One day mountain bike maintenance course

Welcome to our brand new mountain bike maintenance course! As you'll no doubt be aware mountain biking puts a huge strain on man (and woman), machine, and wallet. We can't promise to improve your riding - unless you book one of our MTB skills sessions of course - but we can improve your bike maintenance skills and ease the pressure on expenses.

So fancy spending a fun-filled day looking at suspension, gears, disc brakes and bearings? - great! The course is aimed at modern, high-end mountain bikes and frequent riders who need to make more comprehensive repairs.

Here is a breakdown of what we will attempt to cover:

• How to set up suspension and setting up your own suspension, covering sag, preload, rebound and compression damping
• Setting up disc brakes and changing disc pads, looking at caliper/rota alignment, lever reach, fork/frame mounts etc
• Bleeding hydraulic brakes (demo only)
• Changing cassettes and chains, how to remove these, inspect for wear, clean and replace
• Setting up derailleurs and dealing with bent hangers, looking at jockey wheels, pivots, hanger replacement and alignment
• Stripping headsets, replacing cartridge bearings, assembling ahead parts and getting the tension right
• Hollowtech 2 bottom brackets, removing and replacing, correct torque settings and safety tips
• Tools – what you need in your tool box and out on the trail

We will also talk about cleaning and lubrication of bikes, making small adjustments to adapt bikes for a perfect fit and wider maintenance and cycling issues – plus whatever comes up on the day over a brew!

Price

£110 per person including lunch and drinks
Course runs from 9.30am to 4.30pm at our workshop in Manchester

To book click here

FAQs

I have a 20 year old Muddy Fox with those classic Suntour cantis and Odyssey Chill Pills. I want to strip and regrease my bottom bracket.  Will you cover this?

No, you’ll be better on the advanced course. Although your bike sounds a retro dream, the mountain bike course is for more modern bikes.

Why is the brake bleeding a demo only?

We've tried to make the course cover the repairs that have to be done the most often. Setting up disc brakes and changing the pads are the jobs that have to be done all the time.  On bicycles hydraulic brakes very rarely need bleeding. Every brake is slightly different and there lots of different fluids. Because people always want to know about bleeding brakes we thought we’d come to a compromise.

I’ve got a new mountain bike with v brakes. I’d like to know how to change the brake blocks and the cables and set up the gears. Will you cover this?

You’d be better off on the intermediate class. No one class will cover everything but try and work out from the descriptions which class meets your needs the best.

I know that I need a new cassette and chain.  If I bring them along to the course can I fit them on the course?

Certainly. We have had people do this before on courses.

Can you mend vacuum cleaners?

No, but someone came into our bike shop once and asked that! Really!