u/Whimpy-Crow

So I’ve been trying to get more women into MTB and part of this means organising rides for my club with often disappointing uptake 🤣 (let’s be honest!) so imagine my surprise (read utter delight!) when recently on a cold evening in the hills a ride I together with a friend organised and 8 women and their bikes turned up! And I’m dead proud of them - particularly those women who are trying it out, for mustering the courage to join a group you don’t know and playing on very mixed terrain and in places pretty tough - particularly when it was getting dark. With a great age range too… from 20’s to 60’s. But yes some parts were so lumpy and bumpy "double suspension" was mentioned by some 😆

Slowly but surely, I’m seeing more women getting into off-road mayhem, and it’s SOOOOO fun! (this is not just locally btw).

Mtb women are great! Muddy women are 🤩 totally fabulous! 💪

So just wanting to share as it makes for something else than forks, NBD, wheels etc too 🤣

So my bidons and bladder are over 4 years old with loads of use.so I thought I share how I (I’m sure this being Reddit 😆 people have other ideas too - so possibly more amines at newbie cyclists) maintain them to stop the mold or smells and get lots of life out of them.

1. I don’t use juice, on the rare occasions I use electrolytes I tend to sterilise straight after use.
2. Hand wash after each use and dip dry and store once dry in the freezer (stops SOME bacterial build up / aka what gives bidons or bladder that smell!)
3. Once a month (I cycle a lot quite a bit) I hand wash followed by sterilising them using sterilisation tablets (Milton or any that use for the cleaning of eg baby bottles)… followed by dip dry and storing in freezer until needed

So I’ve been trying to get more women into MTB and part of this means to organise rides for my club with often disappointing uptake 🤣 (let’s be honest!) so imagine my surprise (read utter delight!) when this week on a cold evening in the hills a ride I together with a friend organised and 8 women and their mtbs turned up! And I’m dead proud of them - particularly those women who are trying it out, for mustering the courage to join a group you don’t know and playing on very mixed terrain and in places pretty tough - particularly at dusk.

Slowly but surely I’m seeing more women getting into mtb and it’s SOOOOO fun! Not just locally btw. With a great age range too… from 20’s to 60’s.

Mtb women are great! Muddy women are 🤩 totally fabulous! 💪

So just wanting to share as it makes for something else than forks, NBD, wheels etc too 🤣

I did my most technical and toughest MTB ride to date yesterday (though few pics of the technical bits as I really needed to concentrate!!).

This ride made me conclude that while I love doing solo MTB - I am not at the stage and might never be where I'd do a challenge like this on my own... I was in places so so remote, with 0 reception and very tough technical riding where mistakes or mechanicals could be very AAARRRGGGHHH. I do carry a GPX satnav but not, as standard, a dedicated GPS tracker. If (unlikely) I were to do this on my own, I'd definitely be hiring a GPS tracker!

I also lost the track and ended up needing to make my way (cycling) through a maze of rocks - I thought moorland ruts were tricky - they're not ... comparatively! This was a ride with serious technical stuff - downhills long and big rocks, where I felt my arms might just drop off, bog cycling that just seemed to go on forever - a ride really where it didn't matter if it was up, down or flat - all of it had difficulty - made trickier due to serious head wind.

With my confidence wobble - this was quite funny. So there I was having my moment of "I don't think I can carry on" only to discover - checking maps .... well that's tough 💩 as there literally was 0 way to make it shorter/easier - this is what happens when you are on some plateau with nothing around you (not even farms) 😂 So nothing you can do but have a break, stuff your face with some carbs and carry on!

I am so so glad I did it and glad to have had a riding partner (in the end*) alongside to tell me I can do it, I just need to dig deep - and I did (grimacing in places though). I have cycled in many stunning places over the years, but this really was out of this world also due to the roughness, desolation, gloominess, and literally cycling in the clouds in places!

*In the end, as I have been increasingly struggling to find other women to ride with, few seem interested in these types of MTB events. So this nice bloke, I know through his wife (through road cycling), suggested we go together - we have bumped into each other at various MTB events, so after some ooohhh and aaahhhing, I thought I'd give it a whirl as he wasn't a total stranger, and actually we got on really well.

Though dare I say it hihihi I did have moments of wishing I had a double suspension as my butt was really really feeling it 😆

So, it was a bit of a beast of a day with 7 hours of actual riding time! 😆 which for me off-road is pretty meaty! 😆

I have a Grand Canyon 6 WMN (2023) old and love it! I know it's nothing swanky, but never in a million years thought I would take to MTB as I have... with 2 events 😂 lined up just this month (besides my normal off-road and on-road cycling stuff), she is absolutely perfect for what I do, which is rugged, rough, very rocky, winter, mud, snow, bogs, streams, etc.

However, I do sometimes go EEK, as it seems now 3 years in my cassette (12-speed Shimano Deore M6100), chain (CN-M6100 Deore), and back tyre (Schwalbe Rapid Robs) all need replacing on an annual basis. This is besides the standard stuff of e.g. brake pads, obviously.

My questions:

• I am just wondering how normal this is - annual replacing of eg cassette - and dare I say, how I could save (I have learned to replace my own cassette 💪😂 etc), as I am no dentist 😂 and have 2 other bikes with needs!! 😂
• Is my issue that I am using below-average quality components, particularly the cassette?
• Could I upgrade to better components for better longevity? If so, which do you recommend?

Or is this just the reality, nothing extraordinary? 💭

It has had 2 new front tyres, a bottom bracket, headset bearings, besides... not annually though. So far so good on the disc brake rotors.

EDIT: I do keep it clean and well-maintained btw. ✨🫧🧼