Wreckd ‘n Repaired

Because of the numerous options available, making a first-time purchase can be challenging. There are so many different types of mountain bikes on the market these days that it can be difficult to decide which one is best for you. Identifying the terrain you will be riding on is often the best way to determine which bike will suit you best.

Hardtail mountain bikes combine incredible value with incredible simplicity. A hardtail is ideal if you are on a tight budget, want to challenge yourself, or want a bike with less fuss. Hardtail Mountain bikes are extremely cost-effective to manufacture due to the added simplicity provided by the lack of suspension linkages. This means you can get a great bike at a great price.

I would recommend the Vitus Nucleus 27 VR, which has fantastic specifications and is very reasonably priced.

I would recommend the Brand-X Ascend 31.6mm In relation to the drop required (125mm or 150mm). Dropper post sizing is based on a few points; the frame insertion depth and the length of the post outside the frame. Set your saddle to your preferred riding height and measure from the saddle rails to the top of your seat clamp collar.

This will give you an idea of what height/length is required outside your frame. Then establish the maximum seatpost insertion depth of your frame.

The Brand-X Ascend Dropper 125mm post has an overall length of 412mm. When slammed requires an insertion depth of 233mm, leaving approximately 182mm outside the frame from the dropper collar to the saddle rail when extended.

Generally, if you're adding 4 teeth you should add 4 links to compensate. There are various online resources to help with chain length.

You should also check the maximum capacity of your rear derailleur. For example. a RD-R8000-GS rear mech has a maximum cassette size of 34t and a total capacity of 39T,

If your drivetrain has a 50-34 chainring on the front and a 36-11 cassette on the rear, then…

[50-34] + [36-11] = 41

This is outside of the capacity.

It's unlikely that you'll be able to increase the rear travel of because most bikes are built around a specific shock size. Depending on the model, you may be able to increase the fork's travel.

The bike will, however, have a maximum fork travel. A longer fork, for example, will raise the bottom bracket and slacken the head-angle, resulting in a negative effect on the geometry.

The amount of drag/resistance there is in a hub is mainly down to three components, the quality of the bearings, the type of grease used in the type of seals. You can improve how well the wheels spin by changing these however there are drawbacks that can come with degreased rolling resistance.

You can upgrade the bearings. The biggest gains are had when moving to a ceramic bearing. These are the fastest rolling. You can also upgrade to higher grade (rounder) steel bearings such as ABEC 5 cartridge bearings if your wheel doesn't have them.

The grease will be more relevant if you have a cup and cone bearing (commonly found in Shimano. Campagnolo and Fulcrum hubs), you can purchase higher grade greases that have a lower kinematic viscosity and additional additives to degrease rolling resistance. Some old school riders would have stripped hubs for races and just used oil! I wouldn't recommend the oil option though as it doesn't last and you will likely damage your hub!

Lastly the seals found on the bearings. There are a whole range of seals, and I could write this much again explaining them all but essentially the more seals the slower the wheels will spin but the longer you will have between maintenance. So it is a trade off. Some road wheels will only have cartridge bearings with an external seal, halving the resistance. Track hubs sometimes go with out any seals at all, but these hubs would only be used on indoor Velodromes.

So to summarise, the easiest way to make your wheels spin faster is to change the bearings to a higher grade. However the most important thing is to keep on top of the bearing maintenance especially if you have a cup and cone hub (Shimano/Campagnolo/Fulcrum are three brands that use this). I would leave playing around with hub seals to the professionals who don't have to pay for the replacements!

I'm afraid the number of 26″ wheeled forks with a 1 1/8″ steerer are very limited these days. Most modern mountain bikes are running 27.5″ or 29″ wheels, along with a tapered steerer and have been for sometime.

We do not list any Fox forks but we have the RockShox Recon Silver TK Solo Air Forks (QR-2020) 2020, RockShox 30 Silver Coil Forks - 9mmQR (2018) or Manitou Circus Comp Suspension Fork, you would just need to make sure the front hub has a suitable axle type for the forks (the RockShox are quick release and the Manitou is 20mm), and the fork travel is suitable for your bike.

yep you should be able to purchase a stiffer spring for your fork. However I would need to know the exact model to help you find the part you need. All RockShox forks have a serial number in the back of the fork crown. It will start with two digits then a T followed by a string of numbers. If you reach out to us on [email protected] with this we will be able to find the RockShox part numbers for the stiffer springs.

We will not stock the springs though and are unable to do do special orders, so you would have to source them elsewhere.

To determine what spring you need you will need to check that the spring you are buying has the required amount of free stroke and that it isn't to long for your shock (the shock has suitable free length). The free stroke of the spring will need to be as close to the free stroke of the shock as possible but not shorter (otherwise you will get coil bind).

So if you have a shock which the dimensions 205x60mm, you have 60mm of stroke on the shock, so you will need the spring to have more than 60mm of free stroke. The free stroke of springs is often given in inches so you may need to convert, just divide stoke of the shock by 25.4, so 60/25.4=2.36″. So you will want a spring with more than 2.36″ of free stroke. Something around 2.38-2.4″.

Generally speaking if you choose based off this the spring will be short enough in overall free length for the shock. However you can make sure by measuring the available free length of the shock, to do this wind the preload off completely and measure from the inside of the spring collar to the inside of the preload nut.

The final thing to consider is the inner diameter of the spring, different brand shocks required different size inner diameter coils. Here are the inner diameter requirements of some popular brands Fox = 35mm. CCDB, Bos, Ohlins= 36mm and RockShox = 38mm. You can buy reducers if the inner diameter of the spring is larger but it will not work the other way around.

The short answer is no, it is not recommended. Manufacturers design the drivetrains as completer systems and mixing brands will potentially lead to poorer shift performance. However, you definitely can mix some brands cassettes and chains without any notable issues, I, currently running an 11speed Shimano cassette with a SRAM derailleur and shifter and it works flawlessly. Shimano and SRAM have had the same cassette spacing and up until the latest 12speed groupsets the chains had the same pitch and width, so there is no really reason for it not to work (just maybe not as crisply).

Campagnolo on the other hand will require Campagnolo parts as the spacing is different and it will not mesh with Shimano and SRAM shifters.

I suspect as the number of gears increases the chances of being able to mix will become even less. As can been seen with the latest SRAM 12speed road where the chain has a larger roller diameter so has to be used with the SRAM 12speed road cassettes and chainrings.

No, its not advised to use a pressure washer when cleaning your bike as the high pressure water can wash the grease out of hub bearings, headsets and bottom brackets. Worst case it could potentially damage seals. So unless you are an avid mechanic and are happy to deal with the extra servicing a pressure washer could lead to, its best to stick to the brushes and Muc Off!

I will note you can get some low pressure pressure washers which are designed for bike use which will reduce the chances of these issues but I would still be careful spraying it around the mentioned areas.

It will really depends on the design of the freehub and if it is a serviceable unit. Basic wheels and some Shimano wheels just require a replacement freehub body as all the workings are sealed.

If your freehub is serviceable I would recommend following the service guide for the hub. If you cannot find the one you need for you hub please contact the tech team at [email protected]

Sticky freehubs are usually caused by dirt or too much grease in the freehub mechanism or a failed bearing.

For £1300 you would be much better off looking at hardtails as you are not going to get an Enduro ready full suspension bike for that price. I would recommend looking at the following:

- Ragley Mmmbop Hardtail Bike - Olive Green
- Vitus Sentier 27 VR Mountain Bike
- Vitus Sentier 29 VR Mountain Bike
- Commencal Meta HT AM Origin Hardtail Bike 2022

Whilst maybe not thoroughbred Enduro bikes they are capable of taking some abuse.

If the thru axle/quick release is tight but its making noise of has some play at the rim it would suggest that the hub bearings need some attention. If the hub bearings are ok I would check the spoke tension. If all of these are ok, make sure the brake isn't rubbing.

Less common but possible causes are if there is any loose bits in the rim post manufacturing, which can rattle in the rim. Or if you have tubeless sealant (such as Stans) this can form a ball when it dries up which can roll around in the tyre.

To decrease drivetrain noise modern mountain bike drivetrains use clutch derailleurs and narrow wide chainrings. This not only reduces the chain noise but also helps keep the chain on. So if you do not have this you could consider upgrading parts of the drivetrain (if possible, contact the tech team at [email protected]).

Other things you could try is purchasing a thicker chain stay protector, something like the Lezyne Smart Chainstay Protector, providing it fits your bike.

Some tell tale signs your shock is blown:

- Excessive amounts of oil on the shock stanchion, and leaking out around the seal.
- There is no rebound damping, the shock is like a pogo stick, and turning the rebound damping to make it slower has no affect.
-Lockout or compression damping isn't working.

If there is a knocking noise then I would recommend getting the shock looked at. Some shocks will makes some noise as the oil is pushed through the damper circuits, but its hard for me to confirm what the noise is without hearing it.

Firstly just check the valve core is tight on the tubeless valve and the valve is tight in the rim. It might even be worth trying a replacement valve core.

However, It sounds like there might be an issue with the sealing of the valve stem in the rim. I would recommend you check there is adequate sealant in the tyre. If there is, make sure you give it a good shake with the valve located at the bottom to try and encourage sealant to get around the valve on the inside of the tyre.

If its still leaking I would recommend you check the rim tape isn't damaged. If you have replaced the valve its possible the tape has torn around the valve hole. If this is the case you may need to re-tape the rim

Firstly I would check that the bearings are still in good condition. If a bearing has collapsed it will cause excessive movement in the wheel and if you continue to ride on it it could cause more damage. If the bearings are ok, just make sure the end caps are tight/pressed on properly.

If you are still having issues it would require more investigation, and I would need to know a few more specifics about what hub you have and what bike its fitted to. If this is the case please contact us at [email protected] with the details and ideally a video of the issue.

Yes you can, however we do not sell them. The best thing to do when you need a spare part for a Shimano product is to visit si.shimano.com, here you can search for the technical documents for all their products.

Just look for the part code on the derailleur, it will start RD-M, followed by 6100, 7100, 8100 or 9100 depending on the level. Pop the full code into the search bar and you should find a few documents. Just select the Exploded view (EV) and it will show you the derailleur and have full list of the spares and their part numbers. You can then use these to search online.

You can use this for any Shimano product, they all have the component part code written on them.

The saggy Reverb is generally caused by air being drawn into the system. The most common cause of this is riders lifting their bike up by the saddle when the seat post is in its lower position, or hanging it on a bike rack/stand by the saddle when its down. It can just happen over time with use but if its happened prematurely its likely caused by the above.

Previously the only guaranteed way to fix this was to service the post but the latest C1 Reverb and AXS Reverb have a built in bleed valve which allows you to bleed the post of this trapped air without the need to take the post apart.

If you are running rim brakes I would definitely recommend a second set of alloy wheels for winter use, for two reasons. Firstly the alloy rims offer much better braking in the wet compared to a lot of carbon offerings. Secondly, carbon rims are expensive and during the wetter winter months when there is more dirt and grit on the road rim wear is accelerated, so you are much better off wearing out a cheaper alloy rim.

However if you have modern bike with disc brakes, the reality of owning one set of good carbon wheels is much more realistic. You no longer have to worry about not stopping at a junction on a wet day, or wearing out your carbon rims prematurely.

The only a couple of reasons I can see why you might not run the one set of wheels. Firstly, if you live somewhere the roads are salted regularly and your not that hot on cleaning the bike after a wet ride, as the salt can accelerate corrosion, particularly of aluminium nipples. Secondly you are probably slightly more likely to hit potholes in the winter due to more standing water and lower light levels, but I am not sure this is something that would put me off. I guess it depends what your track record for hitting them is like!