Bicycle off road-Mountain bike
Mountain bike is bike that are ridden off-road, Born in San Francisco on the west coast of the United States in 1977, it is a model derived from American youths seeking excitement and driving bicycles on off-road venues for motorcycle competitions.
Before we have introduced mountain bike parts:
https://www.ewingfly.com/parts-of-a-mountain-bike/
And how to choose mountain bikes
You must be very concerned about this question: how to maintain my mountain bike on a daily basis?
Here follow the suggestions from eWingFly:
Daily maintenance of mountain bike
1.Bike Specifications and Requirements
As the bicycles for bike race, firstly, it must be driven by human; secondly, it is not allowed to be equipped with any windproof (reducing air resistance) equipment, but it can be equipped with a derailleur; thirdly, the length of the bicycle cannot exceed 2 meters and the height cannot exceed 75 cm. The distance between the central axle and the ground is 24-30 cm, the distance between the central axle and the front axle is 58-75 cm, and the distance between the central axle and the rear axle shall not be less than 55 cm. more than 12 cm. The handlebar width is not less than 75 cm. Wheel diameter, seat, frame form, etc. can be selected by yourself.
In order to ensure the safety of athletes, road racing must be flexible, front and rear brakes are effective, and the handlebar tubes are blocked with rubber or cork plugs. There must be no sharp parts on the car, and no screws are allowed to protrude.
2.Checkpoints of a mountain bike
The bike should be scrubbed frequently and kept clean. To wipe the bicycle, you can use 50% oil mixed with 50% gasoline as a wiping agent. Only by wiping the car clean, can the faults of various parts be found in time and repaired as soon as possible to ensure the smooth progress of training and competition.
Athletes should wipe down their cars every day. By wiping, it can not only keep the bicycle clean and beautiful, but also help to check the good condition of each part of the bicycle, and cultivate the athlete’s sense of responsibility and professionalism.
When inspecting the vehicle, pay attention to: the frame, front fork and other parts should not have cracks and deformation, the screws of each part should be tightened, and the handlebars should be able to rotate flexibly. Carefully check each knot of the chain, remove cracked knots, replace dead knots, and ensure the normal operation of the chain. Do not replace the new chain during the competition, to avoid the new chain and the old gear do not match and the chain will drop. When it must be replaced, The chain and flywheel should be replaced together; all components of the braking system are complete, the gap between the brake pad and the rim is suitable, and the braking is sensitive and effective; , the transmission line is smooth and unobstructed. After each training or competition, all the gears should be reset to reduce the spring pressure and prolong the service life of the gear. , The leather strips and pedals should be intact, the seat should be kept parallel to the beam, not inclined, and the front and rear positions should be moderate. Swing left and right, must be corrected.
After each inspection of the bike, personally test the bicycles as a final verification check to ensure that it is in good condition and can be put into use at any time.
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3.Lubrication of specialized mountain bike
The forms of relative motion between the various bicycle parts are rolling motion and sliding motion. Rolling friction occurs in the bearing parts, and sliding friction occurs between chains, sprockets, flywheels and other moving parts. To reduce friction during movement, lubricant should be added at any time to change the direct friction between parts into relative friction with the lubricant; the parts are not in direct contact, change dry friction into wet friction, and reduce friction resistance. It is smooth and light to ride, saving energy. Because the resistance generated by wet friction is only one-fortieth of the resistance of dry friction. Therefore, the heat generated by wet friction is small, and the parts will not be deformed due to overheating, which reduces wear and protects the parts. Especially during training and competitions in rainy days, more attention should be paid to adding lubricant to each part to prevent the parts from malfunctioning or being damaged due to water erosion. Therefore, every cyclist should pay special attention to the use of lubricants.
Use lubricants only in moderation. Add less on sunny days, otherwise it will stick to a lot of dust and affect the rotation; add more when it rains (especially on the chain). When participating in multi-day races, it is best to bring a small oil can and add lubricant to the chain every two hours of riding to reduce friction. Otherwise, the normal transmission of the chain will be affected, increasing physical exertion.
When using butter (calcium-based grease), different types of oil should be selected according to the climate and training and competition conditions. Road racing should use 3# or 4# lubricating oil with higher hardness, and 1# grease for track racing. Use a softer lube in winter and a harder lube in summer.
4. Tire Maintenance and Repair of mountain bike
The tires of racing bicycle are tubular, with very thin sidewalls, which are very easy to be damaged during training and competition, so special attention should be paid to maintenance.
Bicycle racing tires are divided into various models according to weight. In daily road training, use more than 250 grams of tires. During competitions, you can choose 200-300 grams of tires according to the road conditions. The thinner the tire, the smaller the contact surface with the road surface, and the smaller the friction force, which is beneficial to improve the forward speed of the car.
The purpose of injecting a certain amount of gas into the tire is to make the bicycle have a certain elasticity and reduce the impact of the radial bump force on the rim; to reduce the contact surface between the road surface and the tire under the load of the bicycle to reduce friction. For this reason, the tire pressure should be suitable for training and competition. Road tires generally maintain an air pressure of 5-7kg/cm2, and it is best to inject 10-12kg2/cm2 air pressure for field tires. When the air pressure in the tire is too high, the tire is easy to burst. If it is too small, the friction with the ground will be increased, unnecessary physical exertion will be increased, and the tire will easily slip off the wheel. Especially when riding on the racing track, the tire pressure is small, and it is easier to slip off the wheel, which is dangerous and causes the athlete to be injured.
Inflate the tires two hours before each ride, and then check whether the tires are leaking, and whether there are foreign objects or punctured parts on the surface. When resting after summer training and competitions, keep the car in a cool place to prevent the tires from expanding and bursting due to heat. When saving the tire, inject a small amount of gas, hang it up, and place it in a dark and ventilated place. The humidity should not be too high to prevent the glue from aging and deteriorating.
If you need to replace a new tire during the competition, you should install the new tire in advance, ride at least 50 kilometers, check whether the tire is in good condition, and then use it after confirming that there is no problem.
Repair of inner tubes. The first is to find holes. The method is to inject an appropriate amount of gas into the broken tire and put it into the water, and the place where the most bubbles are located is the hole. If the air leaks everywhere and it is difficult to find the hole, you can fold the two sides of the tire valve back, hold it with your hands or tie it with a rope to prevent the gas from passing through. Air leaks near the mouth; no air leaks or very slow air leaks after inflating means the hole is not there. You can move the fold back and continue to check section by section until the hole is found.
After finding the leak, take apart the outer tire and remove the inner tube. When taking it, do not pull hard to prevent the inner tube from being broken. Then use a wooden file or hacksaw blade to clean around the hole, or wash it with gasoline, glue the patch on, and then sew the outer tire. Do not pull the suture too tightly when sewing the belt, so as not to cause uneven thickness of the tire.
Thirty minutes of maintenance can systematically check the entire body of the bicycle. Inspections can be completed quickly if the machinery is in good working order. If there is a problem, the inspection and maintenance work will naturally take a long time. The various details and techniques provided in the following chapters are matters that you must pay attention to when carrying out body maintenance. Do-it-yourself maintenance can give you a better understanding of your bike and allow you to check that the bike’s mechanics are working properly. This work is best done together in a regular cleanup. Before long, you’ll be able to intuitively spot the problem, and as soon as there’s something that looks, feels, or doesn’t sound right, you’ll know where to look right away.
5.Level up of the racing bicycle
Reduce body weight of the racing cycle
To improve the competitive performance of mountain bikes, the first consideration is how to reduce weight.
The relationship between lightness and strength
Thinking that the lighter the better, when you only consider reducing the weight of the parts, the strength/rigidity of the bicycle will be reduced, and it will become a “soft” bicycle. In fact, the skills and weight of the players will greatly affect the strength and rigidity of the bicycle.
Let’s not talk about skills first, focus on weight. If a person with a weight of 100kg and a person with a weight of 50kg jump and land on a mountain bike at the same time, the impact strength at this time is of course different.
At present, the mainstream of competitive bicycles is in Europe and the United States. If European and American bicycles are used, issues such as strength should be considered according to their conditions.
Material weight
Losing weight is the best way to lose weight
The material of the frame gradually develops from iron → chrome molybdenum steel → aluminum/carbon → titanium according to the needs of strength and light weight. Titanium is the lightest, regardless of price.
To achieve lightweight, the most economical and effective way is to reduce your weight, spend a lot of money to reduce the weight of the bike, at best, reduce the weight of 100g-200g. How much weight can you lose?
Thickness of the frame
Lightweight parts
The frame is tubular. If the pipe wall is thin, the strength is not enough. The tendency is that the joint part is thick and the middle part is relatively thin, that is, the weight of the frame is reduced by changing the thickness according to the strength of the force applied to various parts of the frame.
Like the frame, some parts are made of titanium, which is small and light. However, if the brake is light and the performance will be reduced, it needs to be selected carefully.
The tire directly accepts the resistance of the ground, and the size of its resistance will make the rider feel the weight and lightness of the mountain bike. If you want to be lighter, use thin tires and increase the air pressure, but the grip will be reduced.
Improve braking performance
For mountain bike racing skills, brakes are a very heavy part. The quality of the brake performance not only greatly affects the skills of competition, but also relates to safety, so it should be paid enough attention. Be sure to check and adjust before the game. In order to cope with the fierce competition, we are here to discuss the brakes.
■Controllability of brakes
The brakes are very flexible, not how to hold the tires. Should be in the state of gripping the ground, lower the rotation to stop the car. If the tires are in a coasting state, the braking distance becomes longer.
Brake control refers to how quickly the force of the rider adding or subtracting the brake lever is transferred to the brake. The hydraulic brake performance is too strong, if the brake fails, it will fall.
In addition, some are series that use the resistance of spokes and brake shoes to enhance braking performance. This series is more difficult to control on slippery roads. The reason is that the impedance of the spokes and pads exceeds the impedance of the road surface. With this type of brake, if you release the brake lever when you start to coast, the response is very slow. For beginners, because the riding is slow, it can still be used if you brake lightly.
Reinforcing plate (plate) – stabilizer (Stabilizer)
When the brakes were applied, the force that was pressing against the rim turned into an expanding force. In order to suppress this phenomenon, it is better to install a reinforcing plate. After it is installed, the force added to the brake lever will not be wasted, and all of it will be converted into the brake, which becomes a brake with good control performance.
■Brake glue
Brake rubber is something that directly presses the rim, and its material will greatly affect the braking and feel. The softer compounds used are easier to use when the weather is dry. But it becomes very bad when it rains and gets wet, so it is decided to use different materials of brake glue according to the competition conditions.
■Gate type
When the gate wire is too long, it will cause the wire to stretch, or become slow in response, out of balance and other problems. The appropriate length of the brake wire should be that when the handle is turned left and right, the brake wire will not feel too tight.
grip
If you want to adjust the angle or protrusion of the grip, you can only replace the handlebar. Handlebars protrude at various angles and sizes, for racing purposes
The length of 120 ~ 160mm is suitable, and the control of this size is relatively stable at high speed. The angle is preferably about 90 to 120°.
Whether it is the angle or the protruding length, it fits well with the frame and body, so it should be chosen carefully.
■Grip
Slalom, downhill, Trial and other competitive requirements can strictly control the body. The grip is best to use a slightly harder glue with non-slip. Don’t use sponge-like grips.
In cross-country races, bicycle tours, etc., hands will become sore when held for a long time, so you should use a grip with a smoother surface. But off-road races sometimes require the use of a resistive grip depending on the route conditions. For rides that don’t require hard work, it’s also good to wrap a soft strap around the grips.
6.Maintenance of your mountain bike
- Wire: Check whether the catheter is complete, whether the wire is twisted and worn and whether it can operate easily. Moderate or firm (D/F)
Tighten the wire fixing bolt to the position just pressed against the wire, but not enough to loosen the bolt. The most important thing is to check,Check for loose wires.
- Brake block bolt: Tighten until it is tight (F). Check whether the brake pads are in close contact with the rim, and adjust the wheel toe to the correct position.
- Flywheel: When the flywheel is operating, you should hear a smooth, balanced and fast clicking sound. The chain teeth of the chain plate must not be missing or bent. Rotate each speed for a period of time to check whether there is a tooth skipping phenomenon.
- Front derailleur: Check high-speed and low-speed gears. Tighten the fixing bolts to moderate or tight (D/F).
- Rear derailleur: Operate the transmission and check the high and low gears.
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