Mountain Biking Essentials For Safe Riding

Mountain biking is a great sport and enjoyed by a growing number of people each year. When starting out there is a lot of excitement in deciding what mountain bike you are going to get for all those outings you have planned. Just as important, once you have invested in the mountain bike itself there are some mountain biking essentials for yourself, and that means protective gear.

Speaking from personal experience there are three essential pieces of gear you just must have every time you venture out for that ride.

Mountain bike helmet - this is absolutely essential.

Mountain biking will almost inevitably involve a fall or wipeout of some kind. A properly fitting mountain bike helmet can save you from a bump on the head or worse.

A couple of summers ago I was out for a leisurely ride on a familiar trail, not going overly fast or doing anything crazy but had a spectacular crash when I hit a wash out hidden in the patterns of light and dark among the shadows of the trees. Both the mountain bike and I were busted up rather badly. The bike was beyond repair and I took the impact on my right side, smashing up my leg, hand, arm and shoulder. The right side of my head also hit the ground hard but I didn't realise this until much later in hospital as someone pointed out the shards of rock stuck in the shattered helmet shell. The helmet took the full force of the impact and prevented what could have been severe injuries.

When buying your mountain bike helmet check that the one you select is comfortable and meets the standards for your country; you may or may not need to make sure it complies with the laws where you live but you definitely do want to ensure it has passed the basic tests to protect your head. Mountain bike helmets come in lots of funky designs, some radical color schemes and a wide variety of fits for all shapes of heads so even the kids don't take much convincing that it's good to wear a helmet.

Gloves - your second must have item.

Gloves protect your hands not only in the event of a crash but also riding in areas of close scrubby bush country and debris scattered by riders in front of you when going at speed on tracks with loose dirt, sticks or gravel. That crash I mentioned earlier; you might have guessed it, my hands lost some skin as I wasn't wearing gloves because I'd put off buying a new pair. Ouch! Now I wear them all the time.

Glasses - the third essential item for protecting two of your most valuable assets, your eyes.

Glasses protect your eyes not only from the sun but also from insects, branches and leaves dangling across trails, dust, sand, mud and debris thrown up by other mountain bike riders or even off your own front wheel. You've probably got the picture.

Glasses with interchangeable lenses or transition lenses are the best for changing light conditions and there are many designed specifically for cyclists. Whatever glasses you choose, they must be impact resistant or shatter proof. I was wearing glasses at the time of my big crash and they were scratched up and a little worse for wear but my eyes were saved from any injury.

At the end of each ride simply place your gloves and glasses inside your helmet so they are together and ready every time you head out the door to hit the trail on the mountain bike.

Ride well, ride safe, have fun.

How to Properly Clean Your Mountain Bike Drivetrain

A clean, properly lubed drivetrain will look better, shift better and extend the life of your bike's most important parts. Ideally you'll want to perform a cleaning after every muddy or dusty ride. Dirt, sand and other gritty contaminants act like sandpaper on your drivetrain, slowing wearing down parts with every turn of the crank.

It's much easier to clean your bike's drivetrain if you have access to mechanics stand. A stand will firmly hold you bike in place and puts it at a more manageable height. Working on a bike while it's balanced up against a wall often results in the bike crashing to the ground or in a wrestling match between you and the bike. Invest in a good stand and bike maintenance will be a much more enjoyable experience.

A mistake many novices make is to use a high pressure hose when cleaning a mountain bike. Although this does a good job at washing off dirt and debris, it also does a good job of washing away grease and lubrication that's critical for optimal performance. You'll want to instead start with a bucket of hot water and your choice of dish detergent or biodegradable bike-specific cleaner like Pedro's Bio Cleaner. You'll also want to have a set of soft bristled brushes and maybe a tool, like Park Tools Gear Clean Brush, to get in between the cogs on your cassette. Use the brushes to gently clean the drivetrain, making sure to get all the hard-to-reach places. Once you're done, you can use a hose (without high-pressure nozzle) to rinse the parts clean.

Next you'll want to wipe down the parts with a rag in order to get any gunk left over and remove excess water. Wait until the drivetrain is thoroughly dry and then apply your favorite wet or dry lube. A wet lube like Pedro's Synlube is usually best for rainy or muddy conditions and a dry lube like Pedro's Ice Wax is better for dry, dusty conditions. Be especially careful when using a wet lube to only apply a small amount. Using too much wet lube can attract more dirt and grime and wear out parts even faster.

If you take the time to follow these steps after each or every other ride (certainly after muddy rides), you'll have more efficient, smoother running drivetrain and spend less time in the shop replacing a worn out cassette or chain.

More mountain biking tips and resources are available at http://www.mountainbikediscounts.com

Maintaining Your Mountain Bike - The Basics

Riding a mountain bike is great exercise and a lot of fun...and while it's hard on your legs, it's hard on the machinery itself. Keeping your bike maintained will keep you safe, and keep the bike in better condition for years to come.

There are three basic time frames for maintaining your bike:

• Just before you ride,
• just after you ride,
• long-term storage and repairs.

Just before you ride, bike maintenance is fairly straightforward: Check the tire pressure, fill them up to the level you're comfortable with and so on. Make sure that the seat is canted at the right angle, make sure that the quick release levers on the wheels are locked tight, and run the pedals with your hands to make sure that the derailleur is working clearly. Your aim is to make sure that if anything is going to need attention, it gets it now, rather than after you're out on the trail.

After the ride, especially if it's been damp or muddy, you should set the bike upside down (so it's balanced on the seat and handlebars), and run a damp cloth over the derailleur, and the other moving parts that shift the chain around for shifting gears. The aim here is to get any mud, twigs, and brambles out before they provide an avenue for moisture to enter. This is also the time to pop the wheels off and clean them before throwing the bike into the car to drive back home.

After you get the bike home, give everything a thorough cleaning. If you use a dry lubricant on the chain, about once a month, break the chain and re-apply it. (We regularly boil our bicycle chains in paraffin, but that's because we ride in the winter, and it holds up better to snow and salt). It's also probably time to just take things partially apart, to the limits of your skills, and put them back together; this is great for adjusting shock absorber systems (and getting rid of annoying squeaks), and tightening cables for brakes, inspecting brake pads, and the like.

Mountain bikes in routine use get a fair bit of wear and tear. Always check to make sure that things are setting properly when you're off the bike and have it at home; again, the aim is to find anything that could break and fix it before you go on the trail rather than have your fun curtailed by equipment failure.

If you are not an all weather cyclist (and not many people are), its worth carrying out some steps to prepare your bike for storage and to take it out again for the road in the spring. Firstly, when storing your bike, take the wheels off and hang the frame. When the wheels are off, its worth running the inner tubes through a bucket of soapy water to locate any slow leaks and patch them, and its worth tightening and tuning up anything you can reach. A good book for this process is the Complete Bike Repair Handbook, which we use in our shop for getting bikes ready for sale. It's also a good time to true your wheels with a spoke wrench. (Some dedicated mountain bikers true their wheels after every ride...)

When you're putting the bike back into roadworthy condition, the top priority is checking the brakes, followed by running the gear shifts - cable housings can shift when the bike is in storage, which can make things a bit noisier than they should be. (Remember, if it's making noise, then parts that probably shouldn't be rubbing, are rubbing.)

With this advice, you should be well set for mountain biking fun!

Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who writes for a number of UK businesses. For Mountain Bike specialists, he recommends Merlin Cycles.

Choosing Your Mountain Bike - What To Look For

A mountain bike is a moderately expensive purchase to make, with a lot of options to consider and the companies selling them don't make it much easier. Here's a guideline of what to keep in mind while you check out your new cycle.

Firstly - where are you going to be riding it? While most mountain bike advertising shows extreme sports aficionados bounding over logs, rocks and canyons to punk rock beats, the vast majority of mountain bikes, when ridden at all, are ridden on prepared trails. If this is going to be how you're riding, you will want a bike that has got a moderately stiff frame, and a good shock absorber system.

If you plan on doing competitive off-road racing, you will want a bike with stiffer construction. The stiffer the frame, the more efficiently it transfers the power from your legs into the frame and into the rear wheel. You'll also want to forego most of the extras - each one ads weight, and when you're pedalling your bike up a hill, that extra weight adds up.

Most mountain bikes sold today have aluminium frames; aluminium is lighter than steel (about 40% lighter all told), and with aircraft grade and double butted tubing, at least as stiff. High end mountain bikes use carbon fibre frames, or other, more exotic materials to reduce weight and keep stiffness up.

There are specialist mountain bike designs out there, such as downhill models, and ruggedized versions. Neither of these are suitable to general purpose riding. For example, downhill racers are heavy tanks of a machine, and getting them to the top of the hill is something you do with a truck, and then ride them down from there. They are the cycling equivalent of downhill skis, and are just as specialised.

If you're looking for "off-road touring", we recommend bikes, like those made by Merlin, that are geared towards some stiffness, and general durability and maintainability. Most mountain bikers, as mentioned above, don't ride as if they're starring in a Mountain Dew ad; they're ridden on trails to enjoy nature while getting some exercise and most importantly comfort.

Once you've got your bike, take the time to get it fitted properly to you - this means adjusting the seat height and the handlebars appropriately. The seat height is right if your knee is at a bit under a right angle when the pedals are parallel to the ground. The handlebars are set at the right height when there's a 45 degree angle from your shoulder to your elbow. Most of the people who complain about back and hip pain from riding a bike are suffering because the bike wasn't fitted to them properly.

Once you've got the basics down - a mountain bike that's comfortable to use, and suits the kind of riding you'll be doing, then it's time to look at added features, like stabilization controls, shock absorbers, and other details. Like most sporting equipment, the more you get into the competitive aspect of things, the higher the price tends to climb.

Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who writes for a number of UK businesses. For Mountain Bike specialists, he recommends Merlin Cycles.