You are hereForums / By Discipline / Mountain (off road) / MTB Gear / Total MTB maintenance
Total MTB maintenance
Over the Christmas / New Year period I have 3 weeks off and want to do a total overhaul of my bike.
I've been riding for 18 months now and although I've been good with maintenance I haven't been great. I've also riden in mud / rain / etc so the bikes taking a bit of a beating. My bike is a 2010 Giant Trance X2 - totally stock. I'm not really into upgrades so happy to replace like-for-like.
At the very least I want to
replace the drive train; chain, rear cogs, maybe fronts also
Replace cables;
overhaul front forks
bleed brakes
degrease / re-grease anything that needs it.
Couple of questions:
What jobs should prioritise... I still want to get some riding in so really only want to spend a day or two on maintenance.
Where can I find resources to learn the tips & tricks; web sites, books, etc
What tools do I need
Any information or tips would be greatly appreciated.
- Login to post comments
- Bookmark & share
Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance was my bible. A great book. one wonderful thing that Zinn says is, paraphrased, "if you're time poor and $ rich, you can use this book for specific things. Or if you're time rich you can use this book to do every thing." Sounds as though you're time rich, at least for a while.
http://zinncycles.com/Zinn/index.php/bookdvd
Do drivetrain first
It will definately be due and depending on how many k's you have done it will probably be best to do front rings as well.
Do cable housing as well as cables other wise there is not much point.
Forks next Fox website has good info on this
I would only bleed the brakes if they are underperforming
also
Check your bottom bracket and replace if bearings are rough
Probably worth checking the pivot bearings as well.
With 3 weeks off I'd be planning to get the maintenance done before then and spend the 3 weeks riding
Yeah I think I might buy all the parts now and if we get any more wet weekends start the maintenance now!
Thanks for the feedback so far guys. Very helpful.
Buy the parts now. Aussie dollar just headed north again. Don't wait till Christmas.
I have just learned the hard way about changing the chain too late.
Now I have to change it all even though it isn't that old.
You should change the front ring(s) as well, get it all done. While the crank rings are in pieces, you may as well service the BB.
I have read the Zinn book, & it's great. But I did buy the BBB (Big Blue Book) by ParkTools. It's pretty good too.
If you going to do the chainrings and BB you may as well just get the whole chainset. XT M770 for ~$220 from chainwiggleevansjenson is good value as it includes the BB. Which means you'll be getting a new chain, and may as well go a new cassette...
Taking a tip from jacojoco, I run three chains per bike. Two bikes, six chains in total.
They get rotated every time the chain needs cleaning. Dirty one comes off and goes in the kero bath, cleaned one comes off the hook on the wall, the one that had been soaking gets put through the next stage and gets the final rinnse cycle before getting hung up to dry.
I figure that gives me three times the transmission life
everything on there is pretty simple to do, bar the forks but thats more labor than anything else.
I have the big blue book which is really good you can't go wrong with either book mentioned.
Tools
-wire and housing cutters, NOT side cutters
-good set of allen wrenches
-torque wrench, the bbb one is really good and comes with bits
-bb remover, spacing the real name but it has the small socket for the plastic keeper and the socket for the bearing - i'm assuming shimano stuff
-chain whip, you can use an old chain and wrap it around things but the chain whip is easy
-cassette socket, for removing the lock ring
-chain breaker
-small philips and flat screw drivers with long shafts
-rubber mallet, you can use wood with a hammer in a pinch but the rubber mallet is easier
-blead kit
-any tools for the forks i've left out, have a look through the service manual
-couple old shirts for rags
-BEER, this is the most important tool on the list
Think thats all, well the important stuff at least, if your going to do all your own maintence in future don't skimp on tools buy good stuff that will last you'll only need to buy'm once.
Longest jobs on your list will be the forks and the gear cables everything else is a 20 min job really.
I have a 2010 anthem which I just replaced the entire drivetrain shifters and brakes.
I also replace all the bearings in the frame. I had done a few muddy races and it was time for new ones.
The bike rides like a brand new one now!
If you have done your reasearch before you start and have all the parts your service shouldnt take any longer than a day.
Bike mechanic stand, you can get them with out all the bells and whistles (keep the rotating head feature though so you can clamp vertically and horizontally) for a reasonable price, if your going to start pulling bearings out, forks off and such it will be worth it's weight in gold.
If you are after books. Check out the below link. My partner uses the book depository all the time and they don't charge shipping at all (even for one book).
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/search/advanced?...
I just did this to my 2010 anthem, after 15 months of racing, sunday rides, dwelli 100 and the cape to cape, my steed needed a birthday.
changed:
pads
cables & housing
wheel bearings
stripped, cleaned and ajusted:
Brakes
Drivetrain, inc crank, cassette and chain
shifters
suspension was done just prior to dwelli 100 by LBS and price was not too bad at all. (Thanks Wembley)
The bike rides awesomely now and is whisper quiet.
I have changed my chain once in this time, and the current chain is yet to need replacing, and the teeth on the cassette and from chainrings are still all good.
I find it interesting that you need to replace your whole drivetrain.. did you regularly clean and relube your drivetrain? while your at it, clean and relube your shifters. These easily screw apart and can be cleaned out and relubed for new like shifting feel. and replacing cables is an easy peasy job that takes 10-15 minutes.
good luck and enjoy your new like feeling steed.
I don't know that I would bother buying another book... The Big Blue Book is good, but it is all on the net anyway. Between Sheldon Brown, Park Tools website, and the videos that SRAM put on YouTube (and presumably other companies), I haven't looked at any of my books for ages.
If you are looking at tools, it is good to go in with a few mates - no point duplicating the bike specific tools to begin with, and when it comes time to do maintenance, you can take it in turns doing the work while others drink beers and offering bad advice.
Also, you may not want to go for the expensive tools first. I bought a dodgy kit, and gradually replaced/duplicated the tools with better quallity stuff. One like this http://www.torpedo7.com.au/products/UNTOON9TB/ti... plus some decent cable cutters will see you most of the way there.