Trek 820 Abuse?

[crazy8]

How much abuse can a Trek 820 take? I've been riding it mainly on paved bike trails but just recently started to do the dirt trails which are pretty flat and free of huge rocks and stumps, etc... I'd like to continue with riding off road (nothing extream like downhill, technical terrain, etc...) but am wondering if I'll mess up my bike. Should I have bought a better bike in the first place? Oh well...

 

[TrekDedicated]

Trek 820 is a mountain bike, so you have no worries. Treks can take it.

Whether or not you should have purchased a 'better' bike is not important now. You have a bike, it is a mountain bike, so get out there and ride. No worries.

The only abuse you can do to a bike is to leave it standing against a wall in your garage and not ride it.

 

[crazy8]

i guess since i'm not doing any 20ft jumps and going downhill hitting rocks and the such its ok. I was just being paranoid because a lot of you guys have bikes that are well worth over $1,000. Like this one guy at the trail who let me try his Ellsworth Moment he just bought... man talk about nice bike. But he does the jumps and downhill racing so...

 

[kingsting]

I've worked at a Trek dealer for 12 years now and the 820's have always been pretty tough for an inexpensive bike. Keep an eye on the wheels and headsets on these. You may want to upgrade to alloy pedals too.

 

[crazy8]

I've worked at a Trek dealer for 12 years now and the 820's have always been pretty tough for an inexpensive bike. Keep an eye on the wheels and headsets on these. You may want to upgrade to alloy pedals too.

what type of wheels would you suggest? and the headset? is it a weak point? I was already thinking about changing to alloy pedals but figure i don't really need them (yet). Thanks