My bike has many problems..

BradUF

I guess its not the best bike but from my understanding it is made or owned by Trek, its a Garry Fisher. Anyways I started to take my bike on off road trails in central FL and my gears are always giving me problems. My chain falls off alot too and my tires seem to go flat now. I have taken to to a bike shop to have tune where they charge like 35 bucks and charge you for any little bolt you might need and the tune never holds. It doesn't come back perfect either, it still makes grinding sounds shortly after getting it back. I can't afford a new bike and this bike only has about 200 miles on it. I can't beleive the bike is just that big of POS but I don't know what to do. Is it the tune thats crap?

garage sale GT

Try Slime if you're pulling a lot of stickers out of your tires.

Losing the chain to me says your derailleur is not tensioning the chain enough. It may be binding due to needing a cleaning or a lube, or your chain may be too long.

kleng

Have a look at the www.parktools.com website under the "how to's" section, there are a heap of tutorials in there.

Retro Grouch

You need to learn to be more specific with your complaints.

After your bike has been tuned up, where on the bike and under what conditions does the grinding sound seem to come from?

Check out your inner tube after your tire goes flat. Is the hole on the inside or outside circumference of the inner tube? Does your tube seem to have two parallel slits in it?

Gary Fisher bicycles are reasonable quality. If you can be a little more specific about exactly what's happening I'm sure that we can work through it.

BradUF

The derailer does not derail the chain to the 1st gear and the back gear changer is lose which in turn messes up the chain tension.

The thing about the bike shop is that I don't know how long a tune should hold or I would be taking it back.

artemidorus

The thing about the bike shop is that I don't know how long a tune should hold or I would be taking it back.
With a good bike, 5000+km.

Albert 50

With a good bike, 5000+km.Oh well, looks like I've never been the owner of a good bike, my lbs has got no idea what they are doing & nor do I:o

BradUF

With a good bike, 5000+km.
I don't even get a 1000. Especially if I fall of the bike and it hits the ground to hard that always seems to knock everything off.

artemidorus

Oh well, looks like I've never been the owner of a good bike, my lbs has got no idea what they are doing & nor do I:o
Actually, I'll reassess that - you have to tweak the brake barrel adjusters a bit as the pads wear, probably every 1000-2000km.

artemidorus

I don't even get a 1000. Especially if I fall of the bike and it hits the ground to hard that always seems to knock everything off.
Sure, if you crash all bets are off.

John M

I guess its not the best bike but from my understanding it is made or owned by Trek, its a Garry Fisher. Anyways I started to take my bike on off road trails in central FL and my gears are always giving me problems. My chain falls off alot too and my tires seem to go flat now. I have taken to to a bike shop to have tune where they charge like 35 bucks and charge you for any little bolt you might need and the tune never holds. It doesn't come back perfect either, it still makes grinding sounds shortly after getting it back. I can't afford a new bike and this bike only has about 200 miles on it. I can't beleive the bike is just that big of POS but I don't know what to do. Is it the tune thats crap?

You may find getting a bike repair manual to be helpful. Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance is pretty good. Bicycling magazine also published one. The Park tool site has most of the necessary information, but sometimes taking a book with good pictures into the shop can help alot.

artemidorus

If you use one of these in-line barrel adjusters, then your tune will last 100-200km:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/images/BR4041.jpg

stevecycles

I don't know what model Gary Fisher you have, but they are not in the POS category, and should not be having those issues at 200 miles.

In MHO the bike was probably not put together right to start with. That said, All new bikes need adjustments soon after as cables stretch. My LBS gives two free tune ups with purchase of a new bike. One is recommended 30-60 days depending on how much you ride, and the second around 6 months.

I would find a new LBS. Expect to pay a fair price for the labor, but if you build a good relationship with a mechanic you'll be a much happier cyclist. My hunch is they'll get your bike riding nice in no time. You do have some responsability too. Keep your drive train cleaned and lubed, keep your tires properly inflated, check the pressure at least once a week. If you are underinflated, you could be getting pinch flats.

Good luck.