Welding Tips and Tricks

I was nearly permanently attached to a bike as a child, did bmx and freestyle on a GT Performer. Well now I'm 38 and a few months back I bought a entry level full suspension bike so I can ride with my kids who are 4-6 and ride bikes now.

Some guys at work were going riding so I went a few weeks back did 9.5 miles and truly forgot how much I loved to ride a bike. Although this mtb is different.. Working 7 day weeks my legs let me know..lol So I've taken up riding again, did some local stuff this morning, about 7 miles.

I know you get what you pay for, but when I look at high er end bikes they are thousands... What are you really getting for all the money? I'm sure stuff is stronger and lighter (my bike is 7005 series alum, 34lbs).

Any way feeling like a kid again and wanted to share, now off to work to do some welding.

I'll wager Zank can give you a full run-down on the cost/benefit of the high end features.

He might even give you "buddy" pricing on something custom...

I feel the same way about Enduro and Trials, but those are motorsports and I'm too cheap to get back into them right now. Glad you're enjoying it!

Steve S

I used to deliver Liquid Oxygen to Cannondale in Bedford,Pa., and one day I saw there line up at a local dealer out there, they are very nice. I glanced down at the price tag and suddenly forgot how to ride a bike. As you say, they were thousands, yikes.

As a little side note, their sporting some very nice welds and their weld shop had quite a few women tig welding them.

Len


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I used to race mountain bikes before the racecars. Bikes I own are a (Gary) Klien and a Gary Fisher. A lot of the cost has to do with components, shifters and brakes. My Klien had shimano STX parts (if I remember correctly ) I later upgraded to Shimano XTR parts. The XTR parts are lighter and shift faster. Brakes had better feel and worked better,pads are quick change. Originally the Klien was 24 speed 3 front sprockets 8 rear sprockets with the STX. When changed to XTR made it 27 speed 3 front 9 in rear. XTR made a huge difference in bike was like a totally new bike. Better bearings, lighter more reliable components. That bike shifted great with STX was really good, but the XTR was so much smoother faster it is great can bang threw several gears at once without a hiccup. Most people are familiar with bikes from toy stores and Wal-Mart where there is a delay as chain moves from one sprocket to the other. High end bikes don't have that long delay it shifts quick and is reliable it is hard to explain how great my new stuff was over the other stuff that was already great. So when you buy a bike you are buying frame and cost of components. Take two frames that are identical put better and lighter components on one and cheaper parts on other will make a cost difference of a thousand dollars are more. I believe I paid another 1400 for my XTR stuff at the time. So race bikes get expensive quick. Different frames ride and feel different. A good shop will let you ride the bike (within reason) to try them out. My Klien and Fisher are both aluminum bikes but I used a different bike depending on course. My Klien wheel base is shorter and it climbs like a dream but is twitchy on fast down hills. So if The course had a lot of climbing in valleys I would use the Klien but if had long swiping fast sections and flatter course I used the Fisher. Different shocks added to cost also. The shock might be made by same company but there is several different models available. My bikes used front suspension with a hard tail. I did not like full suspension bikes because the rear moving can waste energy when pedaling, especially when climbing. However if I ran courses with long rough downhills I could see using full suspension. Depends on your needs and personal preference. Areas I raced had lot of steep climbing with shorter fast downhills and switch backs so I wanted climbing bikes. Even the bearings for steering makes a different in feel. One really good headset bearing was king something. Will look on my bike when get home for exact name. The hubs where even changed on my bikes giving me less rolling resistance.

Sorry for long answer trying to add lot of info in short description. Sure Zank will add to it. I haven't ridden for years since I got hurt in racecar and wasn't MTB racing when racing cars. I was still riding while racing cars, but mainly to stay in shape and for enjoyment. So there is newer things out there I don't remember what all parts I used on my bikes anymore without looking at them. I believe both companies that made my bikes have been bought out. If you have any questions let me know will try to answer them as best I can. I can take pics if you want of bikes or components so you can see differences. I still have old parts that where removed and replaced with better stuff. I even used some of my old parts on my mom's bike cause she had crappy Shimano stuff on hers. They make really good stuff and some really cheap stuff

Tires and pedals even make difference in price. Also aluminum frames feel different when riding then chromoly or titanium frames do. An example is aluminum frames seem stiffer to me than steel frames. Seems like the steel ones flex some absorbing some of shock to your body. Maybe it's just me but it seems like it to me, but there is a difference go try a few high end bikes out.

I wanted to add some advice I gave to people when they wanted to start riding or ride with me once in awhile for fun.

I told them when bike shopping not to invest more then they really needed but to buy a decent bike that didn't require lot of maintenance and would hold up. Basically buy something that's gonna hold up but not break the bank. A good example is friend of mine wanted to ride with me. He rented a bike to see if he liked it, and rode with me several times. It was always fun rides so I slowed down to a pace he could handle. He enjoyed it but he couldn't afford a medium priced bike that would be suitability for him. So he decided he could buy a Wal-Mart bike for what it would cost to rent a bike twice and hopefully hold up until he could save the money. I advised him not to do it. Anyway very first ride out with bike we are 10 miles into a trail his front wheel kicks sideways in the fork and is flopping around on axle. He can't ride it I start to check it out on trail. The ball bearings actually started break apart in layers no way for me to fix on trail. So he had choice walk 15 miles to finish course or walk the way he came. We turned it into a hike and finished the trail. He replaced the bearings and he took it on few shorter rides. This thing literally was falling apart by the components failing and he never was able to finish a ride with it. Now don't take this the wrong way. This bike would prolly have lasted a long time riding on road or paved trails but was not suitable as a mountain bike even though it looked like one. That bike could have lasted another person their entire lives depending on how they ride. My mom still has a bike from 1952 and it is still useable . It is a heavy thing with no gears reason she eventually got a newer bike but still used older one at times for fun. So moral of this story is at least buy a quality bike to fit YOUR NEEDS not someone else's. Mountain biking is very hard on bikes and it requires maintenance. Even the good race bikes we tune and maintain after every ride, but don't expect a Wal-Mart bike to last under those conditions. Figure out exactly what kind of riding your gonna do and buy accordingly no need for a $4000 bike to ride 3 to 4 miles on paved trail in park.

Hope this makes sense with way I explained it. Even good bikes break. I broke a rim on a trail and had to hike out. Landed wrong pinched the tire and broke the rim. Which reminds me it is very common especially for new mountain bikers to pinch the tube while riding. Everyone does it eventually and sometimes stuff just happens. Always carry extra tubes and tires so you don't get stuck in woods on long rides. Tires fold up really nice. When you buy them they come in a little box and they fit really nicely in camelpak backpack. It wasn't uncommon for me to go on 25 to 60 plus mile trails for fun this wasn't race courses. The races courses are a lot shorter though and you normally do several laps. Now parts of some of these longer trails where used at times for race courses they just used different trails to circle back.

Mountain biking is a lot of fun and is one of those activities I truly miss. Have fun sure the Kiddos will enjoy it and it would be a great activity for you to do it with them

There is a level where quality and performance tapers off, and turns more to aesthetics and weight. Most of the time a bike will only be specced with different drivetrain, braking and wheels, and they will keep the same frame through a range of models. Anything from Shimano Deore and Sram X.5 is quality gear, and most after that (SLX, XT and so on) mainly only cater to weight and looks. When stepping up from cheaper bikes the biggest money is in suspension.

Cheaper suspension will have next to no adjustments and weigh a ton. The more expensive (for example there are forks worth thousands) will have many adjustments and weigh next to nothing. My cheap rockshox have nothing but a preload and rebound, where as my fox forks have low spped and high speed compression, rebound, lockout and lockout threshold, 3 stage travel adjust and weigh close to a kilo less than my rockshox. Another big one is the rolling stock, as lighter and tougher rolling stock make a huge difference to your bikes rideability.

Rotational weight (wheels, tyres, cranks) will have a lot greater effect on the perceived weight of the bike. A 15kg bike with a heavy frame and 1.5kg wheels with 500g tyres will ride a lot easier than a 11kg bike with 2.5kg wheels and 1kg tyres as rotational weight multiplies as the rotational speed increases.

Normally (when a bike has three teirs in its lineup) the obvious changes for each level will be suspension, brakes and wheels/tyres. These can make a massive difference to your everyday ride. I have had a few nice bikes, but always stay in the $1000-$1200 price range here in Australia (Hardtail) and $1700-$2100 price range when it comes to dual suspension bikes. Most bikes at this level will come with 3x10 setups, shimano deore/SLX groupsets and rockshox reba/sektor forks. Anything over this is a waste of money if you are just a hobbyist, as your performance on the day is more effected by you, not the 100-300 grams you will save with an XT Groupset on a $3500 dual suspension bike.

$6000 bikes make sense when you are at the top of your physical game, and your times are extremely consistent. But when your performance varies due to your workload, family commitments and your level of fitness, it is a waste of money.

Wow...awesome responses thanks guys. Basically what was said were already my thoughts from the research I have done.

I initially bought the bike just to go around the neighborhood with the kids, now well see how it holds up out in the terrain. My current bike has lower end Shimano stuff and I find I'm only using about 3 gears primarily while out in the woods. I've hit some good obstacles and jumps and the rims are still true, but I do see the advantage of those disc brakes especially when things get damp.

I figure I'll run this one till something happens or I find I'm still keeping up with, winter is coming (well maybe it's been high 50s-70s here in PA) so not sure how much I'll do over the next few months. Right now I'm getting out nearly every weekend in the woods, and try to do a few local road miles at night just to gety legs back in bike shape.

My buddy has a Ghost, hard tail and I do like how everything is tucked inside the frame to prevent possible damage, and it has Shimano diore stuff standard, plus you can turn the front sus on and off...around $1500. He is looking to upgrade to a Yetti....

It's funny, I have a drag car that I have $200 Titanium wheel studs, $300 in lightening done to a set of rear gears.. And for some reason that was easy to justify..lol but a $2000 bike I question...hehe

Here's my current, Walmart special Hyper Summit so far so good.