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Hello BikeForums.net and santiago,

A short intro then we'll get into it...

I'll be the first to admit I don't know much and I'm fairly new to riding mountain bikes. But a friend gave me a brand new dept. store NEXT 26' Shocker and this bike is ****ing sweet. I've been riding the **** out of this thing and I can't believe anyone would spend more than 150 dollars for a mountain bike. And at this price, it came with full suspension and every thing.

Sure it's heavy, but that means it's solid so I don't have to worry about it fouling up on my when I'm riding hard so I don't even bother to wear a helmet.

In all seriousness, I'm obviously not being serious at all.

However, I did get a dept. store bike for free, and I ride it exactly how a dept. store should be ridden, if you indeed think these things are even safe enough to sit on, which I know they aren't.

I do take it out, but I ride on a bike trail next to my house that's about a mile long, so when this thing gives out I don't have far to walk. At the moment I can't afford a bike in any price range, and I think wheeling responsibly around on this monstrosity is better than nothing (although that's also debatable).

Anyways, I'd like to learn how to break it down, make sure some guy in China put everything on facing in the right direction, and basically use it as a step to becoming familiar with bikes and mountain bikes in general.

I've looked for a decent mechanics check list I can use to dis/assemble, correct and check the bike by but I can't seem to find one, so I thought I'd ask here.

Also, if anyone can point me in the direction of a decent resource to learn how to properly take care of and maintain a bike--so when I do get a real one, I don't destroy it because I have some foundation of knowledge--it would be much appreciated. The Park Tools website is a good resource, but upon further searching I see there's a ton of crap on the internet and I'd really rather not learn bike care from some website that has articles written by 15 year olds.

Any and all help would be appreciated, but a good mechanic's check list would be great.

[edit] I would also just like to say I have searched plenty, so Im not being lazy. Im just not sure what information out there can be "trusted" nor where to find it. I would not have posted this had I not tried to find this information on my own.