Got A New MTB? Things Everyone Does With A New Bike

You've got a new bike, amazing. Congratulations. Is there anything better than getting a new bike? Not sure there is. Here are a few common mistakes you should try and avoid and a few pieces of advice I think you should listen to. The very first thing you will need is a bit of patience. Just cool your jets and make sure that your bike is built properly and safely. So even if your bike's come from a shop, I would still run a set of Allen keys over it, check the wheels are tight, things like that, for your safety and peace of mind. But a lot of bikes these days come and they need some level of self-build, whether that's just putting in the bars and the front wheel. Simple enough if you follow the instructions. As well as checking over, I would say you'll need a couple of things like bicycle assembly grease and some carbon paste. If you have a carbon seat post or bar or stem, then you should use some of that to make sure it grips. But really, everyone should have grease at the bare minimum for things like installing your pedals, but also you'll find that an awful lot of bikes come new without any grease in some of the bolts, like the stem bolts, which is kind of fine until maybe a year down the line you want to change something and they're kind of, they're hard to get out. So I'll always go over the bike, make sure it's got grease everywhere, and then I'll do my first sort of initial setup. So I always cut my handlebars down. Most bars come nowadays, you know, 800 or 780 mil. I cut them down to 760. Set my tires up tubeless, give the bike a bolt check, and then set my suspension. I really often actually use the manufacturer's website. So if you look at Fox and RockShox, look up their base settings, because again, bikes don't normally come set up. Usually they're a long way off what they should be. So as well as setting your sag, your air pressures, make sure that your clickers are there or thereabouts off the base settings on their website, and then go from there. I wouldn't assume anything when you get your new bike. Often the limit screws on the rear mech haven't been sorted from you, and that can be a really costly, really gutting mistake. If you go on your first ride and it overshifts and goes into the rear wheel and rips the mech off, you'd be absolutely fuming. So make sure they're right. Also chain length. So often manufacturers don't set that up. So double check that. Obviously we've done a video on GMBN Tech on how to make sure you've got the correct chain length, so check that one out if you've not seen that. Tubeless tires are brilliant, but they can be slightly vexing to begin with, and one of their tendencies is to go flat overnight after you first set them up. So first thing I would do is make sure that you've put enough sealant in there. So most of these containers, in fact all of them, they'll have the sort of volume you need to put in. So for a mountain bike, 26, no, 29er, 100 to 120 mil. This is a 500 mil container, so I'm not totally exact about this. Even though there are markings on it, so it gives you 100 markers, but you know about a fifth of that's good enough. Make sure you give it a good shake so you get all the sediment and stuff mixed up, and stick it in there. And then normally, if you go for a ride, that'll spin the sealant around, it'll seal all the little holes, and that's good enough. So if you've put enough in there to begin with, pump your tire up. I normally go above the pressure I actually want the tire to. Give it a really good spin, go for a ride, and I'll bet you that'll save it, and you don't need to do anything again. But if it still goes flat, then I'll put a little bit more sealant in there. A lot of bikes these days come with safety stickers on the top tube, or maybe on the wheels as well, so always take those things off, because they look ugly in my opinion. But it might be worth reading them first. But also, lots of bikes now have really good online manuals. So get yourself a cup of tea, sit down, maybe after your first ride, have a read through. There's tons of useful information in these things that can maybe tell you about how to look after your bike, special tools you might need, where the internal cable routing goes so when the time comes for changing that, you know how to do it. Or maybe even the maximum length of fork you could put on that bike if you're thinking about upgrading it in the future. So sit down, read through them. I think they're really useful. So you've gone for your first ride, but hold up, before you ride the bike, make sure you take some photos. Even stick it on Instagram. Some people call it posting, some call it boasting. But I think it's cool. Even if you don't stick it on Instagram for the likes, send it in to us at GMBN, we'll get it in the Bike Vault. We see lots of brand new bikes in the Bike Vault with proud owners. But also, I think it's really cool. I look back at my old photos to see what bike I was riding at the time, and it brings back memories of what I did with that bike. So I definitely think it's worth taking some nice pictures. Hey, well done, you didn't get too excited. You did all the pre-work, but now it's time to go for a ride. Enjoy it in the lovely British winter weather. It's not going to stop me. Go for a ride. Hey, have fun. You might even fall off it, but you're not going to scratch it. You did all that work beforehand. On ride number one, I always go out and make sure I've got a pretty comprehensive set of tools with me. Because nine times out of 10, I've not quite set the bike up right in the workshop. So I'll be tweaking my bar roll, or where my levers are on the bars, that sort of thing. But also, with new bikes, particularly full suspension bikes, you might find that nuts and bolts can come loose. Pivot bolts can come loose mid-ride. So take a tool with you, and I'll definitely do a full bolt check after my first ride. Often, like I say, with full suspension bikes, something might come loose, so I'll actually take that bolt out and make sure I put some Loctite on it so that it doesn't happen in the future. Be fair washing it, but it's important to dry it properly to stop the drivetrain getting rusty more than anything. So dry it out with a proper rag, then make sure you lube it again. You can spray it with protecting products as well to make sure it stays looking like new. Also, it's then ready for your next ride, so mud isn't quite going to stick to it as bad, and your chain is already lubed. All right, there's a few things to think about if you're lucky enough to have a new bike. Let us know down below in the comments if you've got a new bike and what it is. I'd love to find out. See ya.