What mountain bike brands are good?

[Sukhoi]

I have a Trek Mountain Track 800 from 1998 or so. As of yesterday morning it was tuned just fine, and pedaling was very smooth. Then yesterday I did some off-road riding. About halfway through the ride something happened. Now when I pedal (only forwards, not backwards) it feels like the chain is grinding. Similar to the feeling when the derailer isn't lined up right and the chain partially catches but doesn't switch gears. I have the bike flipped over, and I can't see anything that's wrong. The front and rear derailers look like they are lined up fine. I stuck some rubber gloves on and tried to feel where the grinding is coming from. It seems that it's from the rear derailer, but I can't tell what the heck is causing it. Any suggestions?

Oh, my chain is long. But if that is the problem, why would it suddenly show up like it did? I was hoping to wait until the end of the summer before having the chain replaced.

Edit: See my post below.

 

[JACKHAMMER]

Make sure everything is smooth and that the crank is not bent. Other than that, it is probably your rear derailer being a little off (check to see idf the hanger is bent).

 

[Sukhoi]

I'll take a look at the crank, but I would be astounded if it is bent. I was mostly on gravel trails, and nothing where the crank would hit the ground or an object.

I'm going to readjust the derailers again tomorrow, and hopefull that will fix the problem. It does seem to be coming from the rear derailer. I have no idea how I'm going to test if it's just slightly bent.

 

[shady123]

I have to get mine tuned every 3 months. I do offroadin alot.

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: shady123
I have to get mine tuned every 3 months. I do offroadin alot.

How much does it cost you?

I need to call my shop when I get home from work tomorrow and get a price for a new chain and installation. I wish this stuff was easier to do at home.

 

[MrCookie]

Check that the chain is "on" the little cogs inside the rear derraileur. You can try shifting to the highest or lowest gears, and adjust the cable tension from there to see if the grinding subsides. It is normal for cables to stretch over time, and tightening the cable by twisting the barrel adjuster on the shifter and/or the derraileur usually brings it back to where it should be (depending on how many times you adjust it, eventually you have to pull the slack out of the cable at the derraileur).

 

[Thegonagle]

What MrCookie said.

Turn that adjuster, usually just a turn in one direction or the other will do it.

 

[Sukhoi]

Bah, I just adjusted both derailers and it didn't do a thing.

I'm pretty sure something is screwed up with the chain. I put on some rubber gloves and felt when the chain was passing through the rear derailer gears, and it was making the grinding noise/feeling every time a link hit the gear.

I guess I'm off to the bike shop on Saturday...

 

[FrustratedUser]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi

Originally posted by: shady123
I have to get mine tuned every 3 months. I do offroadin alot.

How much does it cost you?

I need to call my shop when I get home from work tomorrow and get a price for a new chain and installation. I wish this stuff was easier to do at home.

Servicing a bike is simple. Installing a new chain is very easy.
Flip the bike over
Break the chain
Install new chain

 

[Fausto]

First thing to check is the adjustment of the rear derailleur. Flip the bike over and see if it is hesitating or grinding as you pedal with one hand and run it through the gears with the other. Go one at a time and observe the shifting. If it's hesitating or grinding, you need to adjust the cable tension via the barrel adjuster on the back of the rear der. It's the thing sticking out of the left side in this picture.

In a nutshell, if the cable is too loose, it will hesitate going to a larger cog. If too tight, it will hesitate going to a smaller cog. Adjust a half turn at a time until everything is shifting correctly (add cable tension by turning the barrel counterclockwise and loosen by turning clockwise if you're hunkered behind the bike).

If that doesn't do the trick, you may have bent the derailleur hanger (the little tab it bolts onto) but I really doubt you did something like that unless you crashed pretty hard while riding or hooked the derailleur on a stump or root. If the hanger gets bent, it will completely screw up the shifting no matter what you do.

 

[Sukhoi]

Thanks for the replies.

When I adjusted the rear derailleur earlier tonight it was working great (shifting and such) while I had the bike parked, but as soon as I tried to ride it, it started screwing up again.

Off to the bike shop this weekend...maybe I can make it in on Thursday since they're open late.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
Thanks for the replies.

When I adjusted the rear derailleur earlier tonight it was working great (shifting and such) while I had the bike parked, but as soon as I tried to ride it, it started screwing up again.

Off to the bike shop this weekend...maybe I can make it in on Thursday since they're open late.

Hmm....I wonder if the cable is slipping. That would explain it working fine one minute and then not the next.

 

[Sukhoi]

Ugh...that is one screwed bike. Bottom bracket is shot; that's what's causing the grinding. Chain is dead, along with the rear sprocket. Front wheel needs an alignment, brake and gear cables are close to rusted out, brake pads are starting to dry out and crack. Close to $300, and the bike was only $250 new, lol. It's still $200-$250 for the repairs if I do some of the more simple stuff myself.

So, what brands would you suggest for a $400 MTB? At my shop they have a nice Specialized on closeout for $370. It was about $480 originally. I need to call tomorrow and get the exact model. So other than Trek and Specialized (assuming Specialized is good) what brands should I be looking at?

Oh, is the Trek 4500 worth the extra $70 over the 4300? There don't seem to be all that many differences between the bikes.

 

[Fausto]

Any of the "big" name brands carried in bike shops should pretty much do you right.

Trek, Fisher, Specialized, Giant, DiamondBack, Cannondale, etc are all very nice bikes in your price range.

Main thing, IMO is to NOT get a full-suspension bike. At your price point you will end up with a wallowy boat anchor. Not worth it. Stick to hardtails with front suspension and you'll be in good shape.

Oh, is the Trek 4500 worth the extra $70 over the 4300? There don't seem to be all that many differences between the bikes.

I'd say definitely. Much better fork and Bontrager components instead of no-name stuff. Fork alone is worth the $70.

 

[Sukhoi]

Oh, don't worry, I'm not considering a full-suspension.

When I call the shop tomorrow I'll ask them for the brand of fork on that Specialized. From what I remember, the owner said it was quite a good fork for the price range. I'm pretty sure he was talking about the fork when he said that something on the bike I was looking at was standard on Specialized bikes in the $700 range.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
Oh, don't worry, I'm not considering a full-suspension.

When I call the shop tomorrow I'll ask them for the brand of fork on that Specialized. From what I remember, the owner said it was quite a good fork for the price range. I'm pretty sure he was talking about the fork when he said that something on the bike I was looking at was standard on Specialized bikes in the $700 range.

Read through this list to get an idea what else might be in your approximate price range.

Take the reviews with a grain of salt though since they're written by average Joes.

 

[Sid59]

huffy?

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: Sid59
huffy?

Are you new?

And what the hell happened to Schwinn? Did I miss something? I saw a bunch in Target. Did they go the way of Mongoose recently, and become a mass merchant brand? To their credit, they were easily the closest to the real thing in the whole store, but they still had a bunch of generic stuff on 'em.

 

[montanafan]

I have the Trek 4300 just like this one and I really like it. I don't know about that price though. I got mine a year ago for $300. Maybe you could find last year's model new somewhere. Really saves on the cost.

 

[brtspears2]

Wow your bike is in the same ship as mine. Good thread.

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: brtspears2
Wow your bike is in the same ship as mine. Good thread.

You got junk in your bottom bracket too?

I wonder how long mine has been unsealed, since this was the first time I had been offroad in a long time and the bracket died immediately.

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

Originally posted by: Sid59
huffy?

Are you new?

And what the hell happened to Schwinn? Did I miss something? I saw a bunch in Target. Did they go the way of Mongoose recently, and become a mass merchant brand? To their credit, they were easily the closest to the real thing in the whole store, but they still had a bunch of generic stuff on 'em.

Yeah, I think I heard that Schwinn did the same thing.

 

[tkdkid]

Giant is a good value brand. Take a step up and get a giant ranier for $600 or so.

 

[CraigRT]

I like Gary Fisher... I love the geometry of my Supercaliber.. fantastic bike for XC MTBing.

 

[Stark]

In your price range, check out the Specialized Rockhopper or Giant Iguana.