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If you open the mountain bike communities on social media, you’ll find a plethora of complaints from MTB riders. They’ll mostly relate to their MTB problems like the jammed chain, slipping derailleurs, poor brake engagement, and so on.
What most of them fail to realize is how inappropriate maintenance can lead their bikes to such conditions.
If you’re one of those MTB riders who’s facing such problems, this article is for you. Here, we’re sharing with you seven maintenance mistakes that are ruining your mountain bike.
1. Overlooking Post-Ride Cleaning
Whether you ride a basic mountain bike or a mountain trail bike, cleaning it after riding is absolutely necessary. The enormous amount of dirt and mud your bike stores during riding through harsh trails thickens over your bike’s surface inside and out very quickly.
This hardened material will decrease your MTB’s performance by softening its mechanics.
Cleaning your mountain bike isn’t an arduous task at all. Spare ten to fifteen minutes after riding to wash away the dirt and debris with warm soapy water. Then apply clean water to wipe out the foam and slippery surface.
Make sure not to use any pressurized water spray, or else it might affect the bike’s parts and accessories badly.
2. Leaving Your Mountain Bike Outside
Storing your mountain bike inside the garage isn’t a big issue anymore. MTBs don’t take much space, making it easy for you to accommodate it beside your dad’s car or truck in the garage.
Leaving your mountain bike outside daily will put it through many hurdles. Storms, rain, dust, etc., can take a toll on your bike’s exterior while decreasing the lifespan of its bearings and color coating.
Moreover, a speeding vehicle might thrash your bike hard enough to snap into pieces. And also, you can’t ignore the possibility of your mountain bike getting stolen or vandalized, even in broad daylight nowadays.
A simpler solution could be installing a wall-mount bike rack in the garage where you can ergonomically keep your mountain bike without compromising the space for another vehicle.
3. Keeping or Hanging Your MTB Upside Down
If your MTB has hydraulic brakes, keeping it upside down can be a real problem. Typically, air will have easy access to the caliper while turning the brakes less optimized.
Having to face this condition is hectic since you’ll definitely require a professional service to fix this problem. It will take time and money to mend this mistake; however, expert service is the safest way to go.
You won’t need to worry much if you have rim brakes. However, hydraulic brakes are more sensitive to mishandling, hence, requiring an expert service to be fixed.
4. Ignoring Tire Pressure Balance
Many MTB riders overlook checking the tire pressure in their excitement to fly through the wild trails and tracks. But keeping the tire pressure on the check is essential, as neglecting it might put you in trouble while you’re riding your MTB on tracks far from civilization.
Ignoring tire pressure timely is one of the biggest reasons behind tire wear and tear. Also, making mistakes in balancing the pressure may cause discomfort in riding. Too high pressure is hard to push, while too low is more prone to punctures.
That’s why checking the PSI (pounds per square inch) range is a smart way to maintain the proper tire pressure. Check your MTB manual to know the PSI range. Keep the tire pressure on a higher range if you’re heavier, and keep it low if you’re lightweight for comfortable and less-hassle riding.
5. Excessive Skidding While Riding
Who doesn’t like to show off some skidding stunts on their mountain bikes? Everyone loves to do it. While mountain biking is actually a standard style to do stunts and adventures, overdoing it might be risky to both your bike and body.
Skidding mostly abrades the tires, which in turn, reduces their longevity. This bad habit will also smash your brakes when you’re pressing it too hard.
Moreover, MTB tires are steep. Hence, having to frequently replace them will make you spend more than your maintenance budget.
On a civil note, your excessive skidding habit will also create bruises and tears on the trails made by a bike group or local community.
6. Maintaining or Fixing Your MTB in the Wrong Ways
Going thrifty isn’t a bad thing, but when it comes to maintaining your precious mountain bike, which is heavy maintenance in itself, it isn’t wise. Using inappropriate tools to maintain or fix your MTB will prove to be a costly mistake, which you may not be able to reverse cheaply.
Some maintenance mistakes of a mountain bike include excessively lubing the chain, over-tightening carbon-fiber handlebar bolts, using wrong size Allen-keys, forcing a pedal to release from the stuck-up condition, and many more.
If you’re eager to handle such problems on your mountain bike by yourself, first train yourself to do so by learning from an expert biker or a mechanic. Besides, read the how-to manual carefully to put things in their right places while maintaining or fixing your bike.
7. Drive-Side Layover
Resting your mountain bike drive-side down on the ground may misalign the derailleurs. The derailleurs may hang out or get damaged due to an extended period of drive-side down of your MTB.
If you ever need to lay your mountain bike for not getting anything to lean your bike on, the safe practice is to keep it drive-side up, meaning laying on its left side.
No matter if your mountain bike is cheap or costly, avoid the mistake of the drive-side layover. A better solution to rest your bike could be attaching a kickstand to it and utilizing it whenever in need of stand-by.
Imagine if you’ve kept your bike on the roadside due to not having a kickstand, some other bike or motorbike rider may stumble upon your bike, leading to serious accidents. Remember, not all bikers use technologies that keep cyclists safe day or night.
Final Words
We’ve shared a few of the many more maintenance mistakes mountain bikers make more often. However, if you’ve made the mistakes we’ve discussed above, you may find it easier to avoid them in the future.
It’s okay to make such mistakes while maintaining a high-end mountain bike. But overlooking those mistakes will only reduce your bike’s performance and lifespan.
Remember, each and every tiny to large part of your mountain bike is essential and impartible. So, it’s imperative that you apply the best practice when maintaining or fixing your bike.