128 – Getting Your Bike Ready For The Race Season with Trail Explorer

Todays Guest:

Adam Whitaker – Cytech Level 2 Qualified Mechanic & Giant Bike Store Manager

On episode #128 we are chatting with bike mechanic, bike store manager and Mr Trail Explorer, Adam Whitaker. Adam done a small piece for the podcast back on episode #102 (listen here) chatting about how to best get started in mountain biking and get involved in your local community. Since that time I have been following Adam on social media and checking out what he has been getting up to, including his very cool YouTube channel.

However, I just recently found out that he is a full blooded bike mechanic, so with the ‘getting ready for race season’ themed episodes the show is running at the moment I asked him to come back on the show and have a chat about maintaining your bike, looking for problems, how to best service your bike, what repairs you can do yourself, when to take your bike to a professional and how to get your bike ready for the race season. We also have a good chat about Trail Explorer, crashes, bike stores and how e-bikes are outselling enduro style bikes!

Thanks for getting involved. Enjoy the show!

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Find Out:

How Adam got started in mountain biking
Why he decided to leave his job and do something he loved
How mountain biking changed Adams career path and lifestyle
What it is like being a manager of a successful bike store
How e-bikes are outselling enduro style bikes
The increase Adam is seeing in ladies starting mountain biking
Why Adam started his social media accounts
How to best look after your bike throughout the season
Why you should get your bike serviced quite regularly
What to look for regarding parts replacement etc..
What you can do before every ride to help maintain your bike
Should you be working on your suspension
Why now is a great time to get your bike fully serviced
How to follow and get in contact with Trail Explorer

We are all guilty of it. We ride our bike all season, may it be summer or winter, we fix the odd small issue that needs looking at, we repair a tonne of punctures and that’s it, the bike is ready to go, it’s good for our next ride. But should be be doing more to keep our bikes running and riding the way they really should be? We all say to often (or is it just me?), ‘There is nothing wrong with my bike, it is running fine, Ok the gears could use some attention but I will get them looked at when they are not working’. Does this sound familiar? Do you often hear yourself thinking something similar before most of your rides? Should we be doing something more in looking after our bikes? After all we have spent a load of money on these things, so should we be doing more?

Adam was kind enough to come on the show and share his experience and knowledge with us on these topics. And just in case you are thinking of racing this season or have been racing for a number of years, we chat about if you should be setting your bike up any differently for racing and what maintenance your bike requires before starting out on that race day. We get into this plus much more on how to best know if your bike requires some TLC, why building your own work shop can be an expensive venture, why there are so many different parts on the market, why having a good running bike will save you money in the long run and make your rides more enjoyable.

So put your feet up and have a listen before heading to the shed to get that work stand dusted off. Thanks for tuning in. Enjoy the show!

* Don’t forget to head over to the Resources Page to get 15% OFF across all TerraVenture products. Its just for you MTB TRIBE listeners and its just for the month of February.

So head over now and find out how to get that 15% OFF!

You can listen to the TerraVenture episode here.

To Connect with Adam and Trail Explorer:

Instagram: trail.explorer

Facebook: trailexplorermtb

Facebook Group: TrailExployerMountainBiking

YouTube: TrailExployer

Resources in this Episode:

Header Photo: moorland_cycling_photography