Common Mountain Bike Drivetrain Replacement Parts

At Westbrook Cycles, we are proud to stock and supply a fantastic range of Mountain Bikes, all of which have been handpicked from the world’s best mountain bike manufacturers - these bikes provide fantastic performance, at an excellent price point - allowing our customers to benefit from great performance, wherever their mountain bike takes them.

As well as providing new mountain bikes for our customers, we also supply a range of spares and replacement parts for mountain bikes - spanning components and products for customers looking to upgrade their mountain bike, as well as customers looking to repair broken mountain bike components when fitted components are either worn out, or have broken.

Although many parts of a mountain bike will never need replacing, barring an accident - the components which make up the drivetrain of a mountain bike, can and do wear out, at different rates. The difficult part is recognising when parts of your mountain bike drivetrain need replacing - and in this post, we look at some of the most common parts on a mountain bike which need replacing.

All Mountain Bike chains have a point where they fail, providing inferior performance running up to that point and it’s easy to see why. Every time the chain rotates and propels the bike forward, two metal surfaces (the chain and the teeth on the cassette) rub together - causing wear and tear over time. As chains are used, they stretch - which means that the teeth on the cassette of the bike, are skipped over by the chain. If you suspect this is happening, using a chain measuring tool is a really easy way to tell.

Typically, replacing your mountain bike chain is one of the easier tasks - with regards to both fitting it yourself, and finding the right replacement chain. Most mountain bike chains are universal, although it’s important to note the amount of sprockets on the rear cassette of your mountain bike - as your chain does need to be specific to your bikes transmission.

Keeping on top of chain maintenance means that you can avoid more costly damage and premature wear on other parts of your mountain bikes moving parts.

The cassette of a Mountain Bike is located on the rear hub of a bike, and has a number of sprockets. The cassette is responsible for the gearing of your mountain bike - and allows you to select different gears when cycling, for maximum performance. The larger the sprocket, the easier it is to pedal, and the smaller the sprocket - makes pedalling more difficult, but provides more torque - which allows you to pedal harder, but less frequently. Mountain Bike cassettes provide a massive array of gearing, from gears designed for climbing steep ascents, right across to easy gears which are designed for cruising.

These cassettes can easily wear out over time, especially if the chain is poorly fitting and is worn - many customers choose to replace their cassette with a like for like replacement, keeping the bike stock, whilst others choose to replace their cassette with one which caters for a larger number of gears.

Chainrings are one of the most important components on any mountain bike, not only are they important for riding efficiency - transferring pedal revolutions through the chain and propelling the bike forward, they are also very important for riding safety - with chainrings being responsible for skipping chains.

The vast majority of mountain bikes today have a single chainring, saving weight as well as making the bike easier to maintain. Although there are many interchangeable chainrings, many customers looking to replace their chainring due to wear and tear or damage - will choose to replace with a like for like part from the bike manufacturer. Many customers however, will choose to upgrade their chainring if it requires replacing - with a range of lighter chainrings being available.

During a mountain bike's lifetime, replacing and changing cabling and cable housing may need replacing due to wear and tear, or damage. Keeping an eye on these parts is key to ensuring that your bike performs well, so lookout for damage cable housing as well as frayed cables, which may or may not be rusty. Regular Mountain Bike riders replace these parts every year or so, depending upon usage.

Although not actually a part of your mountain bike drivetrain, mountain bike tyres are regularly replaced - because of both wear and tear, and also the requirement for tyres which perform differently. At the extreme end of the scale, seeing threads or the belt within the tyre screams for that tyre to be replaced, whilst other riders will simply replace the tyre when the tread on the tyre is depleted, and/or more limited performance is noticeable.

At Westbrook Cycles, we have a huge inventory of mountain bike spares and parts - ranging from specialist components from mountain bike component companies, right across to OEM and stock parts from the likes of Scott and Cannondale - we are one of the biggest suppliers of genuine manufacturer parts for mountain bikes, and have designed tools such as parts finders to help you find the part you need for your bike, in the quickest possible time frame.

You can use our dedicated parts finders here, and if you have any questions about the exact component you need - please do just get in touch and we will be more than happy to help.