My mountain bike obsession

[DE Naude]

Greetings my fellow cycling enthusiasts. I would like to make a confession...

I have an obsession with the mountain bike discipline. I have been searching and learning a lot about brands and everything else the industry offers. I spend a lot of my time reading and watching videos about mountain bikes on many youtube channels such as: berm peak,berm peak express,gmbn tech, pinkbike and park tool to name a few. There is very little that I dont know about the various components and their compatabilities. I often compare different bikes on websites loke vitalmtb and 99spokes. The irony is that Ive never truly had a mountain biking experience before. I bought an alloy hardtail from my lbs for 3000 and Ive been slowly upgrading it. Yoy wouldnt believe how catastrophically the rear hub failed lol. 

 

Im very much looking forward to installing a new shimano deore 10spd drivetrain. I even made a list of components that I would put on my dream mtb. Brands such as shimano, ohlins, trickstuff,rockshox or fox and other boutique brands lol. If I had money to buy a super expensive bike, I would put it in my lounge to stare at during load shedding lol. Im even considering becoming a bike mechanic. Is there something wrong with me to be this intensely obsessed?

I would love to hear your thoughts. Im a 22 year old guy.

Happy riding

Edited October 27, 2022 by DE Naude
Spelling error

[Super Sywurm]

This is normal...

[MORNE]

All together now

hiiiii @DE Naude

this is a safe space (relatively speaking)

[MTBRIDER1234]

1 hour ago, DE Naude said:

Greetings my fellow cycling enthusiasts. I would like to make a confession...

I have an obsession with the mountain bike discipline. I have been searching and learning a lot about brands and everything else the industry offers. I spend a lot of my time reading and watching videos about mountain bikes on many youtube channels such as: berm peak,berm peak express,gmbn tech, pinkbike and park tool to name a few. There is very little that I dont know about the various components and their compatabilities. I often compare different bikes on websites loke vitalmtb and 99spokes. The irony is that Ive never truly had a mountain biking experience before. I bought an alloy hardtail from my lbs for 3000 and Ive been slowly upgrading it. Yoy wouldnt believe how catastrophically the rear hub failed lol. 

 

Im very much looking forward to installing a new shimano deore 10spd drivetrain. I even made a list of components that I would put on my dream mtb. Brands such as shimano, ohlins, trickstuff,rockshox or fox and other boutique brands lol. If I had money to buy a super expensive bike, I would put it in my lounge to stare at during load shedding lol. Im even considering becoming a bike mechanic. Is there something wrong with me to be this intensely obsessed?

I would love to hear your thoughts. Im a 22 year old guy.

Happy riding

Hey bru, being that obsessed is normal. At least it was in the beginning, now that I have been riding for some time and learnt many things, I wouldn't say the obsession has worn off, but it has calmed down a bit.

Also I can understand you wanting to be a bike mechanic, but there is more to it than meets the eye. First off, training is expensive (or finding a shop willing to teach you is hard) and it takes a while to become really good. It is also long hours with little pay and often boring and frustrating jobs. All people see on youtube is the glitz and glam of fitting new parts or fun tasks like rebuilding suspension, but they don't see replacing shifter cables, setting gears, doing tubeless, changing tubes and tires etc. It is fun at times, but it is demanding work and many people think it is easier than it is. Also mistakes are very costly at times, stripped bolt... customer has to wait an extra few days if you can get hold of it, and that is if you can non-destructively remove it. I would maybe seriously chat with a family member or someone similar before making the plunge. Also maybe once you are sure that you love riding, I would recommend looking into it, otherwise you may be stuck in a job you hate with training funds down the drain.

But beware... bikes and parts are a slippery slope, I am now riding a bike worth many times more than I started out with, and a bank balance of approximately 0 haha. 

[Colin Pym]

Obsess and enjoy it, before girlfriend, wife and or child come along, who may have a different perspective on priorities….🫣

[RobertWhitehead]

So are you going to fit the new parts yourself? That's a very good place to start learning the basics 

[Me rida my bicycle]

27 minutes ago, Colin Pym said:

Obsess and enjoy it, before girlfriend, wife and or child come along, who may have a different perspective on priorities….🫣

You have the wrong girlfriend/wife/management 🤣 I just get asked to move some of my bikes out the "gym" room when she wants to train 😁

[DE Naude]

44 minutes ago, RobertWhitehead said:

So are you going to fit the new parts yourself? That's a very good place to start learning the basics 

Yes Sir. I bought a cheap repair kit to install the parts with. Im a bit nervous to install the chain incorrectly but park tool has been quite helpful so far. I will post the before and after when Ive done it.

[ChrisF]

3 minutes ago, DE Naude said:

Yes Sir. I bought a cheap repair kit to install the parts with. Im a bit nervous to install the chain incorrectly but park tool has been quite helpful so far. I will post the before and after when Ive done it.

 

Enjoy the journey 👍

 

 

If unsure ... go for the longer chain .... easier to remove a set of links 

[RobertWhitehead]

Here's a suggestion: bring your bike to me and I'll help you with getting the new parts fitted and also teach you how to do it correctly 👍. 

[DE Naude]

38 minutes ago, RobertWhitehead said:

Here's a suggestion: bring your bike to me and I'll help you with getting the new parts fitted and also teach you how to do it correctly 👍. 

Thank you Sir. This is a great offer to learn from a seasoned mtb'er. I reside in Pretoria

Edited October 27, 2022 by DE Naude

[RobertWhitehead]

Just now, DE Naude said:

Thank you Sit. This is a great offer to learn from a seasoned mtb'er. I reside in Pretoria

Me too 😁

[Colin Pym]

2 hours ago, Me rida my bicycle said:

You have the wrong girlfriend/wife/management 🤣 I just get asked to move some of my bikes out the "gym" room when she wants to train 😁

Fortunately not speaking for myself….🚴‍♂️😀

[DE Naude]

8 minutes ago, RobertWhitehead said:

Me too 😁

Awesome sauce!

[Rolf Hansen]

Perfectly normal.

Get yourself another hobby then you can switch maximum levels of obsession between the two.