I have changed one set of bearings I think in 7 winters on my 5, and one set of shock bushings. To clean it I jetwash it, takes 5 mins.

I don’t think bikes are as fragile as you think they are.. or at least Oranges aren’t 🙂

I’ve never really got Muc-Off. For me it didn’t seem to shift the mud any better than a sponge and water.

Instead of selling my old FS I kept it and run it on as my winter bike. Second hand values are pretty poor. I use a karcher pressure hose. Cleans the bike in a couple minutes. Only use any detergent like muck off once every couple months. MTB is made for mud.

Cost in £ for me is balanced against the cost of not MTB’ ing. Whatever keeps me enjoying my sport and fit is money well spent.

All your pivots, bearings and seals will actually suffer more from having water sprayed at them than having a layer of dried mud sticking to the outside of them

I’ve only replaced the horst links in my latest bike (bought april 2011) and never had to replace cartridge bearings in any other bike I’ve had. Same with hubs and pawls. Only cleaned and lubed them every year or so. I don’t wash the bike after every ride with cleaning agents. I don’t even rinse it after every ride. Even if a quality bike gets ridden through hub deep streams through winter, it still won’t be anywhere near as destroying as taking a hose to it. A bike can handle spray from the trail, ridden through gloop in winter – it’s the hosing down with the chemicals that kill them. The people that swear they don’t do this (that I’ve watched with a hose) is comical. They spend hundred of pounds a year sorting stuff out all because they think having a sparkling ‘mountain bike’ is the way things should be done.

Fair enough. Keeps me in a job!

ime
the biggest benefit to riding rigid in the winter is that you cut through the sloppy mud better
bearings are usually ok, fork and shock seals are more prone to getting muddy water in them though

My fs is heavy enough in the dry, let alone with mud clogging tyres and pivots. You also tend to ride slower in the wet, plus take longer to clean, therefore I use my ht mainly.
I bought a ht originally for the winter, after changing bearings faff on my old fsr. I dunno if it costs much more, but I wouldn’t go back to 1 fs.

When I used to ride my motorcycle through winter I would clean it on a dry autumn day, dry it off, then cover it in WD40, ACF50, GT85 etc etc…. Wouldn’t touch it again until spring and they always came up like new.

Now I appreciate there are more complex linkages on some MTBs and having your wheels barely turn because of mud on the hubs, fork legs etc isn’t ideal but I still adopt the same approach now.

The bike gets wiped down with WD40, the chain gets lubed and obvious caked on mud gets brushed off once dry….never had to replace BBs, bearings etc due to adverse weather, stuff like that lasts me years as it should.

Currently riding a dirt bike that gets the same treatment, I’m fastidious over the chain but everything else wears a coating of crap over the winter…. which isn’t really doing any harm as it’s sat on a protective layer of ACF50 and not on the bike itself.

Only thing I’d do differently with a FS is to maybe coat/cover/seal any bearings in copper grease over the winter then just wash it all of again in spring.

@Deviant- it turned out for mine that ACF50 + a nice inch thick crust of road filth is better corrosion protection than the factory paint 😆

Northwind, the most extreme example i saw was a bloke on a forum who would Waxoil his motobike (not including tyres and brakes obviously) at the start of winter and then not touch it until spring…it looked hideous covered in Waxoil and then even more hideous with a few months worth of road filth on top too….but it always came up like a showroom bike each spring!

I’m building up a Maestro-link Giant Trance currently and will be wiping it down with ACF50 during the build and then filling all the bearing recesses with copper grease…i reckon it’ll be fine over winter.

I wore out a cassette and chain on my Orange over the winter, but I guess I would have done the same on a hardtail anyway. And TBH the cassette was pretty old anyway.

the biggest benefit to riding rigid in the winter is that you cut through the sloppy mud better

Yeah, just avoided the sloppy mud mostly and stick to the rocky stuff. they have opened these great places recently where you can ride on more weather proofed trails 🙂

Winter is slow, fun bits are written off, rides are much more XC orientated, feels wasteful using a nice, capable FS for low speed XC, rather have a bike that’s better for it that i also dont feel guilty about pointlessly ruining.

Yeah,
Use my summer race hardtail in winter.
Usually put a cheaper cassette and chain on and a set of carbon rigids.
More fun riding through the slop and gives you a different skill level on nite rides.
Obviously no good on your back though,espeacially if it’s frozen!
I have used fs through the winter in the past with no issues.
The fs have been Turners though and the bushes have lasted for years!
Thanx,
Max

Depending on your bike:
– Bearings.
– Chain and cassette.
– Shifter cables.

So not a huge cost. Say £200-£250?

I’m on the rigid SS for everything except the 4-6 races I’ll enter through the autumn/winter and another 4-6 rides where I need a bigger bike to have fun. Even then, I suspect an HT with more travel will be more than capable of handling it.

This year I’m riding the HT and the rigid solely. Hopefully will translate to being faster in the spring!

When it is really muddy I hose the worst of the mud off before putting the bike away, it takes 2 mins max as the tap is outside the garage door and I am wet and muddy anyway. I have often wondered if this is bad for the bike as I am potentially pushing mud into the bearings and linkages but if I don’t do it, the dry mud is much harder to get off and clogs up the derailleurs.

This is obviously only if the bike is caked in thick nasty mud, slightly dirty just gets left until it needs it.

As far as washing goes, mine gets the hose when it’s properly dirty- you know, when you can’t see the frame. But no high pressure and I keep it away from bearings etc. But even after a wash, mine are still usually dirtier than most people’s bikes 😆

deanfbm – Member
Winter is slow, fun bits are written off, rides are much more XC orientated

Only if you make it XC.

Nothing is written off by the winter, the trail just evolves, especially if it’s not an all weather trail centre. I like the way trails change over seasons, and the challenges it presents.

It’s loads of fun charging down hills in slop, though it’s not wall to wall muddy bog anyway just because it’s autumn or winter. Much of the time it’s just a little more damp and it can add a bit of grip to loose trails and provide just the right amount of loam. Besides, a rooty messy downhill trail is way more fun on a full sus than a hard tail 😀

Personally I feel it’s a waste of a bike to only ride it when it’s sunny and dry. I have both hard tail and full sus and they get ridden equally all year round, both fun.

Warm water and a big brush with plastic bristles works wonders on my HT, and I suspect it’ll work wonders on a FS when I get that too.

Occasionally I will use some foaming chain cleaner then relube. Squirt lube is really good at keeping the chain clean, though.

I don’t even bother with GT85 anymore, just gets everywhere and adds time.

If your trails are too muddy, find some steeper ones, the water’ll slide off (*)

(*not true, somehow bike trails are a special case that allows for vertical swamps)

Santa Cruz put it very well http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en/us/news/347

Bearings are shot on my Turner Flux DW after 2 winters but that is 1,000miles off road some of it real mud and grit fests. I’ve taken care of it and regreased via the Zerks but there’s a lot of play now.

cruzcampo – Member
Santa Cruz put it very well http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en/us/news/347

Specifically this bit…

Q: I’m lazy and lack motivation, what can I do to prolong bearing life?
A: Stop washing your bike so much. We did some experiments with bikes that were washed a lot but ridden infrequently, bikes that were ridden a lot but washed infrequently, and bikes that were both washed and ridden a lot. Guess what? Your bike hates only being washed and not being ridden. This test group had the worst results. They became creaky and not much fun to be around, much like the people who own bikes like that. Don’t get all angry (you know who you are), you can still wash your bike from time to time – and there are those times where it has to be done after every ride. Everything needs more attention during those times. BUT, maybe you should examine your priorities. It’s a mountain bike. You can get dirt on it. It’s OK.

😀

What really kills a bike in the winter is salt.

Mud is generally not a big deal. Most mud particles won’t get past half decent seals without some encouragement (like from a pressure washer). Salt on the other hand will get into everything.

So if I’ve ridden on wet roads to my local trails during the winter I’ll give the bike a rinse when I get back. For 100% off-road rides in the mud I just clean the chain (and maybe remove the biggest lumps of mud)

And as mentioned above, use Squirt on your chain.

Don’t use a wet lube in mud. Wet lubes aren’t as people think for riding in “the wet” they are a thick sticky wet formula lube for keeping heavy amounts of water off the chain. So if you ride rivers or on very wet and salty roads, ok. They are not for mud. The stuff sucks mud and grit into the chain and wears the whole drivechain fast. A dry lube (which is also intended for wet conditions) would be better. Better than that though is a wax like Squirt applied to a degreased chain which coats the rollers inside, lubricates, prevents wear and doesn’t attract grit which wears down the rollers (which is what wears on a chain, not the links).

@deadkenny RE santa cruz link, thats the bit i was trying to copy and paste on me lunch lol!

I’ve started using Squirt, amazing stuff, didn’t realise it was good for wet rides too until I read the bottle again. Went back to my all time fav Purple Extreme, and was shocked at how ruined the chain was after one mud fest ride. Back to the squirt now 😀

I doubt Santa Cruz know much about mud. “Dirt” is not mud. Dave Turner was of the opinion that we have the worst riding conditions for bearing life that he knows of.

Northwind – Member
Less than I spend on chains frinstance, or haribo

Get your chains from Wiggle and the haribo is sorted 😉

I doubt Santa Cruz know much about mud.

Yes because a global bike manufacturer with two of it’s top athletes from the UK does not even think about anything outside their own doorstep. Grease ports in the linkage is a great idea 🙂 Free bearings – money where your mouth is stuff, no issues with mine despite putting it through a good winter.
Again winter for me is about avoiding the stupid deep boggy shit and riding good trails that are suited to the weather.

I buy my haribos by the trade box. The wee bags Wiggle send you are barely enough to get me out of the car.

I’m with deadkenny on this. Dry lube year round here. Still get through two chains a year though !

As another dodgy back sufferer on the thread, I find dry summer trails beat up my spine more than soggy winter trails.

That said I barely ride my fs these days. I’d like too but find I gel with my current ht (and previous ht come to that) more. But I guess that could be more to do with the bike / set up being wrong which is for another thread really.

mikewsmith – Member
I doubt Santa Cruz know much about mud.

Yes because a global bike manufacturer with two of it’s top athletes from the UK does not even think about anything outside their own doorstep. Grease ports in the linkage is a great idea Free bearings – money where your mouth is stuff, no issues with mine despite putting it through a good winter.
Again winter for me is about avoiding the stupid deep boggy shit and riding good trails that are suited to the weather.

My VPP link has been hidden in mud recently on top and underneath, didn’t even bother cleaning it off last year. When doing the 3 monthly grease pivots surprisingly very little rubbish came out.

I was thinking about buying a hardtail for winter. Then I realised that it’ll cost me the thick end of a grand for one that gets anywhere near the quality and ride of my fs, and I could have a few years of top-notch servicing on the fs for that money. So it is, as has been suggested, a false economy.

Although I’m a mountain biker, so I’ll probably buy one anyway.

This is after Saturdays ride, and a typical scene come winter…

I clean the stanchions down with silicone spray, lube the chain with Squirt (drive chain stays clean in comparison to the rest of the bike) and put the bike away. Every few months i’ll regrease the VPP link with the greease gun and very little rubbish comes out, and i’ll clean the entire bike down when it gets really bad. Don’t find any issues with bearings/cost.

i just jet wash my bike – I don’t reckon it causes any problems to a static bearing that is covered by a bolt anyway

I’ve jet washed and not jet washed and still typically get a year out of a set of decent bearings – riding 1 to 3 times a week and going to the alps for a couple of weeks each year.

Obviously don’t point it down your fork / shock seals and hold the trigger down for ages!

So to answer OP’s question – cost of FS in the winter – probly about £20 extra – I guess the bearings would possibly last a few months more if only ridden in the dry.

@billodie what sort of mileage are you covering a year to need bearing replacements so often?

My Heckler only needed one set in 5 years.