another newbie here !!

accrington guy

hello all, just saying hello, dont know if its in the right bit but hey ho...
anyway I got myself a new bike 2 weeks ago - a Giant xtc 4.5 for £500 and I love it to bits - its my first new bike since I was 6 years old !
I cant wait to go out and about on it for real as I am just doing the canal paths just now which given the state of them is quite tricky at times !

however when I was giving it a good wash the other day I noticed a bit of rust on it at the bottom bracket on the side nearest the chainrings, I have contacted the shop where the bike was bought and they are going to replace it which is fair enough and today I got a flat tyre - which meant I had to leave my bike in work as I didnt have time to check it out..but what I did notice is that the valves seem to be high pressure ones on the tyres??
but it will be up and running tomorrow so not to worry !
as you can guess I like to prattle on and I am quite a newby when it comes to mountain biking so any advice you can offer then fire away..
I know folk on here may say my bike aint all that good etc and I should have got such and such a one buts I like my giant...

almost forgot, it has hydraulic brakes - which are totally new to me - advice on those would be appreciated..how to take care of etc...

thanks all..

hubert_cumberdale

Jagshemash!

Welcome to the forum, i'm a newbie too but they seem a friendly, knowledgeable bunch

Gaz.

shisaa

Doesn't matter what you ride, as long as you enjoy it, so I'd say you definitely got the right bike.
As for the brakes, one advantage of hydraulics is that they don't need much maintenance. They just might need bleeding occaisonally, but that's probably best left to the bike shop. And the high pressure valves should be fine for the riding you do. Hope this helps.

stumpyjon

Hi Accrington Guy. You're in the right place for mountain biking. I'm just over in Rossendale, you've got loads to choose from where you are, just loads of hills :oops: , well it ain't called mountain biking for nothing .

With regards to the disc brakes, they will rub slightly unless you spend all your time adjusting the calipers. This is normal so don't worry (seems to be the number one noobie question on here at times.), as long as wheel still rotates freely there isn't a problem.

The pads will need to bed in as well. This will happen over the first couple of rides anyway so your brakes will get better in a short time. A lot of people make a point of bedding them in by going for a ride downhill and stopping lots of times to bed them in.

Presta valves (high pressure) are quite normal, both my full suss and hardtail have them.

As for the bike, £ 500 quid buys you quite alot of bike these days and if you're happy with it then it's a good bike.