Mountain Bike Pivot Maintenance

You ll want to work from the smallest pivots to the largest one.

Mountain bike pivot maintenance. Keep things in order. That doesn t mean taking everything apart cleaning and regreasing after every ride. Unscrew each pivot bolt. Bike wheels and tires.

A pre ride inspection securing bolts and cleaning and lubricating key components. If the wheels don t spin true in a proper circle they ll need to be serviced. On your long and lonely walk back to the trailhead you ll have plenty of time to consider this. Be sure to use a torque wrench and tighten to the manufacturer s specification see illustration.

Keep an eye out for spacers. One thing that can ruin a mountain bike ride very quickly is a mechanical breakdown on the trail. But routinely wiping dirt mud off the outside of your suspension when you get home is a great first step. Bike maintenance is a wide ranging topic so in this article we start with the basics.

Mountain bike tires offer traction with the ground allowing travel over a variety of unlikely surfaces like mud rocks roots and ladder bridges. Maintain suspension pivots by frequently checking bolt torque. In addition they form a flexible cushion which helps smooth out bumps and thumps along the way making for a more comfortable ride. Crafted with care and excellence pivot mountain bikes are built to last.

Never blast pivots with a hose when cleaning. A quick regular mountain bike maintenance check might have prevented your on trail breakdown. Also don t overlook regular maintenance by a bike mechanic. Your mountain bike wheels should freely spin around the hub without rubbing touching or hitting anything else.

Many pivots have small spacers between the bearing and the surface it sits on. Overtightening can cause damage to the pivots. Doing so will drive in water and dirt. I have greased hundreds of bearings this way between motocross and bicycles it has worked amazing for me.

Take care when removing so you don t misplace them. Regularly keeping an eye on your bike s pivots makes their maintenance easy.