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What has the dam cost you?
Not wanting to have a witch hunt about Manly Dam as I really enjoy riding this track and it's my local but I'm keen to know what cost it has had on your bikes?
I have only been riding my 2009 Specialized Epic Expert from new for 18 months (spent the first year of its life in a bike shop) and looked though my riding history and I've done most of my riding around the dam (32 laps in total). I have also been down to Appin twice so similar terrain there. I find the dam an awesome all body workout and really enjoy the track but really feel the knocks and bumps and so does the bike... so far I've destroyed my rear wheel beyond repair, destroyed my rear shock and brain which had to be rebuilt in Melbourne for $500 and now my Cane Creek headset has given up the ghost... all these major expense items are starting to annoy me. I'd be keen to hear everyone else's story and feel free to tell me shut up whining as I know hand on heart that I ride my XC bike as if it was an all mountain bike. Having said that I didn't expect to pay $4K for an ornament either 
So share your stories if you will?
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An XTR drivetrain - early 2000's model on the Raven - 1 cassette, 3 chains.
2 Rear suspension rebuilds on the Raven
1 Front Fork rebuild on the Raven (yet to be done but really really needs it now)
1 Mavic wheelset from the Raven
Oh and close to 20 tubes from this wheelset.
From the Rize - 1 chain and a Big Dog ring
From the Scalpel - nothing yet... but both shocks need a service now...
But the Dam has also given me 3 broken ribs and a broken hand. A handful of small bruises and grazes.
BUT most of all - a huge smile every time i ride it.
I guess the total amount i have spent on fixing the bike because of the Dam would be less than a grand.
Hey I sympathise with you really. The dam offers a little bit of everything. I regularly blow through 140mm of travel but so far no damage to speak of. Gives you a good chance to do a few upgrades i guess. I shredded a newish tyre on a gutter in newport today and I cant get it off the rim at all. Back to the bike shop.
Yeh the dam has been costly. I can't count the number of injuries but do know I've broken ribs there at least 4 times.
I used to train alone late at night on my doorstep in Lane Cove NP but had too many crashes and finally after an OTB one night that knocked me around so much I ended up sleeping on a single track for a few hours as I couldn't move and had no hope of being found till the morning decided it was too risky.
After that I decided Manly Dam is safer as there are usually other riders or walkers around. Luckily each time I've had a good stack at the dam I haven't had to wait too long for help. The worst was when they first built the timber planks just before the bottom when you come out onto King St. I hit it way too hard and somehow ended up doing a backflip then landed flat on my back. If I'd landed on the timber I would have been fine but I landed on that bloody chain which cracked a vertebrae. The chain alone has caused more crashes than I can count. It's bloody slippery when wet!
On the fast descent down from the top gate I had a big one late one night which knocked me out, broke some ribs and had my middle finger at right angles.
My wife knows the drill really well. She needs to get to me quickly when she gets the SOS call and get me
to the SAN Hospital at Wahroonga before midnight as all the staff operating x-ray etc knock off then. There have been times we've charged in there with 5 mins to spare.
As for bike damage at the dam I don't think I've had too much to complain about. I do wash the bike after every ride and service it regularly which I'm sure extends the life of components. I'm from the school of using bugger all grease but pull everything apart often and regrease etc. so get good life from most components.
After a few years and lots of laps on a couple of hard tails the dam has only cost me a rear crossmark when I hammered an edge too hard but that's it. The 'new' downhill section towards the lab is pretty rough and I can see that taking a toll but so far it's not done any damage and I still get down there pretty fast
Not that much in bike bits, but a few grand for a shoulder reco.
Actually, that's unfair. It wasn't the Dam trail that cost me that, but stupidly trying to ride too damn fast for my state of alertness after an afternoon nanna nap.
Clipped an apex and hit the rock I didn't see hidden in the long grass, result was a flight over the bars ending in a landing with my shoulder into the side of the trail and a nasty dislocation. The ironic thing was 50mm left or right with the front wheel and I'd never have known the rock was there. That was early 2009.
The only thing I lost/broke there was a speedo on my first ride, and a pinch flat on the first ride with a new bike this year.
I have ridden the dam many many many times....but where did that pothole come from!
I have a very expensive smile...
If you want to eliminate wear and tare on you mtb bike, head to the corso at manly - plenty of bike paths around the foreshore
Andy, didnt you buy a mtb to ride on rough terrain? The rougher the better if you ask me. unfortunately cost $ comes with the equipment we choose.
I am not sure I can agree with the sentiment of determining whether Manly Dam has accelerated your bike wearing out or breaking. Depending on how you ride your bike, it wears out and breaks anyway. It is inevitable. I have lost count of the number of things that have worn out or outright broken on my bikes. Like when my rear derailleur wrapped itself through the spokes - two rides in a row. But you know what? So what. That is what mountain biking is all about. Sure I was sh*tty about it. But sometimes your bike breaks, or the types of trails you like make your bike more prone to wearing out or breaking (i.e. Red Hill). If we couldn't stand a bit of that, we would all wear condoms and go out scumming. To me, these extra costs are just the price we pay for an awesomely fun and interactive sport. It all can't be fireroads, how sh*t would that be?
Nothing at all!
I have ridden it atleast twice a week for the last 5 years and the only problem I have had was a puncture before I went tubeless!
If your breaking alot I think it could have more to do with the rider than the track!
to get there and a bit of missing bark-fun outways the cost anytime'-Survived all the jumps at kiwarrak today as well, no bike or body damage!
Delivered - adventure, fun, fitness, motivation and mateship.
I've lost my dignity in the same way I lost myself at Manly Dam, over the handlebars . However I would like to lose at least 10 kg and get my time under 1 hour.
from when going to BA or hitting the South Steyne Hotel before getting the ferry back to the city & then going to the Redoak brewery/Lord Nelson Hotel to fully rehydrate with liquid carbs!!!!