Bicycle Repair

It's been about 2.5 months since I resumed my training from my real off-season .  October was a great time to start catching up on some neglected repair and maintenance of bicycles that I let go of over the crazy summer months of racing.  One thing I finally finished was to clean up my mountain bike which had been dormant for several years.  I had only riden it maybe one time with Rider at Pandapas in Blacksburg my Senior year.  After cleaning the drive train and frame and making sure the shifting and brakes worked, I took it out for a spin and quickly realized that both the front fork and body shocks were toast.  The body shock was not holding any air pressure and I think the springs in the fork were dead.  I intially brought it to the shop in Plainfield to get a quote on repair versus replacement for both shocks.  They talked with Fox(float shock) and RockShox(fork shock) and it came back that it was going to be way outside my budget for this bike. 

 

So plan B:  I looked up the service manual for the body shock and found a replacement seal kit for it online.  After a friend from work and I took it apart with some tools at his place, we noticed the air sleeve was damaged along with the seals being worn out.  Luckily, after I called Fox, I was able to buy a replacement air sleeve as well.  I came in well under budget and now the bike is ride-able again, although the front fork could still use some new springs.

 

If your ever thinking about selling that old bike, or putting alot of money into it, give a good look at the service manuals and call up the manufacturer for some replacement parts first.  It'll save quite a bit of money, and is a good learning experience to understand how to properly service your bike. 

 

I am still in the process of getting the 4 bikes I own, (Mtn, Cross, Road and Commuter) in perfect working condition, with spending minimal money.  This way I can have them all in great  riding condition so I can take any one of them out for a spin, whenever I want, without having to worry if they will work or not.

 

When I started riding full time a little over 3 years ago, I really didn't have any clue about bike maintenance, and how important it was to keep up with it.  Now I have that knowledge and recognize the importance of proper maintenance, not only for having a finely tuned racing bike, but to have any of your bikes work as good as they did when they first rolled of the showroom floor.  Being proactive with with preventative maintenanceis key and will help keep your investment keep it's worth for years to come.  I'm looking forward to having all my bikes work like new.