Mountain Biking - Some questions...

so after about 1 and a half weeks on my new baby i have a few questions:

-how often should you lube the chain? i've heard both every week and every month
-is it normal for the rd to move around a little bit?
-what is the best way to clean a mtb? i hear hosing is bad
-how often should one go to the LBS to get a bike checked up? or can you do the routine checks mentioned in instruction manuals yourself?

Lubing the chain... hmm, I lube mine whenever it starts to squeak, but the main thing is to keep it clean (and the chainrings, cassette, etc the entire drivetrain CLEAN CLEAN!).

What do you mean by the rd (rear derailleur I presume?) moving around? How so? Describe it's movement because it could be bad (but fixable).

To clean an MTB, I assume your talking about dirt on the frame? I use a regular hoze with no nozzle without a lot of pressure so it's a little bit of water in a specific area which I then use a cheap rag to "scrub" and get dirt off. That way, nothing splashes into my perty teflon cable housings.

A routine check is something you should learn how to do yourself. Stuff like air pressure, brake pads, cable stretch etc is very basic and not hard to learn.

If you're talking about a full "tune-up" I take mine in every couple months because I simply don't have the tools to go over everything myself, but that can be mended with some cash.

What do you mean by the rd (rear derailleur I presume?) moving around? How so? Describe it's movement because it could be bad (but fixable).



yeah i meant the rear deraileur. i have to take a look again to better describe it, i'll update later today

If you're a newbie to the bike fixing world, yeah, take your bike to the LBS, but hang out & talk to whomever is working on your bike - have them explain what & why & how they are doing what you're doing so you can do it yourself.

I was truely shocked a few weeks ago, hanging at the LBS waiting for someone, to see 4 people come in during the course of probably 45 minutes - just to have thier flat tires fixed. Totally amazing!! (of course, I have to drive 1.5 hours to the nearest LBS)

so after about 1 and a half weeks on my new baby i have a few questions:

-how often should you lube the chain? i've heard both every week and every month
-is it normal for the rd to move around a little bit?
-what is the best way to clean a mtb? i hear hosing is bad
-how often should one go to the LBS to get a bike checked up? or can you do the routine checks mentioned in instruction manuals yourself?

Don't be afraid of your bike. It's just a bike. If you are at all mechanically inclined, then you should work on it yourself. It would be hard to **** it up to an extreme extent. If you get in to deep, then you can take it to the shop to bail you out. On the cleaning issue, there are plenty of threads on it if you search. You will find no consensus. Lube your chain every few rides but that is totally contingent on where you are riding, what lube you use, and how much you are riding. Plenty of threads on this as well.