The Biking Hub: Mountain

20 October » How tos » Cory

Creating an off-season training regimen

A quick apology for the lack of recent updates but I’ve been stricken with unpleasant things like a hard drive failure and a head cold. Each of these things kept me occupied taking care of things other than this website.

Excuses aside, Ashwin over at Team MWC, FTJ, NGT weblog has posted up a bunch of entries outlining an off-season training routine for cyclists. There are some great thoughts on strength training and on interval training.

Definitely worth the read if you’re into this sort of thing.

Sources: Via Go Clipless | Team MWC, FTJ, NGT

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3 October » How tos » Cory

How to fix your mountain bike

Normally, I wouldn’t use such generic terms when titling an entry on this site but, in this case, I think using such general terms is warranted. I visit the Park Tool website once in a while to check out this or that tool, and to see if it’s what I’m looking for when making a quick repair on one of my bikes.

Until yesterday, thanks to the somewhat clunky interface on the site, I completely missed the fact that the Park Tools website has an awesome section devoted to almost every aspect of bike repair. When you visit, check out the drop down menu named ‘Select a region’ and you’ll be able to access what you’re looking for. Odd wording, I know. And while the site doesn’t cover everything (hydraulic brake servicing and fork repair are notably absent), it’s a good starting point if you’re stuck and can’t bring your bike into your local shop.

If you’re looking to harness some of this new found information and start doing most of your own wrenching, I’d recommend picking up a decent manual that you can reference while you’re away from your computer. There are two books that I can safely recommend being worthy purchases: the first is the Park Tool Big Blue Book of Bike Repair; the second and, in my opinion, better guide is Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance.

After you’ve read up on the latest and greatest in bike repair, if you don’t have a huge number of tools already, I’d recommend purchasing a set of tools like the Park BK-2 Roll Up Workshop.

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26 September » How tos » Cory

How to fit a mountain bike for a woman

Most women don’t fall into the 5′9″ to 6′ which category which, until recently, meant they had to stretch themselves onto a bike designed around a much larger body type. Finding a bike that pedals well without sacrificing comfort and proper geometry can be a real chore. In my neck of the woods, I see a lot of women riding small or extra small bikes with short stems and raked angles — I truly feel for these people because riding a poorly fit bike sucks.

Titus Cycles has a section on their website devoted to fitting a mountain bike for a woman (link via Mountain Bike Action. The article is pretty informative and provides a good starting point for finding an appropriate bike for a woman.

In addition to the Titus Cycles website, another good source for information geared specifically to women cyclists is SheCycles. SheCycles aims to be a complete resource for female cyclists and provides a number of decent (and free) sources of information for its readers. I’d recommend checking out the SheCycles Forum if you're a woman looking for some honest feedback about such-and-such a bike and its suitability for you and your riding style.

Sources: Titus Cycles | Mountain Bike Action | SheCycles

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14 August » How tos » Cory

Selling a used mountain bike

I’m in the process of selling one of my bikes and the whole thing is a chore that I never enjoy. Since mountain bikes are a lot like cars and trucks — they lose fifty percent of their value when they leave the show room — you rarely get what you think the bike is worth when you are looking to unload. Combine your dashed expectations with the glut of e-mails from people who write in hacker-speak, ridiculous low ball offers, and less interest than what you were expecting and you’re all set for a harrowing experience.

You can do a number of things that will make selling your well-loved, used mountain bike less of a painful experience and more of a ‘challenge’:

1. Be honest. There’s nothing that kills a potential sale more quickly than dishonesty. If you let people know exactly what they’re getting, chances are good they’ll appreciate your candour and be more comfortable dealing with you.
2. Lower your expectations. All of those people out there don’t realize how much enjoyment your bike gave you and they’re not usually going to pay a premium price for your gear — regardless of how much you love the bike.
3. Post ads with classified services. There are a tonne of classified systems available for selling used gear. Check them out and choose the ones that meet your needs.
4. Be flexible. If you want to move your used gear, expect to receive less than your asking price. While it’s easy to bump said items up by twenty percent, chances are good that there will be less interest in it.
5. Be patient. There’s lots of used gear out there. In my neck of the woods, it’s not uncommon to see classified ads that have a hundred or more bikes available for purchase.
6. Keep your bike in great shape. If you are going to be riding your bike while you’re trying to sell it, be sure to keep it in prime shape. Clean it. Maintain it. Replace broken or damaged parts right away.
7. Don’t sell your bike in the off season. If you want to generate real interest try to sell your bike in mid-season when more people are actually riding, especially the ‘fair weather’ riders who enjoy the sport but don’t enjoy riding in rain, mud, or snow. Also, these people are more likely to be in the used bike market.
8. Look at consignment stores. Consignment stores usually take a fixed percentage of the final sale value for your bike. The benefit of this system is that you don’t need to do anything more than bring your bike in — the consignment shop will do the rest and let you know once your bike has sold.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list, it should help you out when you do decide to unload that cherished oldie that (hopefully) has given you many hours of enjoyment.

Update (8 December 2005): My bike has finally sold. I ended up parting it out and came up with about what I expected I’d get back when I started this ordeal. Luckily, I was able to be patient, hold on for the right price, and ride it out until I found a buyer.

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8 August » How tos » Cory

How to build your own bicycle frame

I know, I know. No one really has enough time to build their own bike frame but, in case you do, Little Fish Bicycles has detailed online instructions.

While the end result looks pretty cool, the original frame has a few problems and it’s probably not a job that a beginner or novice is all that suited for. Regardless, if anyone out there takes up the banner and decides to build their own frame, I’d love to hear about it

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22 July » How tos » Cory

How to fit a bike helmet

It frustrates me to no end when I’m driving or riding through town and I see kids or adults with helmets that are hanging from their handlebars or, if they’re actually wearing their lids, having them pushed way back on their heads. Neither of these methods offer any real protection in the event of a crash.

I did a little digging and found an article by the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute on how to fit a bicycle helmet. According to the article, new helmets should be ’snug, level, and stable’.

When it comes to fitting full face helmets, the same basic principles apply. It’s important to remember that full-face lids should have a snug fit and not be loose. When I originally acquired my Giro Mad Max II, it fit really well. The padding almost squished my face into the rest of the helmet, preventing the helmet from moving around on my head. Over time, the padding has compressed and it’s a little less snug than when I first started using it but, all in all, I feel that it’s still an effective form of protection.

Because fitting a helmet properly isn’t something you can do virtually, I’m not an advocate of purchasing helmets online. This is one of the many instances where a well-informed bike shop employee is invaluable and their input and contributions help give you the product that you want (and the one that fits you properly).

Another thing that’s important to remember is that you should replace your helmet after any hard knocks. In reality, I know that few people actually replace their helmet after a fall but keep it in mind. Even though it’s a drag to replace a pricey helmet, it’s less pricey than dealing with the damage that can result when a helmet fails…

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21 July » How tos » Cory

Build your own bike rack

I’ve got a bunch of bikes kicking around the garage; some are mine, some are my girl friend’s, and some are my kid’s (yes, my kid has more than one bike). Anyways, if you’re anything like me, the bikes usually end up scattered across the garage because I have no set place to store them.

The folks over at Utah Mountain Biking have posted detailed instructions on how to build a bike rack. While the directions detail how to put together a three bike rack, methinks that it wouldn’t be too difficult to adapt the design and make it as long as necessary. And be sure to check out the Yeti slotted in for the demo picture. If you do decide to build one of these yourself, please send me an image of it — I’d be curious to see how the PVC tubing holds up when there are three or four bikes slotted into it.

Source: MAKE

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27 June » How tos » Cory

Buying insurance for your bike

I live in a pretty nice area. Our neighbours are mostly young families and retirees and it’s quiet and out of the way. So when our next-door neighbours had their garage burglarized while they were sleeping it gave me pause for thought. Whoever did the break in walked off with over $5000 worth of tools. My neighbours’ experience forced me to look closely at our place. Was it just as easy for a thief to break into my house (probably)? What would I do if they rode away with any of my bikes (scream, lose it, etc.)?

The first thing you should do is purchase bike locks to cover all of your family’s bikes. The next thing you need to do is actually use those locks. I’m not saying that the locks will prevent a motivated thief from nabbing your ride but it will serve as a deterrent; usually, burglars are looking for a quick-and-easy grab and anything that doesn’t fit within that category will be passed over.

The next thing you need to do is look into the type of coverage provided by your house insurance. In my case, our home-owner insurance covers bikes up to $1000 in value (per bike). Subtract the $500 deductible and you can see that it’s not really that great a deal (especially if your bike is worth less than $1000). Individual policies might be different, so ask your broker for the details on your policy.

Given that my home policy doesn’t provide adequate coverage for my bikes, I called around looking for rates on bike insurance. Typically, I was quoted rates that were based on a fixed amount per $100 worth of value. In my case, rates ranged from $3/$100 to $6/$100. That means it would cost me between $30 and $60 for every $1000 worth of bikes that I wanted to insure.

The good thing about these policies is that the deductibles are quite low ($25-$100), they cover the bike anywhere (not just when they’re in my house), and some of them even covered them against damage (although I’m skeptical that they’d cover damage caused by a crash while bike — I didn’t ask).

In the end, it comes down to whether or not you feel you can deal with the loss of your bike through theft? Can you repurchase a stolen ride? Or are you SOL if someone walks off with your bike? If you’re in the latter category, consider looking into bike insurance.

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21 June » How tos » Cory

Buying a used mountain bike

In a perfect world, everyone would be able to walk into their local bike store, pick the bike of their dreams, plunk down a bunch of cash and ride out of the store with a five mile smile on their faces. Unfortunately the real world doesn’t work like that, and cyclists looking for a decent ride often are forced to look through the classifieds for a quality used bike.

If you fall into the latter category more than you do the former, here’s a list of things you should look at (closely) when considering at a used bike:

• Cracks or dents in the frame : Fractures and cracks can turn up pretty much anywhere, although the most common locations for frame cracks are in the head tube area and on the rear end of the bike. Dents freqently appear on the front end of the bike; look carefully at the down tube and the top tube for unintentional depressions (and keep in mind that some bikes, like the Santa Cruz Bullit, have indentations that are part of the frame design). Since cracks or dents can compromise the integrity of the frame, if you find ANY such marks on the bike you’re looking at, walk away.
• Leaky fork or damaged stanchions : If you can see oil around the dust seal where the stanchions enter the lowers, it’s a sign that the fork might need a rebuild. If the stanchions are scratched, scraped, or otherwise knicked, be absolutely sure that the marks don’t affect fork performance because, in most cases, it’s cheaper to get a new fork than it is to replace the stanchions.
• Worn or dirty drivetrain : Check to see that the chain rings aren’t worn and the bike’s gears don’t skip when you pedal under load. Worn rings have ’sharper’ teeth than rings that are good to go. If the bike has a dirty drivetrain, the alarm bells should go off — if the person doesn’t care enough to keep the most important part of their bike clean, think about how they treated the rest of it.
• True wheels and decent tires : When buying a used bike, you can’t expect new equipment but you should look for straight wheels without major dents or flat spots. If you’re looking at a bike with v-brakes, be sure that the rims’ sidewalls aren’t ready to separate from the rest of the wheel. Similarly bald tires won’t do you any good on the trail and are a fairly expensive upgrade if you need to do it right away.
• Check brake pads and rotors (when applicable) : Check to see the status of the brake pads. Although pads are nowhere near as expensive as they used to be, they’re still something that you shouldn’t need to deal with right away. Similarly, be sure that the rotors on the bike aren’t worn away to paper-thickness.
• Bearing check : Check the bearings in the headset, the pedals, and at all pivot points (if you’re looking at a full suspension bike).
• Cranks / bottom bracket : Make sure the crank-bb interface is solid and there is no creaking when you pedal under load. Also make sure that the cranks arms and pedals are in good shape. If either of the items is bent, you’ll be looking at a significant expense after the fact.
• Warranty : Most frame manufacturers attach non-transferrable warranties to their products. This means that they will consider warranty claims made by the original purchaser (with a receipt) but will not do so from anyone else.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list, it’s a good start and, if you’re looking at a new, used bike, you’ll get a better bike following these recommendations than you would otherwise. If you have anything you’d like me to add, drop me a line.

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10 June » How tos » Cory

Upgrade your Classic Chris King hub to a disc compatible shell

So here’s a bit straight from the horse’s mouth: if you’re the owner of a Classic Chris King Hub and are looking to make your bike’s wheels disc-brake ready, you can send your hub into Chris King and have them swap your current hub shell to a disc-compatible one (either Universal Disc or ISO Disc).

This is a great option for you if you’re currently running a King hub that won’t work with discs. The whole process also falls in line with the King Cycling Group’s commitment to sustainability and environmental awareness.

* Prices subject to change.

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