Bikes!!!! (MTB, Road, etc... just no motors)

Yeah tuning isnt hard. Well, some of it. Truing your wheels takes a little practice and is the sort of thing where you have to go very slowly. Screwing up a wheel with 1/4 - 1/8th of a turn sucks. hahahaha.

In any case....

Most bikes can work really well if tuned properly. Even a department store bike can be an excellent riding machine if assembled properly. Although nothing beats the quality of a real bike shop bike, if you aren't in the market to spend $400, picking up a decent big box bike can work out very well. Try to stick to the "sporting goods" stores like ***** and Sports Authority. Stay away from the Wal-mart and Target bikes. There is a huge difference.
A name brand bike from ***** like Iron Horse, Schwinn, or GT is a cyclery quality bike just sold at such volume the price is half of you local bike store. Pick one up for around $200 and get it tuned for $60ish at a good bike shop and it will be pretty darn good. Assembly is a major achilles heel of the inexpensive bike. The guy folding shirts one day builds bikes the next.
 
ummm... the sporting goods store that starts with D and ends in Icks.
 
I have a GT Mountain Bike. I've had it for at least 10 years! :omg: (damn it's that old)

She definitely needs a tune. Wonder how much it would cost.
 
the $60 range for a full tune is reasonable. It should include:

Both Brakes
Both derailleurs
Truing the wheels
Lube for drivetrain (possibly cleaning depending on shop)
Check all the bolts
Adjust bearings if needed

If it's about 10 years old you may be in need of new tires and tubes if they haven't been changed recently. Dry rot happens. A place I used to work had a package deal. Full tune plus changing tires and tubes for $120. Tires are around $20-30 each and tubes $5.

Also do you have suspension fork? Cantilever brakes?
Do the brakes looks like this?
canti.jpg


If so you may also get hit with new brake shoes, which are ridiculously expensive. LIke $20 a set which adds another $40 onto your bill. It's unfortunate that even great older bikes can end up with a $250 repair/tune up bill and a new bike is just around the corner at $300.
 
Free tune ups for forum members if you bring me your bike! hahaha since i know no one lives near here.
 
Thought I had to adjust the headset the other day but it turned out to be the handlebar stem. While I was messing with stuff I removed one of the spacers on headset and seemed to benefit my back, lol. I guess I am a little less huntched over on the bars. I still have a little play in the headset(I think) and can't figure it out. might be the brakes or susp. but I checked those over.

Turned the wheel all the way to the left and rock the bike front to back and I can still feel a tiny bit of play. Any advise?
 
2 possibilities:

Where did the spacer come out from? Above or below the stem? If it has 4 spacers you can move them around in any order. 4 above, 4 below, 2 and 2, whatever. You just have to keep all the spacers under the top cap. The metal (or plastic) round disc on top of the stem with the bolt in it. If you take a spacer out completely you will have play because tightening the bolt preloads the bearings in the headset. Once gently tightened the stem bolts hold it all together.

With the wheel turned all the way left, so it is 90 degrees to the bike, do you have the brake on? The play you are feeling is probably in the fork itself and not the stem, headset, handlebar area. You are probably feeling flex in the fork legs and play in the fork bushings, which is where the upper and lower legs of the fork come together. There is also going to be a lot of lateral flex in the wheel itself.
 
WIth the wheel straight: When rocking the bike to check for play in the headset put your hand around the top of the headset where you can see the "rings" come together. Feel if those layers move across each other. If you can feel the headset cups moving its loose. If not its play in another part.
 
It has 3 spacers. I will have to put the one I took out back ontop of the stem instead of below(where it was when I removed it). I don't think they were moving so it might be something else. The play feeling might/prob is the susp.

Where I ride is COVERED in roots so by the end of the ride I noticed something was "loose". I could feel it on any/all bumps of the last couple yards riding around. I go home google stuff and adjusted the stem/removed the ring. I rode 2 days later and the "loose" feeling was not there but there was still a tiny bit of play. I go home and check the bike over again and still notice a tiny bit of play with the wheel turn/ not turned with the brake on.

I will double check everything again in the next day or two when I put the ring back on. Thanks for the help.
 
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