21 tips to Mountain-Proof your Mountain Bike

Whether planning a UK road trip or you’re looking for some chairlift based action this summer – it’s important to protect your MTB against damage.

That could mean basic chainstay protectors – or a full on seasonaire approach to maximise the chance of a bike lasting a whole season of bike park abuse from flying rocks; chairlift scuffs and those inevitable crashes…

Will your summer involve anything like this? If so, it’s a matter of time before your pride and joy gets damaged from flying rocks and those inevitable spills. Mountain-Proof your mountain bike against damage, and you won’t be crying your way to the bike shop after a week in the Alps! Photo | Sir Callum of the Jelley

Although not pretty, the seasonaire approach maximises overall MTB frame protection. With major protection like this, the frame can be cleaned up almost like new at the end of the year.

Below is our guide to making your mountain bike properly mountain-proof, ranging from basic MTB frame protection to our tips and tricks for maximising the fun you can have out on the trails…

MTB Frame Protection

Protect your paint finish

Invisiframe is an excellent MTB Frame Protection choice – but just one part in making your mountain bike mountain proof.

The heart of your bike is the frame – it’s also the most expensive part and is easy to scratch, dent and damage in use. Ideally, you want to have MTB frame protection from the minute you buy your bike – like the Invisiframe kits that use tough clear 3M tape to cover your whole frame.

You can also buy pre-shaped kits from Bikeshield for your bike; or buy heli-tape and cut sections for the most obvious places. A particular place worth protecting is your top tube – the constant rubbing of knee pads on the top tube soon dulls down your paintwork. All Mountain Style make excellent kits specifically for this.

Silence that Chain Slap

No one likes a noisy bike, but chain slap isn’t just noisy – the chain slapping can take chunks of paint off your frame rapidly. MTB frame protection is about every part of the frame – not just the main frame.

Neoprene protectors are the most common – though they are ugly and absorb mud and water. A cheap tip is to use sections of old inner tubes to wrap around the chainstay which is very effective, but heavy.

Our top tip for chain stay protection is 3M Rubber Mastic Tape which comes in 25mm and 50mm widths. TIP – if you have a friend who is a sparky, it will be cheaper for him to get on his trade account. Ply him with beer and biscuits.

It completely silences your bike; looks very neat and can be placed in the exact areas where the chain contacts – like the inside of the seat stay.

Eliminate down tube damage from rock strikes

Even at UK spots like Bike Park Wales, rocks fly off your front wheel and can easily damage your frame. It’s not uncommon to crack frames from large rock impacts. The 50mm 3M rubber Mastic tape we mentioned above is great for a minimal layer that really helps, but for all out mountain-proof action you can cable tie a section of old tyre to cover your down tube completely.

Although it is heavy and unsightly, it’s the ultimate in MTB frame protection – perfect for that holiday to the Alps, or if racing an event like the Megavalanche in Alp d’Huez

Mounting a tyre on your down tube is the ultimate in MTB Frame Protection – and makes your whip totally mountain-proof

Wheel protection

As well as basic MTB frame protection, you need to preserve the rest of your bike too. If riding rocky or fast trails – your wheels will take a lot of abuse and you also risk getting punctures either from pinching the inner tube (pinch punctures) or putting a hole in the tyre carcass itself.

Treat your bike to some tough rubber, but make sure you factor in where you will be riding. Typically up front you can go for a gnarlier tyre with a softer compound to maximise on grip. Setting it up tubeless is a great idea, as small punctures are sealed as you ride – check out our test on the brilliant Stans Race Sealant right here.

If heading to the mountains for some serious shredding, then you need a mountain-proof tyre out back that won’t disintegrate. When you ride the rear brake on long descents, tyre knobbles can easily get torn off – one of the best tyres for rear use is the Maxxis Minion DHF front tyre. It has large, flat knobs on the main tread that not only roll fast, but resist damage from constant braking. It’s a seasonaire choice in the harder 60a rubber as it can last months of abuse but has plenty of grip.

If you’re out for some racing action, then it’s worth considering the Schwalbe Procore system as it genuinely gives you a second chance in race situations against punctures. If it’s too expensive to justify, go halves with a mate and just run on the rear wheel – which takes most the abuse. We reviewed Procore right here.

Braking Power

Although it’s not a form of MTB frame protection, part of mountain-proofing your bike is to increase the power of your brakes to cope with proper mountain terrain.

160mm or 180mm rotors might be fine for UK riding and the odd uplift, but when you venture to the mountains you’ll need more power. Bigger disc rotors will dramatically increase stopping power – and also help keep the brake cool.

Don’t forget to keep a couple of spare sets of brake pads in your riding pack as you go through brake pads a lot faster when you’re riding the brakes on 20minute descents!

Transmission Protection

The drive train on a bike is very much the achilles heel on a mountain bike – as flying rocks can easily damage exposed derailleurs and chain rings. Whilst you can’t do much to protect the rear derailleur, you can fit a bash guard to protect the chain rings and cranks against impacts.

A simple bash guard like this MRP device is a great bit of MTB Frame Protection that will keep your cranks and chain ring out of danger too.

If going on a down hill biased holiday, it’s worth considering buying a budget rear mech to fit in place of your current model, and take your current one as a spare. It can be infuriating if you snap an expensive rear mech a couple of days in to a decent riding trip…

Another essential to mountain-proof your MTB is thread-lock. When riding rough terrain constantly, things rattle loose that you just don’t expect. In particular, use thread lock on chain ring bolts and suspension pivots.

Although crank boots were designed to protect carbon fibre cranks, they’re well worth considering as your crank ends can take a hell of a lot of abuse. They are available for most cranks, and you can colour co-ordinate them to the rest of your bike too.

With all the MTB frame protection recommendations above, your steed will be mountain-proof to an extent – but keeping a good supply of spare parts is recommended. Especially if going on a road trip or overseas trip.

It’s worth considering the options below:

• Chain ring bolts
• Rear mech hanger
• Brake lever/shift lever brackets
• Spare tyre
• Rear mech (worth installing a cheap model for your trip, and keeping your expensive one as a spare)
• Brake mount for frame (if it is a non-standard unit. As these can crack under severe use)
• Inner cables
• Cable ties
• Electrical tape

All that’s left now is to get out there and enjoy your mountain-proof mountain bike, in the mountains!

Enjoy!

Once you’ve mountain-proofed your bike, there’s only one thing left to do – get out there and rip!

What did you think of our MTB Frame Protection tips?

Got any other ideas to mountain-proof a bike?

Let us know in the comments below…

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