BFG

Whats some of the really obvious things you messed up as a newbie?
When i first got into biking, i was riding up a hill and noticed a noise form my front end, and i looked around, kept riding though. I kept going through my head "Oh, yep, new headset thats 125 bucks" etc etc. The nwhen i go home i looked down and BAM. My skewer came loose and undone. I kicked myself. What other stuff like that did you do when you first got into it? Or now for that matter.

Captain Crash

I busted a chain WHILE I was installing it. Snapped the master link top-plate in half. That was in BMX, of course.

cyccommute 

Not as a newbie but as someone unfamiliar with index shifting and the, then, new index cables. I neglected to put a ferrule on the end of my shift cable housing. In the middle of a long disastrous ride anyway (my wife had biffed her head on a downhill and been driven out while I was headed back to the truck to meet them), the cable housing split linearly on my front derailer. I just happened to be at the point of no return on the ride and had to finish last 15 miles in a 24 tooth chainring. I didn't know about resetting the limit screws at that point.

The ride was on a rolling fire road that wasn't hard to ride (hence my wife being with me) and had lots of short steep downhills followed by similar uphills. I'd pedal like crazy on any little downhill and get up to around 15 mph, then coast all the way to the bottom, coast up the hill until I could start pedaling like crazy again and repeat, all the way back to my truck. It was a long ride

SweetSVT99

I bought a cheapie bike thinking I would be saving money if I didn't like MTBing.

cyccommute 

If you look in Webster's, that's the very definition of a newbie

new·bie [noo-bee, nyoo?] n. Slang
One that is new to something. A cheapskate that doesn't want to spend money and ends up paying twice.
See steep learning curve.

santiago

When I first got my hardtail I installed some clipless pedals. I was new to mountain biking and new to clipless pedals. I then proceeded to read how to descend steep inclines and decided to test it on a set of stone steps close to my home. I was rolling down too slowly (chicken-**** factor) and couldn't unclip in time as I slowly toppled over and really twisted my ankle and my knee. My ankle was inflated like a softball but a good regimen of ice-water/warm-water brought down the swelling fairly quickly but my ankle hurt for the longest time.

Breitling

my very first mountain ride, I decided that I would be ok to do a short downhill section on a hardtail. It involved mostly 3 foot drops. i cleared the first one but after the second one i braked hard on the front brake and went over the handlebars. I almost hit a sharp stick in the ground, but luckily, I got out with just a few cuts and bruises, damage to my pride, and a whole lot of wisdom.

iwantakona

I was about ten years old and I was installing a new chain on my bmx when I had no idea I was suposed to shorten it to the length I needed. I put it on and got the master link on and everything. I was feeling pretty good about my ten year old skills when I tried to tighten it and pulled my back wheel right out of the dropouts and realized I had a huge problem. I got really mad and left the chain and bike in a heap and went back inside to play video games. When my stepdad got home he took a fat phillips head and broke the chain at the proper length and got me riding again. Felt pretty dumb because I had no idea it was that easy.

BugsInMyTeeth

I took my girlfriend on her first mtb ride. Thought it was an easy route. I was wrong, at least according to her.

Worst mistake... ever.

Temeraroius

Used to jump stairs on my cannondale rush, I felt hardcore.

gordito8me

tried to wear boxers under my bike shorts

DevilsGT2

A few years back, when my bike still had cantilevers, I replaced the brake pads on the front as they had worn down far too much. Having been worn for a while, I was accustomed to squeezing the lever ultra hard to get any sort of reaction from them. Well, I put the new pads in, took the bike out for a test spin, brought it up to about 15 mph, and squeezed the levers like I usually did. The bike stopped, and I kept on going at 15 mph, landed on my back, on the pavement. The wind was knocked out of me and I suffered a few minor scrapes.

Thus was my lesson in endos, and the power of the front brake.

junkyard

I was learning to use clipless. I got on my buddy's bike and was pedaling around the parking lot. Getting into the clipless was no problem. As I slowed to a stop, I realized that getting out was more the issue. I freaked, pulled my foot up, it stayed attached as I fell in the parking lot. Jammed my wrist really good on a rock. Good times... since then I've been hooked on clipless.

gordito8me

pun intended?

markhr

used toe clips and straps
used "ergo" grips
had my saddle too high
sold my most comfortable saddle
oiled my chain before taking the bike on a road trip

kwhman

Decided to put new Ritchey adjustable stem on my Montare. Read some stuff so knew I could do it. I figured it would be a great time to check out my new Park repair stand. You know what happened - when I loosened it all up the fork fell out and to the ground about 2 feet below. Held up by disk brake cable. Guess all the instructions I read thought it would be obvious to all that this would happen - all but me anyway. Then as i got it back together I realized I'd need another spacer (didn't have one). Trip to LBS next day to put it all back together but then a nice ride to make up for it!

Kwhman

Oleanshoebox

pee pee.

pinkrobe

I bought some clipless pedals and put them on my bike, then rode.

I suppose I should mention that this was my second mtn bike race ever, it was raining hard [wet roots FTW], and I cranked the release tension to about 50% so I wouldn't pull out too easily. I crashed twice before the race even started, bleeding from both knees. I only had to do two laps, but the officials had packed up the finish line by the time I completed lap two. About 10 of us came in together, covered in mud, bleeding and cursing our SPDs. 1993 was a bad year for me.

dminor 

I bought a full-suspension 'mountain bike' at Costco (Mongoose MGX). I thought, "hey, Mongoose is a BMX company, they must make good bikes." Haha.

...and then I upgraded it when things either broke or I learned that they were hopelessly crappy.

So when I was done, it had a dual-crown Judy XLC, Fox Alps shock, Rhynolite rims, Kore stem, Bontrager Crowbar handlebar . . . it was the most decked-out MGX on the planet.

...and then I raced DH with it.

Mose

'Nother clipless pedal young rider story-

My first clipless pedals were red Looks, don't remember the model, they were elastomer sprung, and one of the few mtb pedals Look made.

Well, I didn't bother to even pay attention to the release tension which was set quite high from the factory. So high, in fact, that when I was first riding on my parents driveway (when I was back in high school) and I clipped in (NOTHING beats the feeling of clipping in for the first time, I still remember what it was like), rode across the driveway, twisted my foot sideways, and nothing. My foot and the shoe moved but no release.

Crap, now I'm not moving and I can't trackstand to save my life. Oooooooover we go, onto the driveway. Fortunatly I landed half on my shoulder/hip and half on my left hand and didn't hurt my wrist or injur anything seriously.

But I had a problem, despite having only minor scrapes. I couldn't get my freakin foot out, no matter how hard I tried! I had to take the shoes off my feet to free myself from the tangled mess of bike and idiot.

A combination of extremely high release tension and poor installation of the cleats lead to my fate- the shoe turned and the cleat did not. I had back off the release tension all the way to get the shoes out of the damn pedals.

I was really stupid. I guess I haven't improved much though...

Terrapin Ben

when i was building my first bike, i took my frame to the lbs because i thought the threads for the derailleur hanger were stripped. turned out i was trying to screw my hanger into the wrong side of my frame. boy was my face red...

ILikeRedBikes

When i went to buy my first MTB i didnt know wich one was the rear or front brake so i decided to trust my hand. I squeezed the front brake (left hand) with all my might and fell and a bunch of bikes but i stood again unharmed. Bought it.

Mose

During my first race, my el cheapo saddle back kept falling off. The third time it fell off I was so frustrated, I squeezed my breaks hard (to stop and go get it). When a little too hard and supermanned over the handle bars.

idcruiserman

We've all been there. At least those of us with girlfriends.

Trekbikedude

lets see,

stuck my finger in rotor while wheel was spinning

I was a freak about my brakes If they rubbed the tiniest bit, I bought new rotors

I though I could buy rims with 11$