Originally Posted by
FBinNY
It's a straightforward job and shouldn't cost much. You need to talk to the dealer or mechanic get a quote and be sure to remind him that this is a bike you bought cheap to save money and don't wish to sink much into.
IMO you should have made that clear when you needed the headset. Not that $90.00 is necessarily high depending on the headset, but there are less expensive headsets available and you didn't need to spend that much.
As far as living with it goes, it's a bad choice. I'm not one of those people that says "you're raking your life in your hands" but a non-engaging cassette can be a nasty surprise when you go to start pedaling after a descent, especially if you want to maintain momentum for an immediate climb which is common. Think Charlie Brown when Lucy yanks the football.
A Hardrock is a decent bike, and worth spending a bit to keep it going, just be sure your mechanic knows you have limits. OTOH don't fool yourself that a brand new bike won't also need service and you have to expect to spend on maintenance whatever you're riding.
That's good advice. BTW, the $90 for the headset job included the labor cost too. I'm really surprised a bike of this brand would keep having parts fail like this. I've done things to keep my bikes in as good of shape as possible, having learned from the past. I even had an axle break on a different bike, even though I never jump curbs anymore (knocks rims out of alignment). Yet when I used to jump curbs without a second thought in the past, I've never had a broken axle. It only happens when I actually take care of the bike. Go figure!