I just found this site and have been reading past posts and now I'm worried. I own a Mongoose 21 speed DXR aluminum purchased from walmart, and have since read how poor of quality these bikes are. I know bikers crash eventually crash through I'm not into heavy duty mountain biking, just the occasional biking trip. So my main concern is with my currently ignorance about mountain biking and the fact that I'D LIKE TO KEEP ALL MY TEETH. In fact, I'm a music student who's saxophone performance depends on it!

Thus I am wondering: What are the necessary safety checks I should make before each ride? While I'm posting, I'm also very unhappy with the mongoose manuals and really have NO CLUE as to what I'm doing when it comes to fixing/self adjustments. So if anyone could also comment on great resources that show the basics of bike adjustments, pref. in a quicktime movie, etc. it would be EXTREMELY helpful.

Thanks again, and happy riding!

I just found this site and have been reading past posts and now I'm worried. I own a Mongoose 21 speed DXR aluminum purchased from walmart, and have since read how poor of quality these bikes are. I know bikers crash eventually crash through I'm not into heavy duty mountain biking, just the occasional biking trip. So my main concern is with my currently ignorance about mountain biking and the fact that I'D LIKE TO KEEP ALL MY TEETH. In fact, I'm a music student who's saxophone performance depends on it!

Thus I am wondering: What are the necessary safety checks I should make before each ride? While I'm posting, I'm also very unhappy with the mongoose manuals and really have NO CLUE as to what I'm doing when it comes to fixing/self adjustments. So if anyone could also comment on great resources that show the basics of bike adjustments, pref. in a quicktime movie, etc. it would be EXTREMELY helpful.

Thanks again, and happy riding!

was a bike designed mainly to look like a moutain bike, but really is for street use. And not agressive use at that.

You need to keep your fasteners tight, your drivetrain clean and lubricated(not wd-40), wear a helmet and obey the rules of the road. Check your tire pressure too.

If you don't even know the parts of a bike telling you what else to do might be useless. Buy a good bike repair book and read. While you might like an online movie to learn bike mechanics it's not the best way to learn and I wish you luck finding one. You can buy a repair cd. While it's good it will still leave stuff out.

I don't know how much you paid for your sax, but probably near $1000 or much more. Well what you bought for a bike would be like paying under $100 for a sax. It's not that it'll fail on you if you ride it within it's design limits, but it will never deliver anywhere near the ride a well made bike would. Hard to tune properly too. The really close tolerances just aren't part of the deal and neither are the parts made to tight specs.

The main problem with bikes from WalMart (or any of those department stores) is the assembly. Ussualy the mecanic who build thoses bikes are paid by unit assmbled so they try to go as fast as possible and sometime forget to check a few bolt. Worst, sometimes those bikes are buid by people who have absolutely no experience. So the first thing you should do when you purchase one of those bike is bring it to your local bike store and ask them to inspect and adjust the bike. I dont know how much they charge but it's cheaper than a dentist ;-).

Usualy people who purchase bike in department store think they save money but that's wrong. Add the price of the post purchase inspection to the price of the bike and theres good chance you already topped the cost of a similar product from your LBS

When you purchase a bike in a bike shop you also have free service for a variable period of time (usualy a year) and you know that your bike have been carefully assembled by a real bike mecanic. If you have any problem with your bike be sure they will take the time necessary to fix your bike at a minimal cost. When you have problems with your WalMart Bike you have to rely on your LBS and they will charge you full price.

A good ressource for bike repair www.parktool.com




I just found this site and have been reading past posts and now I'm worried. I own a Mongoose 21 speed DXR aluminum purchased from walmart, and have since read how poor of quality these bikes are. I know bikers crash eventually crash through I'm not into heavy duty mountain biking, just the occasional biking trip. So my main concern is with my currently ignorance about mountain biking and the fact that I'D LIKE TO KEEP ALL MY TEETH. In fact, I'm a music student who's saxophone performance depends on it!

Thus I am wondering: What are the necessary safety checks I should make before each ride? While I'm posting, I'm also very unhappy with the mongoose manuals and really have NO CLUE as to what I'm doing when it comes to fixing/self adjustments. So if anyone could also comment on great resources that show the basics of bike adjustments, pref. in a quicktime movie, etc. it would be EXTREMELY helpful.

Thanks again, and happy riding!

The main problem with bikes from WalMart (or any of those department stores) is the assembly. Ussualy the mecanic who build thoses bikes are paid by unit assmbled so they try to go as fast as possible and sometime forget to check a few bolt. Worst, sometimes those bikes are buid by people who have absolutely no experience. So the first thing you should do when you purchase one of those bike is bring it to your local bike store and ask them to inspect and adjust the bike. I dont know how much they charge but it's cheaper than a dentist ;-).

Usualy people who purchase bike in department store think they save money but that's wrong. Add the price of the post purchase inspection to the price of the bike and theres good chance you already topped the cost of a similar product from your LBS

When you purchase a bike in a bike shop you also have free service for a variable period of time (usualy a year) and you know that your bike have been carefully assembled by a real bike mecanic. If you have any problem with your bike be sure they will take the time necessary to fix your bike at a minimal cost. When you have problems with your WalMart Bike you have to rely on your LBS and they will charge you full price.

A good ressource for bike repair www.parktool.com

and I second what Marc says. And consider this a good life lesson. When "Product A" is substantially lower in cost than "Product B" generaly there is a reason for that. I think it takes everyone a while to learn that lesson. I learned it first with tools. Originally I had inhereted some cheap tools from my dad, and bought a few cheapies of my own. Not only are the good tools more accurate, dependable, and longer lasting; they're just a joy to use. They just seem to fit your hand perfectly and are so well balanced and smooth that they practically do the work themselves. My second "learn the hard way" lesson was with a new roof for my second house. Had one bid of $7,000, one bid of $5,500 and one bid of $3,500. I thought, hey it's just a roof, what can possibly be different. Whew was I wrong. Never, never go with the low bid. Don't want to bore you with the whole details, but suffice to say that I did not save any money and gave myself numerous headaches in the process.

Anyway, expect to spend at least $50 on a good tune from a shop, and use the bike until it no longer serves your purpose. When you make the leap, you'll be amazed at the difference between a true quality bike and what you're now riding.

The Park Tool website has a lot of great information on bike repair and maintenance.

http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/FAQindex.shtml

You can ride a Walmart bike offroad while you have to, but take it easy and expect to break things (hopefully only on the bike) I know a guy who rides his everywhere we ride, but he is a maniac and has to be vigilent about maintenance and still has broken parts. He took the stickers off so we would not be so embarrased to ride with him. Plan to buy a real mountain bike as soon as possible if you start doing any serious riding. Get a bike repair book from any bookstore they should have several to chose from.

I just found this site and have been reading past posts and now I'm worried. I own a Mongoose 21 speed DXR aluminum purchased from walmart, and have since read how poor of quality these bikes are. I know bikers crash eventually crash through I'm not into heavy duty mountain biking, just the occasional biking trip. So my main concern is with my currently ignorance about mountain biking and the fact that I'D LIKE TO KEEP ALL MY TEETH. In fact, I'm a music student who's saxophone performance depends on it!

Thus I am wondering: What are the necessary safety checks I should make before each ride? While I'm posting, I'm also very unhappy with the mongoose manuals and really have NO CLUE as to what I'm doing when it comes to fixing/self adjustments. So if anyone could also comment on great resources that show the basics of bike adjustments, pref. in a quicktime movie, etc. it would be EXTREMELY helpful.

Thanks again, and happy riding!

Always brake with the REAR brake first, or with both brakes together.
This can protect you teethes for a long time! ;)
Even the pros forget that sometimes and land on their forhead. :D

I think the best advice to give you as to avoiding crashing is to never ride beyond your abilities. Check any difficult sections and decide whether you can get down them whilst remaining in control. It will take you a while to realise what you can do but it's just a learning curve.

In my experience accidents happen when your least expecting them or when your just messing around. Doing jumps and drops when your mind is focussed is much safer than just poppoing out for a quick play about on much simpler objects.

I think the best advice to give you as to avoiding crashing is to never ride beyond your abilities. Check any difficult sections and decide whether you can get down them whilst remaining in control. It will take you a while to realise what you can do but it's just a learning curve.

In my experience accidents happen when your least expecting them or when your just messing around. Doing jumps and drops when your mind is focussed is much safer than just poppoing out for a quick play about on much simpler objects.

I agree. Some of the riders out there ride like there's no tomorrow and the hospital bill is for free. You know those jackass stunts that easyly break your bones.
Just plain stupid to me. There's a reason why there are stund schools for professionals! :)

I agree. Some of the riders out there ride like there's no tomorrow and the hospital bill is for free. You know those jackass stunts that easyly break your bones.
Just plain stupid to me. There's a reason why there are stund schools for professionals! :)

No I'm not saying that kind of riding is stupid. Just check out the pic on my profile, that's one of my mate's at some trails near us in england. It's perfectly safe if your focussed and know what your doing. But we tend to injur ourselves by simply not paying attention and falling off doing something stupid like not looking where were going or drinking.

My last painful injury was from not seeing a speedbump in the alps. I hit it with only one hand on the bars going quite fast wearing just shorts. It was beautiful.