Gallery, Projects and General > How do I??
Anyone a Mountain Bike Expert?
sparky961:
I have a bike that's been sitting in my shed for at least a year or two now. Prior to that I used it quite a bit. There are a few problems that I believe are quite repairable. The problem is I'm not sure how to figure out compatibility of replacement parts. I know that many of the main parts are interchangeable. But bike repair shops in my area would rather me bring my bike in and pay them to fix it rather than help me choose good components to replace myself. I'd love to buy stuff online but don't know where to start.
The next question, of course, is whether all of the components I'll be replacing will cost me more than just replacing the bike.
If you think you're up to the challenge of helping me identify components and educate me on replacement criteria, please chime in. I express my great appreciation in advance. I can take detail pictures of everything as necessary.
nrml:
I am not a bicycle expert, but I am slowly collecting parts for two cycling related future projects, a bamboo bicycle and a recumbent trike. The information on most bicycle components is very widely available on the web and it is pretty easy to identify / source parts. Sheldon Brown's website is a good place to start if you haven't already gone through it and the cycling forums are a goldmine of information.
Whether replacement will be cheaper than a rebuild will depend on the quality of the bike. High end bikes are worth repairing. Cheap supermarket brands are made mostly of stamped sheet metal. They are best treated as a disposable commodity unless the problems are very simple.
Arbalist:
Upgrading or replacing worn or damaged parts on bikes is fun provided you have the right tools. I bought a Giant mountain bike years ago that had a pretty decent frame so I upgraded quite a few of the budget components for better quality ones. Shimano used to sell up to five different grades of parts at one time depending on what you wanted or could afford to spend. The Deore parts used to be pretty good and a reasonable price. I've used Wiggle and Chain Reaction for online parts but was also lucky to have a choice of local suppliers as well. Beware though it can be quite addictive! I paid £450 for my bike then spent about the same again on upgrades!
I replaced: bottom bracket and cranks, pedals, both wheels and hubs, front change mech, handle bars (carbon alloy) and stem and added a rear disc brake to match the front one. I also replaced the brake cables and tyres. I did need to buy a few specialist bike tools but these are freely available and not normally very expensive. Have fun!
jcs0001:
Sparky:
A few photos might help. As nrmi mentioned if it is a dept. store bike the frame is likely not the best and putting decent components on it won't make it a good bike. If the frame is well made and in good shape then it may be worth fixing/upgrading.
You will likely find that replacing chains and rear clusters for 7 or 8 speed bikes aren't too expensive however once you get into 9 or 10 speeds at the back the price goes up. Unfortunately it isn't as easy to get parts for 7 speed rear gear sets as it once was. I've had little trouble getting them for 8 speed however.
One source of parts is mec.ca - they often carry parts in their stores that aren't in their catalogues.
John.
sparky961:
Absolutely, I'll add some photos to this thread and detail the issues I know of. To the best of my knowledge it's not a department store budget-buy but also not top-end. I purchased it used from a store that only sold bikes somewhere around 7 years ago and paid approximately $600 if I recall. Haro is the make, not sure of the model but I'll check for identifiers when I do some pictures. It's an aluminum frame with aluminum wheels - but I suspect this is probably the norm these days.
It's a solid frame with only front suspension. I'm a big guy at 6'2" and 220 lbs, and when I looked into getting a bike as an adult it was recommended that rear suspension wouldn't serve me well. Dissenting opinions are welcome on this, because as I get older the jarring force that's transmitted all the way through the bike's components and into my back is not at all pleasant.
John: Thanks for the tip about MEC. I know it well, and though I've walked by the bike section many times it didn't occur to me to try them out for parts.
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