Bike issues

Bradyc0903 said:

I have a mongoose mtb with full suspension that iv used fairly well but not a lot. I got the bike as a gift when i was younger and i didnt know how to take good care of the forks so they eventually rusted out and siezed. I tried everything to try and break up the rust inside but nothing worked so i would like to replace the forks, i also just recently found a problem with my rear derailleur where the chain is sliding up against some of the framwork so i stopped using the bike as much to prevent breaking the chain. I dont have a lot of money so buying a new bike is not exactly preferable but maybe it’s time for a new one? If so what would you guys recommend?

P.s. my parents told me that the bike was “worth around 300” But they got a deal on it at christmas time for 120

What sort of riding do you do?

Oh sorry i forgot to mention, im planning on doing a lot of offroad bicycling in the powerlines and in the woods and maybe in the snow if it gets hard enough this year and no i dont have one of the fat tire bikes, wish i did tho. I do have another bike for road use

The current Mongoose line is pretty low-end stuff and not very durable. Frankly, if you're going to replace the fork and do other repairs with reasonable quality parts that will last, it's likely to cost you as much as buying a better quality used bike.

Bradyc0903 said:

I have a mongoose mtb with full suspension that iv used fairly well but not a lot. I got the bike as a gift when i was younger and i didnt know how to take good care of the forks so they eventually rusted out and siezed. I tried everything to try and break up the rust inside but nothing worked so i would like to replace the forks, i also just recently found a problem with my rear derailleur where the chain is sliding up against some of the framwork ...

P.s. my parents told me that the bike was “worth around 300” But they got a deal on it at christmas time for 120

With rusted forks and a chain that touches the frame, I'd guess that bike has taken a good pounding. Try getting an estimate for repairs at a bike shop, and don't be surprised at the size of the estimate.

If you don't have a lot of money then stay away from any sort of suspension on a bike, cheap suspension forks and rears will be nothing but a lead weight that will break in short order, plus they're not good enough to respond quickly to rough surfaces, really the only thing you need with a full suspension bike for, besides at least $800, is fast downhill technical riding. I would suggest, especially for snow, is a non suspension fat tire bike. If you go this route make sure you study up real well on PSI for the tires because certain PSI levels perform better for certain types of stuff you'll be riding on. Also the fat tire bike is naturally suspended by the fat tires. Keep in mind though that there is no one bike that can excel at every type of surface, and fat tire bikes do poorly on pavement. I know you said no to the fat tire idea, not sure why, but they do perform the best for loose situations like snow, sand, mud, even with rutted surfaces, they also don't chew up the ground and leave grooves in the dirt.

The other option is to replace the fork with a rigid fork, a lot cheaper than a cheap suspension fork that won't last nor work well. Or you could find a $500 shock fork, but then the fork would be worth more than the bike which is not a good option.

Chain that touches the frame stay I would assume it could be due to the rear wheel not set correctly which is cheap and easy to check, simply loosen the rear wheel and just enough to so you can move the axle, then from behind the wheel grab both sides of the axle and pull the axle far back on the drop outs as you can without forcing it, then check to make sure the tire is centered in the frame and tighten the nuts, hopefully this will take up the chain slack if not than read on. Once you checked that the next cheapest thing to do is to clean the derailleur really well, spray some solvent or WD40 on the all the pivot points, wait for solvent to dry then put chain lube on every pivot point of the derailleur and the pivot at the hanger mounting bolt, you can check the pivot at the mounting bolt by trying to move the derailleur back and forth on the pivot, if it's stiff then clean it really well and spray some WD40 on it to loosen it up while you manually with your hand move the rear derailleur back and forth on the pivot, if it starts to move freely then lube with some chain lube and ride the bike shifting the rear frequently to see if that cured it; if that doesn't solve the problem the derailleur spring may have sprung, you can get decent rear derailleur like the Deore for about $44 on Amazon. If the chain is not hanging but rather slapping the stay when riding then the freehub maybe stiff, take the wheel off the bike and spin the freehub backwards and see if it seems stiff.

Froze said:

... and fat tire bikes do poorly on pavement. ....

Not if the bike has road tires on it. I have them on mine and it performs well. Pavement is the only thing I ride on, and where I ride it would kill a road bike. I've ridden my Schwinn 700C hybrid on the same pavement and it can't compare with my Specialized Fatboy.

Chuckabutty said:

Not if the bike has road tires on it. I have them on mine and it performs well. Pavement is the only thing I ride on, and where I ride it would kill a road bike. I've ridden my Schwinn 700C hybrid on the same pavement and it can't compare with my Specialized Fatboy.

Of course, but unless you buy narrower rims that will still fit the fat bike dropouts, you can only go so narrow on the stock wide rims, so again you wouldn't be as fast as you would be a road bike or even a MTB with smooth narrower tires that can fit their rims...assuming the same rider on all three bikes of course, Lance Armstrong on a Fat Tire bike with smooth narrow road tires would kick my ass in a race with my 700c 25 tire road bike! So the speed thing would be dependent on the rider.

Froze said:

Of course, but unless you buy narrower rims that will still fit the fat bike dropouts, you can only go so narrow on the stock wide rims, so again you wouldn't be as fast as you would be a road bike or even a MTB with smooth narrower tires that can fit their rims...assuming the same rider on all three bikes of course, Lance Armstrong on a Fat Tire bike with smooth narrow road tires would kick my ass in a race with my 700c 25 tire road bike! So the speed thing would be dependent on the rider.

"Fast" isn't in my vocabulary. So style obviously counts, too. Much of my pavement riding is on sidewalk because most roads are too dangerous. And most of the sidewalks I encounter are probably in the region of fifty or more years old. The county grinds slabs where one end has either risen or sunk with respect to the next slab. Tree roots cause chunks of sidewalk to crack and move. Then there's tree debris, small branches that the fatty will easily ride over. Long stretches of pathway with hexagon slabs that have seen better days are on parts of my rides. Even they get a bit rough with the fatty. Occasionally, I have to stand on the pedals to avoid a good butt-pounding, but it's all part of the fun.

Sign posts, traffic light poles, utility poles, bus stop benches, all intrude into the pathway, so speed isn't something to be desired. I'm out for a casual ride and to see what's out there, and to stop and take photos. Most of the other bikes I see are BMX style. I have never seen a road bike on our county sidewalks. They usually stick to certain areas where it's safer to ride on the roads but the nearest place like that is about eight miles away.

For me, the fatty is the way to go, but my style wouldn't suit a lot of riders. I'm seeing more fat bikes like my own, lately. My LBS, when they sold me this bike a couple of years ago, said they are selling like hot cakes. I expected to see more of them but they were scarce. They were good sales people but lousy mechanics as I've mentioned elsewhere.

Froze said:

If you don't have a lot of money then stay away from any sort of suspension on a bike, cheap suspension forks and rears will be nothing but a lead weight that will break in short order, plus they're not good enough to respond quickly to rough surfaces, really the only thing you need with a full suspension bike for, besides at least $800, is fast downhill technical riding. I would suggest, especially for snow, is a non suspension fat tire bike. If you go this route make sure you study up real well on PSI for the tires because certain PSI levels perform better for certain types of stuff you'll be riding on. Also the fat tire bike is naturally suspended by the fat tires. Keep in mind though that there is no one bike that can excel at every type of surface, and fat tire bikes do poorly on pavement. I know you said no to the fat tire idea, not sure why, but they do perform the best for loose situations like snow, sand, mud, even with rutted surfaces, they also don't chew up the ground and leave grooves in the dirt.

The other option is to replace the fork with a rigid fork, a lot cheaper than a cheap suspension fork that won't last nor work well. Or you could find a $500 shock fork, but then the fork would be worth more than the bike which is not a good option.

Chain that touches the frame stay I would assume it could be due to the rear wheel not set correctly which is cheap and easy to check, simply loosen the rear wheel and just enough to so you can move the axle, then from behind the wheel grab both sides of the axle and pull the axle far back on the drop outs as you can without forcing it, then check to make sure the tire is centered in the frame and tighten the nuts, hopefully this will take up the chain slack if not than read on. Once you checked that the next cheapest thing to do is to clean the derailleur really well, spray some solvent or WD40 on the all the pivot points, wait for solvent to dry then put chain lube on every pivot point of the derailleur and the pivot at the hanger mounting bolt, you can check the pivot at the mounting bolt by trying to move the derailleur back and forth on the pivot, if it's stiff then clean it really well and spray some WD40 on it to loosen it up while you manually with your hand move the rear derailleur back and forth on the pivot, if it starts to move freely then lube with some chain lube and ride the bike shifting the rear frequently to see if that cured it; if that doesn't solve the problem the derailleur spring may have sprung, you can get decent rear derailleur like the Deore for about $44 on Amazon. If the chain is not hanging but rather slapping the stay when riding then the freehub maybe stiff, take the wheel off the bike and spin the freehub backwards and see if it seems stiff.

I didnt say i dont want a fat tire bike i actually really want one. My main concern with the bike i have now is that rear derailleur so thanks for the advice! Ill be sure to try it when i get home

Hello everyone
I want to disqus of this forum who will support me ..

VictoriaTegg9520 said:

Hello everyone
I want to disqus of this forum who will support me ..

It seems to me that you are up to no good, Victoria (if that's your real name). I looked at your link to DarkMarkets, and it's suspicious. Regular browsers can't be used, and people would have to use a specific (Tor) browser to accept what seems to be a market for possibly illegal goods. It looks like a scam.

Chuckabutty said:

It seems to me that you are up to no good, Victoria (if that's your real name). I looked at your link to DarkMarkets, and it's suspicious. Regular browsers can't be used, and people would have to use a specific (Tor) browser to accept what seems to be a market for possibly illegal goods. It looks like a scam.

The direct Chinese vocabulary translation to English is pretty telling. The picture is phony.

Chuckabutty said:

It seems to me that you are up to no good, Victoria (if that's your real name). I looked at your link to DarkMarkets, and it's suspicious. Regular browsers can't be used, and people would have to use a specific (Tor) browser to accept what seems to be a market for possibly illegal goods. It looks like a scam.

You need to be careful going to places where some newbie posted a website, it could be loaded with all sorts of bad stuff that will kill your computer. If you like doing this sort of thing due to curiosity then get Sandboxie and go into the website from inside it, then when you're done, you simply delete everything in sandboxie and everything inside of it, good or bad, dies without affecting your computer.

Froze said:

You need to be careful going to places where some newbie posted a website, it could be loaded with all sorts of bad stuff that will kill your computer.

I realize that, but I have an excellent antivirus and Internet security program protecting my computer. It even brought up a concern about my Logitech program which enables me to program my keyboard and mouse. Logitech software connects with my browser for a good purpose, but my antivirus wanted to remove it. It kept warning me about it. I contacted the antivirus people and it took several attempts to get them to acknowledge the problem. They did finally fix their program so I no longer get the warnings. That's how sensitive the Internet security is. Without it, I would not have tried that link 'Victoria' posted.

I thought about the name of the link and figured it leads to a way of obtaining illegal merchandise such as stolen goods, knock-off goods, drugs, and whatever else they are selling. The Tor browser needed to access Darkmarkets, enables anonymous use of the Internet. I checked out Tor, too, and found it's legitimate. It's 'Victoria's' means of engaging in clandestine Internet activity. I don't go that far.

My Firefox browser has a setting to enable private browsing. That prevents tracking, in which websites collect information, and doesn't save cookies. I also use add-ons to prevent pop-up ads and other things. Put this together with my antivirus and Internet security, and I'm about as safe as I can be, even if it's not foolproof.

Lately, I have had a lot of fake e-mails from 'Fed Ex' stating that I need to update my information. I realized they were phishing expeditions and I'd have to click on their link to provide my information, but I wasn't born yesterday. It's necessary to open those to report them to Google. It took several reports before they were stopped. I had blocked the first two or three but apparently the thief is using different addresses.

This is the time of year when thieves especially do their rounds to steal private information. Incidentally, earlier this week I got a call from my bank about a credit charge of $273. I'm glad they're on the ball, but now my card has been canceled and I await a new one. I have no idea where someone got my card number from, and it's not the first time it's happened.

Several years ago I subscribed to a British photographic magazine. They had an office in Virginia where I called to buy the subscription. I gave them my credit card number. That's a vulnerable point because it involves a human who can then use the number to obtain credit for themselves. A few weeks after doing that, I got a call from my bank to say there were two charges made in England, to my account. One of them was for $800 for a gym club membership. The other was a lesser amount. I suspect somebody connected with the magazine was not honest.

Incidentally, I reported 'Victoria' but I see the post is still up there two days later.

I get a new card every year right after Christmas to help prevent someone from latching onto it, even though my bank has safety built into the account I still don't want the hassles, so by replacing it every year it helps reduce hassles, so far it's worked, but nothing is foolproof which why I have the protection at the bank level.

I would think that if someone were to order stolen merchandise, or drugs off the internet the federal postal service would discover it eventually and the next thing you know you have law enforcement with search warrants banging at your door, someone who does that better have a lawyer on speed dial! I hope Cyclintom is reading this!

Card theft now can happen with someone simply walking by you with an electronic reader if you have a card with a chip, and these readers can be had for just $100 online! They can be as far away as 25 feet and the device will get the card number. A news agency tested the device in a mall and got 39 credit cards information in 15 minutes!! You can now however protect yourself from that happening to you by doing one of two things or both if you want doubly sure, I only do it one way and that way is with a wallet that has RFID protection built in. I needed a new wallet anyways so I just bought one with that RFID built in, but prior I simply put a piece of aluminum foil the size of the bill compartment and placed in the outside bill compartment which hinders the card reader, but now I don't have to that with the RFID built into the wallet; not sure how effective the aluminum foil trick I did was because I have no way of testing it. The other thing you also do is to buy a device the size of a standard credit card called Signal Vault which also has a chip in it that puts a electronic safety shield around all your cards, this thing cost around $15 on Amazon and you get two cards for that price. Another thing you can do is to buy and aluminum wallet but those things are pain to put in your backpocket and then sit on it! plus the hinges eventually get bent up because men sit on their wallets, mine lasted about 3 months before it got too tweaked to fix anymore, plus it didn't hold much in the way of cards and cash. You would be amazed at how many people don't realize that someone can grab your card information from within 25 feet of you and go on a fast shopping spree before you get notice from your bank, so protect that asset by your ass.

Froze said:

I get a new card every year right after Christmas to help prevent someone from latching onto it...

Mine was new in April after my other one went through the wash. The dryer buckled it.

Quoted post said:

I would think that if someone were to order stolen merchandise, or drugs off the internet the federal postal service would discover it eventually and the next thing you know you have law enforcement with search warrants banging at your door, ...

Depends on how it's packaged. Drugs would have to be hermetically sealed. Human flesh is butchered and packed in dry ice, and shipped to consumers. There is quite a trade in it. I have ministered to dozens of people who were fed on human flesh as children. It messes people up. The delivery services never seem to catch anyone.

Quoted post said:

Card theft now can happen with someone simply walking by you with an electronic reader if you have a card with a chip, and these readers can be had for just $100 online! They can be as far away as 25 feet and the device will get the card number.

I'd heard of that, but...

• Although some contactless cards can be read from as far as a few feet away, refinements to the RFID technology employed in newer cards limits their transmission range to a much smaller distance.
  
• Although RFID-enabled cards may have originally transmitted their information in plain text, newer contactless cards are adding encryption to the data streams and thus cannot be read directly by ordinary card readers. (Encryption requires additional processing time, however, so businesses that place a premium on speed may still eschew its use in their card processing systems.)
  
• Card skimming generally works when the victim is carrying only a single contactless card; otherwise, the transmissions from multiple cards can create a jumbled, unintelligible stream.
  

I have two cards, so that would create a problem for the thief with a reader.

Chuckabutty said:

I'd heard of that, but...

• Although some contactless cards can be read from as far as a few feet away, refinements to the RFID technology employed in newer cards limits their transmission range to a much smaller distance.
  
• Although RFID-enabled cards may have originally transmitted their information in plain text, newer contactless cards are adding encryption to the data streams and thus cannot be read directly by ordinary card readers. (Encryption requires additional processing time, however, so businesses that place a premium on speed may still eschew its use in their card processing systems.)
  
• Card skimming generally works when the victim is carrying only a single contactless card; otherwise, the transmissions from multiple cards can create a jumbled, unintelligible stream.
  

I have two cards, so that would create a problem for the thief with a reader.

I haven't seen a credit card with an RFID. They have the mag strip, the contact only chip and that optical blotch that are on some. Even the mag strip is so weak that they cannot be read outside of a reader. Skimmers can be used and that is normally the way that cards are stolen - that and buying something over the Internet from an unknown source. If you use Amazon or Paypal you're safe and that should be the ONLY way that you use your credit cards. But to break a rule I also order things from bikekitpro without Paypal so that they don't have to pay extra charges to be paid for items I order commonly.

When I was knocked out I would order things I suppose from places that were fencing my numbers. But that ended when I got a call from the bank asking me if I'd just cashed a check for $22,000 in Portland OR. I got all new cars and gave them to no one except the three I mentioned. Since they keep these numbers on their record I only have to change them when I change cards which is about every year or so just to be on the safe side.

Chuckabutty said:

Human flesh is butchered and packed in dry ice, and shipped to consumers. There is quite a trade in it. I have ministered to dozens of people who were fed on human flesh as children. It messes people up. The delivery services never seem to catch anyone.

That's just plain sick...but the odd thing is...it's not against the law to eat human flesh! What's against the law is to kill someone and then eat them, it's the murder charge that will stick, the cannibalism will probably land them in a mental hospital instead of prison. So maybe the delivery issue is that it's not illegal? Also if it's a survival situation, like the airplane crash in the Indies mountains, some chose to be eaten, probably due to frailty of health, so that in hopes the others would survive, this is not illegal even though it may mean someone might have to kill someone. Originally I heard, or maybe this just applies to certain tribes I don't know, but cannibalism was all about eating the heart of a warrior who fought bravior than anyone else, and that warrior took it as an honor to be eaten by his fellow tribesman. The belief was that by eating the heart you were ingesting his soul and his soul became part of you so you could fight bravely the next time like he fought. Now see if that were me I wouldn't eat any part of the heart because if I become too brave then they would eat me...no thanks!

cyclintom said:

I haven't seen a credit card with an RFID. They have the mag strip, the contact only chip and that optical blotch that are on some.

I don't have an RFID card. They can be recognized by the 'Paypass' word or wavy line symbol. Those don't need to be swiped, only waved near a card reader. Apparently, that's the only card that could possibly be read by someone very close with a reader. I would even doubt banks are still issuing such cards.

Reading up on the issue, I see that people who have cards with the newer chips, usually have their account infiltrated after losing their card or having it stolen. The bank asked me if I'd lost it or loaned it to anyone. I haven't done either. So it's hard to fathom out how my number was obtained. One thing that concerns me is the fact that cards with the chips still have a magnetic strip on the back. It's necessary to insert the card into a machine to read the chip. Could that magnetic strip have been read by a thief?

When buying online, we usually have to provide the 3-digit code on the back of the card. I know PayPal is an exception.

In Europe, people have to provide a PIN along with their credit card, just as we do with a debit card. That has cut back on fraud. Here in the U.S. we only have to provide a signature, yet not always. If I use my card in Home Depot or Walmart, I'm not required to sign, under a certain amount.

Considering that the illegal charge to my account is only the second one in forty years of using cards, it's pretty safe. No matter what we do, though, thieves are always looking for new ways to steal from us.