before his mechanic is grilled anymore.
Also a lot of that is replacing parts ie rear mech that’s not maintenance.
Frame bearings that offer a lifetime warranty are just that they are bearings only .The dealer or bike shop still needs paying for them to be fitted biscuits Don,t pay the bills