Mountain Bike, disintegrated solid tube!!

A friend of mine gave me an old Mountain Bike, when he heard that I wanted to improve my fitness, by riding bicycle. He however told me that this bicycle is no good as it drains your energy very quickly and makes you very tired.

Although this bicycle is too small for me, it is quite a nice bike. It has a full suspension, with shock absorbers in front and a shock absorber at the back. It also has 18 gears!!

This bicycle was fitted with permanent solid tubes. When I checked out the wheels, I noticed that the back wheel compressed a lot when I sat on the bike, at closer inspection, I found the permanent tube to be totally perished and it disintegrated.

As you can see there was not much left of the tube. I replaced it with a normal tube and serviced the gears and axles. I also adjusted the back shock absorber to be stiffer as I think it was to soft at the back. The result is a nice and smooth running bicycle. I however think that I should also replace the front wheel's tube with a normal tube, as these solid tubes are quite heavy.

I did take the bicycle for a short spin yesterday evening and found that it did tire me quickly, but I think it is due to my lack of fitness and the very steep hill just outside my house!! I will need to work on my fitness levels before I would be able to enjoy this bicycle fully.

I hope you liked the post as much as I liked writing it.

I hope you have a wonderful day!!