New to Mountain bikes merida tfs 100 ) and any advice be great :)

daveUK

As per title .
New to mountain bikes etc .
In my 40s and last time i was on bikes was my bmx racing days

Living in maidstone . Originally from the lake district.

Up untill lockdown done alot of charity work with the ukgarrison and rebel legion . Where im a stormtrooper and chewbacca
Hence need to fit in my tk again . Added a little timber with lockdown lol

Lockdown and with everything else we decided to get ourselves a couple of bikes and and try and improve our fitness ..

Recently bought a second hand merida tfs 100
19 inch
26 wheels etc
Enclosed pics .
Love the bike and got a service booked in 23rd october with cycles uk ( only space available )
Done a few rides out with the wife . She got a standard btwin . Wanted to see how she got on so now she looking to upgrade too at somepoint as were both enjoying getting out there
Last weekend around bewl water and loved it

Any one know anything about these bikes ?

Managed to set sag etc ok i think .

Rebound im unsure . Reading posts people mention the dial clicks. This one just turns clock wise and anticlockwise so maybe ok maybe there a issue . I dunno .
Seems im in the right place for advice

Any upgrades i should look into ?








Also looking for advice on the budget action cams .

Seen the
campark
Apeman a77

Maybe some can advise on those ?

Thanks in advance

Dave

steve_sordy

To check whether the rebound dial is working, turn it all the way one way and ride the bike off a kerb. The fork will either feel dead or like a pogo stick. To check, wind it all the other way and it should feel the other way around. If both ends feel the same then the rebound is not working. Either the dial itself is broken or the innards of the fork need sorting out.

If you can feel the difference and it should not be hard at all to detect it, then it's probably OK. Some budget forks don't have much of a range and usually have few clicks from one end to the other.

Here is a complete guide to setting up suspension. It covers everything from simple sag setting all the way to custom fork tuning.
https://bikerumor.com/2014/10/30/bikerumor-suspension-setup-series-full-series-pdf-free-download/

Ref the upgrades. I would only react to anything that you feel is lacking. But before switching it out, first make sure it is working as well as it can be. YouTube is your friend. Braking and shifting are the two biggest areas to get right, after the fork.

Then I would look at tyre pressures, then tyres. Loads of stuff on the internet.

From your BMX days you will have picked up loads of useful skills. But if you intend to ride off gravel paths and woodland paths and onto something a bit more rugged, then you may swiftly realise that MTB is not the same as BMX. A good upgrade to spend money on would therefore be YOU! There are many bikes skills courses, although maybe not as many as before Covid. They are seldom money wasted. Even if you happen to pick one that you find easy, then that will inform you of what level you are at.

daveUK

Thanks for the reply .

Yer bmx days seem a million years away now
Came in handy as new about toe in when changing brakes on wifes bike which are standard brakes . Just got the pads from halfirds to be fair .
Where was told bend the caliper to get the right sngle on the pads 🤣 even i know how easy it is to toe in the brakes with no bending involved .. just shook my head and said ok .

Regarding the rebound it prob is ok . The lick out etc all fine. Just wasnt sure if the dial was meant to click or not . This one just turns by hand no clicks

Looked up a few vids .
Got seat hegh right then checked a vid which said 1 inseam x 109%and i was 5 mm off

Plenty to read etc as hydraulics etc fairly new to me hence booked in for a service


Thanks again for the reply and advice

daveUK

Forgot to add . We do have helmets and padded shorts which work a treat

Decided to try the apeman a79 before thinking about a go pro etc