|   frame quality | heretothere
Jul 17, 2003 4:50 AM | | Last winter I had the opportunity to pick up a mountain bike on the cheap when an LBS was closing. It is a Raliegh M-80. My eye was on the grouppo, mostly Deore LX, including the front and rear derailleurs. I didn't think I would use the bike all that much, as I have a cross bike, but I ended up using it alot. When I say alot, I'm not joking. I ride almost every day for an hour or two. The trails I ride most frequently have plenty of logs, creek crossings and loose rocks etc. Basically, the bike gets alot of use. At this point, even after a few tune ups, the shifting sucks, I've gone through a few chains, and the wheels need alot of truing. I asked my mechanic what he thought about the wear and he blamed it on the frame. He claims that a cheap frame will wear out components faster. Any thoughts?
Oh, and I also weigh in at a hefty 230lbs. |
| "a cheap frame will wear out components faster"... | AndyH
Jul 17, 2003 5:11 AM | | ...sounds like a BS excuse to me. I'd peg the wear-and-tear on heavy use and your 230 lbs. weight. |
| The mechanic sounds like an idiot to me.. | Locoman
Jul 17, 2003 5:12 AM | | 230lbs will put strain on the wheels and mucho torque on the chain. And I can't see how the frame is to blame for the stuff you mention.
It sounds like he'd like to sell you an expensive frame.
Look at http://www.sheldonbrown.com/ and learn to tweak the shifting yourself. ..And take a look at your cables and make sure they can slide through the housing well, if it's getting caught you're not going to be able to make it shift well.
Wheels:
I don't know about your wheels, they might be cheap and underbuilt for what you need or they might just need the attention of a competant wheel builder. I'd have someone else (besides the mechanic you're talking about) look them over for you.
Chain:
You might be using generic chains that's be prone to break or you might have a worn out cassette or chainrings. If either one or both of these are worn out a new chain will go downhill fast. (Again, I'd have a competant mechanic check this out for you). |
| re: frame quality | jmomma
Jul 17, 2003 8:55 AM | | Id find a new mechanic,thats a real load of bull.Ive never heard of a frame catagorized as cheap,usualy its either heavy or light.A frame thats too light for its rider will develope cracks and flex and a heavy frame is just that, heavy.Just about all the Shimano components work very good when they are new but the lower end models wear out faster than XT and XTR parts.You sound like a big guy and your 230lb weight will tend to stress the chain and wheelset more. Try replacing your shifting cables more often as water can realy make shifting seem crummy and keep your chain clean and lubed.As far as the wheels go,this is one of the main items that can make a bike more or less expensive.Cheaper bikes have cheaper wheel sets,you can keep truing or think about upgrading to a better set.When you wear out your other components upgrade to XT or XTR the price isnt too bad when your just getting an item at a time.Also definatly think about an XT or XTR bottom bracket the lesser priced bikes always have a cheap heavy bottom bracket because you cant see it until you need to replace it.If you like your bike and it does what you want dont be pressured into something more expensive.Hope this helps. |
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