Hey there, trying to improve, idk where to ask, bear with me.

I talked to some anons in the story thread, and I see there's a frogposter thread about MTBS being shit. both these things got me thinking. since I recently got one/am waiting for it to show up, figured I'd ask.

I have upgraded saddle, grip, and got some raceface chesters. What's the next thing to upgrade, if I want to maximize the lifespan/usability of the bicycle?

There are no classes or good-reviewed LBSes near me, only big box stores. I do not believe there are any physical, hands-on teachers for bikes nearby, but don't want to pay out the ass over and over and over every single time something breaks on the thing. Are youtube guides/owners manual sufficient? I have not owned a bike for longer than a week or two before, and havent ridden for more than 9 or so miles total in my lifetime.

I see MTBs have forks, is what the front suspension pipe thingers are called. They look like a potential problem area; prone to breaking or easily damaged if a tiny pebble or bit of dust gets in between the squishy thingers and the wall of the pump thingers. Is that the case or am i just schizo?

Lastly is there any sort of post bike/post questions and comments general on this board? Don't like making threads, dont ask why, just never did. Thanks

>>2043299 (OP)
>Lastly is there any sort of post bike/post questions and comments general on this board?
We do but the last one hit bump limit

If you want to upgrade for durability, the biggest thing is decent quality pedals which you've already got covered. After that, it depends what your bike comes stock with and what kinds of demands you're placing on it: if you've got alloy rim wheels, carbon rim wheels can give you higher tensile strength against impacts, the quality of the hub/freehub matters for long term performance, and headset might matter if you're starting on basic caged bearings. But most upgrades are about optimizing the bike for your use case: cockpit just right for your riding position, the right tires for the terrain, brakes that are powerful enough (but not overly so), optimizing suspension setup, and finally saving weight without sacrificing performance.

But the most important thing you can do if you care about the lifespan of your bike and its components is to invest time in maintenance and tools - never ride with anything loose or creaking, keep your drivetrain clean, keep your chain lubed. Do the 50/200 hour service on suspension components as the manufacturer specifies. No bike lasts forever, but if you take care of the moving parts it can last a very long time.

Suspension forks don't mind getting dirty during a ride, the wiper seals are basically a squeegee (with an oil/grease reservoir behind them) clearing the stanchions with each pass. Dust and mud will wear them faster though and eventually contaminate your fork, so wipe your stanchions down after every ride. This is why it's so important to do the 50/200hr service to keep that lubricant clean and where you want it. You can of course damage stanchions by scratching them (and then they need to be replaced, or filled with resin and polished smooth, otherwise the rough surface will tear up the rubber wipers), but this is most likely to happen in a crash, not just from something getting kicked up from the ground, so it's not something to be too worried about since the only way to avoid that risk entirely is not to ride at all.

I think it depends a lot on the bike but other than getting my fit dialed in, the two biggest improvements in quality of life for me have been shorter cranks, and judgmental garbon meme wheels that exist for the sole purpose of making anons feel jealous

Cranks just make my knees not hurt, and wheels make the actual bike feel more stable, responsive, and generally fun (also scary in winds but I got used to it after a few months)

>>2043299 (OP)
>I see MTBs have forks, is what the front suspension pipe thingers are called. They look like a potential problem...
yes, MTBs and bicycles in general have forks, they are very prone to failure, slamming the cyclist into the ground face first at 30 MPH, usually killing them, if not they survive with brain damage and will need dentures. A cyclists lifespan is roughly from when thwir carreer begins to when they first encounter a stray pebble which inevitably breaks the fork and kills the cyclist. Many such cases.

>What's the next thing to upgrade, if I want to maximize the lifespan/usability of the bicycle?

How about stop throwing money at your bicycle and ride it before you do shit to it. As soon as something really breaks, as in becomes unusable, you replace it with a component of equal or higher quality. This method has several benefits:
- saves you money and unneccessary efforts
- automatically identifies the weskest component
- automatically leads to this compknent being upgraded
Beaides that: Why would you buy a bicycle and then start 'upgrading' it? You'd think everyone understands market forces at least far enough to realise you'll reach the same end result at less expense if you simply buy a higher quality bicycle to begin with and leave it as is. But yours is probably perfectly fine and will last you like 30.000 km before you'll have to replace the first major component: The rear tire. In the meantime you will have replaced chains, brakepads and inner tubes if applicable. You'll then ride another year or more before something major fails and you finally have a credible excuse for 'upgrades'.

2043314
who hurt you and y r u sperging

>>2043308
I’ll buy some chain lube and a brush/soap to clean the gears and chain with.

And I gotta figure out if the brakes are good once I test it, I guess. They said that it has disk brakes, and the only thing I know w/r/t brakes are that the ones I has as a kid on my walmart Mongoose Special were shitty rim ones. These aren’t that, so I have faith! Hopefully they turn out ok.

They also fit it at the store when it’s finished apparently, so that -should- be okay as far as comfort goes. What tires do you recommend for a mix of pavement and gravel? I don’t plan to do any actual downhill mountain biking on it, let’s be fair, I just wanted something cross country-able and durable so travel is worry-free.

As far as tools go I bought a crankbrothers m17, air pump, pliers and a repair kit. If I need anything else to keep this thing running on my own for at least a year or two, LMK.

I will also put a phone reminder on for the 50/200 thing. Thanks m8


>>2043310
Don’t really care to flex wealth I don’t have but I will take your advice about cranks if my knees start aching. But I don’t know if the ache is because of shit cranks or just me being new and out of shape. How do you tell?

>>2043314
What’s your problem? But to answer your question, I think almost every other youtube video when searching “mtb” or “hardtail” or somesuch is talking about upgrades. So, when I think new bicycle I think, I probably need to put more money into random shit like PNW Dropper Post or Erconomy Grips or something to make it good and not walmart-tier. That’s why.

W/R/T other stuff, I will go ahead and wait till something breaks instead of just going full UPGRADES PEOPLE UPGRADES right out of the box, that does make sense

>>2043304
Unfortunate

>upgraydes
leave it alone you don’t even know what or why you are upgrading just ride it
>how the fuck do I maintain a bicycle
easily. unless you are really retarded, you might be.
have you ever tried googling your problems? usually works for everything ever

>>2043319
KYS
>>2043322
No problem. YT is a source of truth and you definately need to buy a cheap bike and then spend your money on upgrades. Like you said you need to put more money in upgrades. Else. it will be a bad bike, basicall, u rideable and if another rider performs better than you you know why that is: Not upgraded enough. I dont even get why you come here asking for advice, better watch many videos and don't ask the question wether there could be bias in what people make videos about and what not, what the alho will return for your search and what not.

Jesus christ how long does it fucking take to build a bike on average? It's been 5 days. im going through withdrawal. i had to get back on the walking angle and do 4 miles today. and it was so slow.

How long does it take >>2043416 to build a bike?

>>2043417
at least one

>>2043416
If you are using bought components, including frame, its a matter of hours for a throughout job.
If you insist on building the frame and perhaps other components it may be days.
Of course you can alway smove arbitarily slow too.

>>2043299 (OP)
>hasn't ridden new bike even once
>new bike hasn't even been delivered yet
>already thinking about how to upgrade it
You bought the wrong bike.

I'm just going to assume this is the new random bike questions thread and ask what is up with Bikefag autism and kickstands? Are kickstands really looked down upon in the cycling community?

>>2043497
They should be,
Why the fuck do you need a kickstand? Just lean your bike up against something. Its much less likely to fall over and you dont have a random extra thing bolted to your bike for no reason
what the fuck do you actually need a kickstand for?

>>2043498
>Just lean your bike up against something.
And what? Risk scruffing up the handlebars on the wall? Sometimes you don't even have a wall to lean your shit on

>>2043501
>risk scuffing your handlebars
???
leaning your bike against something is not difficult. Its not a hard thing to do without damaging it. and if you think you need a kickstand so you don’t scuff your handlebars, your bike isn’t worth not scuffing
>what if theres not a wall
Then lean it somewhere else? Put it on its side even. As long as its not the drive side
>guys you don’t understand i literally NEED a kickstand
Ok buy one nobody cares

>>2043502
>Ok buy one nobody cares
My bike already came with one

>>2043503
yeah so did mine when i was 8

Clean yo bike /n/ ppl

>>2043507
wont that rust it?

I don't get kickstands either. The first thing I take of when I acquire someknes used bike.
They do not work in 99% of situations (bike loaded, ground soft, ground sloped, wrong orientation...) and the situation remains concerningly unstable even when they work. Meanwhile there is never a need to use them. You always find something to lean your bike against and if there really isn't something to lean it against might as well lay her down.
>inb4 muddy handlebars
NEVER happened to me that there was NOTHING to lean against and also NOTHING but mud anywhere to be found. Idk I dont live in vast expanses of freshly clear cut amazon forest.

>>2043497
Judging by the spergouts when you just want to conveniently avoid scuffing the paint/grips on your hundred dollar transportation implement of choice or scuffing/marking whatever u lean it on, both reasonable problems solved by a thin cylinder of metal

safe to say we will never know why autists mald over kickstands

>>2043511
At least one other person on /n/ isn’t a retard
>>2043530
my friend has a kickstand, I can’t count how many times it’s just fallen over. I can count how many times i have scratched my bike by leaning it against something, its 0. i have scratched it by, actually riding the fucking thing tho.

>>2043511
>They do not work in 99% of situations
Yes they do lmao
If they're good enough for motorcycles they're good enough for bikes. Christ you people are daft

>>2043571
Motorcycle owner here.
The stand works better because there is more weight on it. I can put my motorcycle on its kickstand and id have to try very hard to knock it over. not so with a bicycle, the centre of gravity and weight distribution is all wrong. Even the wind could upset it
>they have dem on motorbike so why not on bike??
cos you don’t fucking need one and they are retarded
Christ you people are daft

>>2043572
It's pretty easy to tip a motorcycle bro, and no, wind is not going to topple a bicycle down lmao, what a cringe hill people are dying on over a metal bar that doesn't even get in the way when it's folded up

>>2043573
maybe its easy to tip your 50cc kid scooter but no other than that a motorcycle is not accidentally falling off its kickstand
A bike is
>lol wind could never do that
just say you don’t live somewhere windy anyway fuck off im literally so bored of you faggy retards bolting stupid shit onto your poverty bikes

>>2043597
I could never be this mad over some people choosing to not leave their beloved bike on the ground with the insects and cigarette butts. What causes someone to be like this?