A tune up for a mountain bike essentially involves taking your bike to the bike shop where they will check everything out and see if any of your bike parts need to be replaced due to wear. A mountain bike will almost always have a noticeable amount of improvement after it gets a tune up, which is one of the reasons why it is good for both you as well as your bike.
A bike tune up usually costs anywhere from $20.00 to $200.00 depending on the shop, but most cost between $30.00-$80.00. This is quite a wide range of prices, but there can also be different levels of tune ups, some of which are practically complete overhauls of the bike.
Since there is no hard and fast rule about what must be done during a tune up, different places can vary widely as to what they include with this tune up. Knowing the different things that are usually done here can help you know what questions to ask in order to find the best place and the best price that you can in your area.
How To Tell When You Need A Bike Tune Up
Most of the time bikers prefer to have their mountain bikes tuned up once a year around the holidays or in the spring before the weather gets nicer but while the weather is still too cold for them to do much biking. Others who ride their bike all year round and multiple days every week will often have their mountain bike tuned up twice a year.
But just how do you tell if it is time to take your bike into the shop for a tune up? One of the factors that you will want to consider is the wear and how much time you have spent on your bike. For example, if you are only riding it a couple of times a month on relatively short trails during the months were the weather is fine, then you won’t need a bike tune up as often as someone who rides their mountain bike on almost a daily basis.
If you hear any sounds that you know that your bike didn’t originally have, whether or not you can tell where these sounds are coming from, then this can be a clear sign that your bike needs at least a tune up. Other signs might be that your bike might simply seem a little more sluggish or that the gears aren’t shifting as well as they used to.
Finally, another time when you should get a tune up is if your bike has been lying around for a while without being ridden. In this case a tune up is needed to make sure that nothing has started to rust or stick and that everything is lubricated well and in good working order.
Getting a tune up is a great way to spot problems early on before they lead to an accident or cause any more damage. A loose chain, for example, will wear more on your gears and make them need to be replaced sooner than they would have otherwise needed to and will therefore cost you more money if you keep riding with it.
What All Is Included In A Bike Tune Up?
As mentioned, a bike tune up is where your bike gets what is essentially a checkup. There are specific things that are usually done on your bike before you take it back home again, though what exactly is covered by the tune up will vary from shop to shop. Some bike shops will even have different levels of tune ups that they offer with lower levels being cheaper and involving getting fewer things done on your bike.
For example, one bike shop might automatically replace the parts as it finds ones that need to be replaced so that everything will be ready when you go to pick it up. On the other hand, another bike shop might wait until you come to pick your bike up and then give you the list of things that need to be replaced and ask what you want them to do – at which point you will have to leave your bike there longer in order to have those parts replaced.
Also, another good thing to know is what is included in the price of the tune up. Some bike shops will not charge you extra if they replace the chain or something small like that during a tune up, while others will charge you the price of any and every part that they need to replace.
This is why it can be very important to know how each particular bike shop does their tune ups and to make no assumptions that you know what a tune up is. While a tune up might seem like it is similar to fixing any other appliance, in some ways it actually has more in common with tuning a musical instrument so that each string makes the right sound – hence the name “tune” up. This is why in most cases it is far better to trust doing this to the experts.
The first one of the things that can be looked at during a tune up is the chain on your bike. This is checked to see if it has stretched out too much and if it is in need of being replaced or if it can simply be tightened, and it is also cleaned and oiled as well and checked for any wear were it comes into contact with the gear cassettes.
Along with your chain, the other things that are checked here are your gears, cassettes, and the various other pieces that go with them. These are carefully looked over for any obvious signs of wear, missing teeth, or anything else that could potentially be problematic. Any problems are either repaired or replaced entirely.
The brake pads are also checked, replaced if needed, and adjusted to make sure that the pads on both sides are exerting equal pressure and that they both touch the sides of the wheel at the exact same moment when the brake lever is pushed. Part of this is going over the cables on the bike to make sure that they are still in good condition, that there is no damage to or kinks in them, and that they are working efficiently.
The wheels in particular are another thing that is checked, with loose spokes being attended to and any adjustments needed being made to make sure that the wheels are properly aligned with the frame of the bike. The rims are examined for any signs that they may have become slightly bent by checking for any wobbling. If there are any problems with your wheels, they are either replaced or fixed.
Then there are the tires to look over. These are checked for any signs that the rubber might be cracking due to either age, dry rot, or use, that they are still sealed well on the edges, and for any other potential problems that the tires might have. The tires are replaced if needed, but are left alone otherwise.
Lastly, many of the nuts and bolts will be checked to make sure that they are not too lose or too tight. A nut and bolt that is too tight can sometimes snap if pressure is put on it at just the right spot, so having this simple thing done is a good way to help prevent an accident. This is especially true for the attachments of the headset where your handlebars attach to your bike at and your bottom bracket in between the crank arms.
In a really thorough tune up, each of the joints will be taken apart, cleaned, and re-greased so that they will work smoothly and so that any denting or cracking that might affect the stability of the frame will be noticed before its get any worse.
What Things Can Affect The Price Of A Bike Tune Up?
While each bike shop will decide what it will charge, there are certain factors that can affect the price that you will have to pay for a bike tune up. The first one of these is the place and how large and fancy or small and simple it is. As a general rule, the larger the bike store is the more they will charge compared to a smaller, lesser known shop.
Another thing that can affect the price of the tune up is the size of the bike, with bigger bikes sometimes costing more. Along with this will be the type of the bike. Some bikes are much more complicated due to more parts in various places, and these will cost more to tune up compared to simpler bikes.
The condition that your bike is in when you are taking it for your tune up will also play a factor in the price. If your bike is still dirty from your last ride with mud caked on it that will have to be washed off, you will end up paying more. The same is true if your bike looks like it needs an overhauling more than it needs a tune up.
As a general rule of thumb, most bike shops charge according to how many hours of work that they think it will take them to do the tune up on your mountain bike. Therefore, anything that will be likely to increase the amount of time they will have to work on it will also increase the price they will charge you to do it.
Any rush orders will also cost you more of course. Usually one of the busy seasons when everyone wants their mountain bike to get a tune up is in the spring before the biking season really begins. Because of this, if you choose this time to get your bike tuned up you will likely have to wait to get it back for a much longer time unless you rush order it.
As a final note, some bike shops will offer deals on tune ups as long as you bought the bike from them. A few bike shops will even go so far as to give you tune ups for free – only charging you for when your bike needs a thorough overhauling or a part replaced.
What Is The Difference Between A Tune Up And An Overhaul
A tune up is something that usually focuses on the overall bike and checking on the little things like the chain, brake pads, gears and other things that are easy to see and to get to. It can also sometimes involve cleaning these as well as replacing them if they are showing signs of wear and tear.
On the other hand, an overhaul of a mountain bike will involve much more. For this the bike is practically taken apart piece by piece, each part is then cleaned and oiled with any parts that are showing wear being noted and replaced if needed. The whole bike is then put back together again.
Since an overhauling involves doing so much more, it costs more too and takes longer for the shop to do it. This is something to take into consideration if you want to get your bike back soon.
What Parts Of A Tune Up You Can Do Yourself At Home?
While bike tune ups are not as thorough as overhauls, their aim is to keep your bike at its best and to tighten anything that may have worked itself loose over the course of your bike rides over rough trails. Even though you can do a fair amount of the work yourself when it comes to looking over the different parts, you should keep in mind that you will not be able to see minor flaws that a professional would be able to pick up on and fix before they get worse.
When it comes to replacing the different parts that are showing the signs of wear or to making adjustments, you can try to do these repairs yourself. But be careful when trying to do these because if you make a mistake it will cost you more to have your mistake fixed than it otherwise would have cost you.
The first step to giving your mountain bike a tune up is to make sure that you clean it really well before you do anything else. Especially try hard to get as much dirt as you can out of any of the cracks and crevasses with a toothbrush or something that can really get into the small spaces. If needed you can even use a small amount of degreaser to help to clean all of the old grease off, however, be careful not to use too much since you will need to be able to add grease back to it later on.
The more confident you feel with your bike, the more cleaning you can do here. For example, if you feel comfortable enough you can take apart your whole bike! Few people who are not professionals would even consider this though, but there are a few main things that it is good to take apart to better clean.
The main thing that you will likely want to take apart to clean well is your chain. The rear cassette may or may not be too difficult for you to take off, but it is quite possible to floss well between these and leave them on the bike.
Other than those items the only real thing that might need to be removed is the brakes if you have a hard time seeing what condition the pads are in. These should be checked for wear along with the chain and cassettes, with any wear past a certain point on any of these parts being a good reason to have them replaced at a bike shop.
You can also try to tune some of your cables if you do so carefully. The purpose of the cables is to control your brakes and also to control your chain when you want to shift gears on your mountain bike. If your bike is not shifting gears properly or your brakes are not hitting the sides of the wheel at the same time and with the same amount of pressure, then most likely it is the cables that need adjusting. Any adjustments of the cables should be done a half of a turn at a time and then tested.
Finally, the last thing you can check is the torque of all of the various nuts and bolts on your mountain bike. While bolts can loosen themselves over time and should therefore be tightened if needed, you should take great care not to over-tighten them. When you have checked and cleaned everything that you feel comfortable with doing, then you can put everything back together at the end and re-grease it so that everything runs smoothly.