Wow, I thought I was doing the very basic riding and it turns out I’m just driving the bike into the ground : )))) Could you help me understand where is that line where I started doing it?
I spent about 7 full days over last couple of months learning/doing maintenance, talking to mechanics, etc, and it doesn’t look like I could have saved fork (very cheap one, nothing to maintain there?, no oil leaks, manufacturer says I cannot/should not take it apart), or shifters (which broke half a year ago, before any abuse at all), or crankset (which was fairly clean but had 1.9 review score on MTBR.com). The whole issue of maintenance is trickier than I thought, though. Even mechanic at the local perf bike did not adjust front derailleur correctly (how difficult THAT can be? I did it much better by myself) and he did not tell me about any problems two months ago. That’s why I’m learning how to do most of the maintenance myself (books, online, and just getting my hands dirty).
Assuming that I do all the maintenance now, is it an entry level bike by design, or upgrading a few parts will make it considerably better for more 25-30mph riding down fireroads and more 2 feet jumps? If I upgrade fork and crankset, what in the bike sounds not suitable to what I’m doing with it – frame, HT, or something else?
Besides of "having" a bike, I want to make sure I do not drive _myself_ into the ground with it : )))