First bike in 10~ years - Hybrid?

I've never straddled a cyclocross but coming from a hybrid I found my road bike to be the complete opposite because it felt tiny due to the lower bottom bracket.

Just fiddle about with the seat height until you are happy. I found what I thought was a good height when I first got the bike but I'm probably a good 2 inches higher now after a few adjustments over the last couple of months.
 
arknor said:
I'm surprised they didn't just adjust the brakes it takes like 5 minutes even if you are learning from a youtube guide as you do it


Never experienced that. only the annoying zinging until the pad wears down a bit
Click to expand...

All disc brakes do it. New rotors/pads have it and you even get it if you thoroughly clean the pads/rotors.
 
Just had a phone call from Halfords, from a guy who could not apologize enough! He's managed to sort it out - he's also got hold of the Original CX Comp which I wanted (in large, not extra large).

Going down to meet him at the store tonight, get fully sized up and to set the bike up properly. Should drive away with it tonight.

The brakes on the CX team were completely knackered apparently.
 
Just got back from a bike ride!

Rode down to the beach and had a shandy while watching the sunset!

1) My ass hurts (got padded shorts)
2) Occationally I hear the disk 'scrape' even though i'm not holding the brake - what could this be?
3) In certain gears the chain can be heard rubbing rubbing on the large cog changer. It's really hard to explain as I don't know the terms. Look at this example picture, when the gears on the left are on the hardest (highest?) setting, the gears on the right 'rub' against the changer.
wikipedia_53_39_11_25_large.png

4) On the little cog, to change to harder gears its the small lever and to change down its the big lever on the right hand gears.
On the big cog, to change to harder gears its the big lever and to change down its the little lever on the left hand gears. Again is this normal or should they both be the same?
5) To change the gears on the right stick (little cogs) its really easy, just click click click. To change gears on the left hand side (the 2 big cogs) i REALLY have to push quite hard, and even 'hold it' for a few seconds while the change latches on - is this normal?

Does this bike just need bedding in? Should I mess around with it? Should I try find a bike shop to give it a service even though its only 1 day old?


edit: Enjoy my potato style explanation
 
Last edited:
Andr3w said:
Just got back from a bike ride!

Rode down to the beach and had a shandy while watching the sunset!

1) My ass hurts (got padded shorts)
Click to expand...

Part of this is just getting used to it, part of this is decent shorts, part of this is a decent saddle. Finding the right saddle can be very tricky.

Andr3w said:
2) Occationally I hear the disk 'scrape' even though i'm not holding the brake - what could this be?
Click to expand...

Pass, I'm no good on disc brakes.

Andr3w said:
3) In certain gears the chain can be heard rubbing rubbing on the large cog changer. It's really hard to explain as I don't know the terms. Look at this example picture, when the gears on the left are on the hardest (highest?) setting, the gears on the right 'rub' against the changer.
Click to expand...

If you're in the small ring at the front and the small gears at the back then it likely will rub. You typically use big front/small back or small front/big back and then there's some crossover in the middle, but at the extremes some rubbing is normal.

Andr3w said:
4) On the little cog, to change to harder gears its the small lever and to change down its the big lever on the right hand gears.
On the big cog, to change to harder gears its the big lever and to change down its the little lever on the left hand gears. Again is this normal or should they both be the same?
Click to expand...

It's normal. The big lever tightens the cable, the little lever releases it. The tighter the cable at the front, the bigger - harder - gear you're in. The tighter the cable at the rear, the bigger - easier - gear you're in. It's doubly confusing because a big ring at the front is hard work, but a big ring at the back is easier. Does that make sense?

Andr3w said:
5) To change the gears on the right stick (little cogs) its really easy, just click click click. To change gears on the left hand side (the 2 big cogs) i REALLY have to push quite hard, and even 'hold it' for a few seconds while the change latches on - is this normal?
Click to expand...

Yes and no. The rear derailleur only has to move a tiny distance between each of the cogs and it's indexed in such a way that it pings very neatly from one gear to the next. The front derailleur has to move a greater distance, and it's almost certainly just a friction shift (assuming you have a double, rather than a triple?) so it's basically just a case of needing to shift the derailleur until it's in the right spot rather than it having a place to click into like the rear derailleur. It could be that it needs adjusting a bit, depending on which way it's tricky, and it could be to do with the limits or the cable tension, but in general terms yes - the front derailleur is not as precise an affair as the rear one. I assume, however, that shifting down to the small ring at the front is easy, but that shifting up is hard? Shifting down is just about releasing the cable and it should twang free with quite a noise and move fairly quickly. Shifting up is the harder end of things, because the cable has to be pulled quite a way to move the derailleur out and the chain up to the big ring.

Andr3w said:
Does this bike just need bedding in? Should I mess around with it? Should I try find a bike shop to give it a service even though its only 1 day old?
Click to expand...

It depends on how confident you are, and how handy you are with the spanners generally. The Park Tool website has excellent explanations of these things, and it doesn't take too much in the way of tools, so it is doable. However, if you're new to it and not confident, then it mightn't hurt to take it into a shop and ask them to just check it over. If you tell them it's from Halfords and offer to buy a few bits and bobs from them then they might just roll their eyes and mutter about Halfords and then give you the 5 minutes it'll take for them to fix it for free. Or maybe find a mate who knows what they're doing bikewise?

Andr3w said:
edit: Enjoy my potato style explanation
Click to expand...

Hey, we all started somewhere. The big cogs at the front are usually referred to as the chainrings or rings. The small cogs at the back are usually called sprockets or cogs. Gears is used to refer to all sorts of things, though really it means any particular combination of sprockets. The thing that moves the chain is called a derailleur or mech. It's usual to refer to the mechs as front - being the one at the pedals - and rear - being the one at the wheel.
 
Last edited:
Further to Von's post:

1) Agreed with Von completely.

2) This is normal, especially with mechanical discs. You may be able to resolve it by adjusting your disc pads but it's not worth it. Unless it's absolutely constant and you feel like your brakes are slightly engaged I'd ignore it.

3) As Von said, it's worth watching some videos about good gear combinations. Chain rub will occur if you're utilising the opposite extremes of both gears (i.e. hardest at front, easiest at back and vice-versa).

4) Yup, normal for this too.

5) They've probably over-tensioned the front derraileur so that when the cable stretches it will still switch gears okay. Not ideal but I can see the logic behind them doing this. It will get easier quite quickly but it will never be quite as easy as your rear gears.

The rest - It wasn't that long ago that I was posting very similar questions to you. Don't worry about it :) The bike doesn't sound like it's set up that badly but I would certainly get a service in a few weeks or a couple of hundred miles, whichever is sooner.
 
Part of this is just getting used to it, part of this is decent shorts, part of this is a decent saddle. Finding the right saddle can be very tricky.
Click to expand...

Ouch my Gooch :p

If you're in the small ring at the front and the small gears at the back then it likely will rub. You typically use big front/small back or small front/big back and then there's some crossover in the middle, but at the extremes some rubbing is normal.
Click to expand...

Ok makes sense, I wasn't aware that this could be a 'thing'.

It's normal. The big lever tightens the cable, the little lever releases it. The tighter the cable at the front, the bigger - harder - gear you're in. The tighter the cable at the rear, the bigger - easier - gear you're in. It's doubly confusing because a big ring at the front is hard work, but a big ring at the back is easier. Does that make sense?
Click to expand...

Yup makes sense I think. If I had got it from a bike shop I wouldn't mention it but as its from 'you know where' i'm a bit more wary.

Yes and no. The rear derailleur only has to move a tiny distance between each of the cogs and it's indexed in such a way that it pings very neatly from one gear to the next. The front derailleur has to move a greater distance, and it's almost certainly just a friction shift (assuming you have a double, rather than a triple?) so it's basically just a case of needing to shift the derailleur until it's in the right spot rather than it having a place to click into like the rear derailleur. It could be that it needs adjusting a bit, depending on which way it's tricky, and it could be to do with the limits or the cable tension, but in general terms yes - the front derailleur is not as precise an affair as the rear one. I assume, however, that shifting down to the small ring at the front is easy, but that shifting up is hard? Shifting down is just about releasing the cable and it should twang free with quite a noise and move fairly quickly. Shifting up is the harder end of things, because the cable has to be pulled quite a way to move the derailleur out and the chain up to the big ring.
Click to expand...

It's only 2 cogs not 3. When shifting from big > little its an easy flick and hold for a second. When shifting from little > big its a push quite far and hold hard for 3~seconds.


It depends on how confident you are, and how handy you are with the spanners generally. The Park Tool website has excellent explanations of these things, and it doesn't take too much in the way of tools, so it is doable. However, if you're new to it and not confident, then it mightn't hurt to take it into a shop and ask them to just check it over. If you tell them it's from Halfords and offer to buy a few bits and bobs from them then they might just give you the 5 minutes it'll take for them to fix it for free. Or maybe find a mate who knows what they're doing bikewise?
Click to expand...

I'm thinking I just leave it for now, then after a few weeks when you can take it back to Halfords for an inspection, I will just go straight to an independent?.

Hey, we all started somewhere. The big cogs at the front are usually referred to as the chainrings or rings. The small cogs at the back are usually called sprockets or cogs. Gears is used to refer to all sorts of things, though really it means any particular combination of sprockets. The thing that moves the chain is called a derailleur or mech. It's usual to refer to the mechs as front - being the one at the pedals - and rear - being the one at the wheel.
Click to expand...

Awesome reply thanks for your help!

FrenchTart said:
Further to Von's post:

2) This is normal, especially with mechanical discs. You may be able to resolve it by adjusting your disc pads but it's not worth it. Unless it's absolutely constant and you feel like your brakes are slightly engaged I'd ignore it.

The rest - It wasn't that long ago that I was posting very similar questions to you. Don't worry about it :) The bike doesn't sound like it's set up that badly but I would certainly get a service in a few weeks or a couple of hundred miles, whichever is sooner.
Click to expand...

As the wheel turns I hear it rub on just a small part of the disc, 'tss, tss, tss, tss, tss, tss'. Not the whole disc, just one little bit.

Once again...ow...my undercarriage is sore :p
 
Last edited:
Chain rub in certain gears can be eliminated by the trim function of your front deraileur. What shifters do you have? On my Sora equipped bike I have to trim it if I drop to 2nd or 3rd on the cassette after shifting to the big ring.

Also with shifting don't forget to ease off the pressure on the pedal while keeping the rotation of the pedals constant. I personally wouldn't bother fiddling with anything yet and just see how it settles down.

Same with saddle pain, it may disappear but if you are getting perineum pain rather than a numb bum it may be that the saddle needs to be shoved forward in the rails in my experience.
 
Last edited:
Sounds pretty standard for the disc :) It's sortable but I doubt it's worth you playing with it. In a few miles that bit of the pad will have worn away and you won't have the issue any more.
 
Andr3w said:
Sweet I'll just give it time. I kept accidentally skidding when applying my back brake, need to stop that habit!
Click to expand...

Yeah you need to give the front brake a bit more stick and ease off the back a little. CX tyres may be a bit more forgiving but I doubt my road tyres would take to too many skids :p

Some people say that you should barely use the rear brake at all but I don't subscribe to that train of thought personally as I use both all the time and vary how much I apply each to the situation.
 
Independent when you need a service, if your willing to pay. I can't recommend unit cycles enough, plus just up the road. They changed my forks to 150mm for me, and I then changed my mind. Dropped them. Back off and they changed back to standard for free.

Also the best thing I ever done for my bum is stop using padded shorts. Makes me feel a lot lighter too. Plus the seat is probably pants, get a charge spoon (work for most)


Also too many gears, way too many gears. :p I tried to use a bike with more than 10 a few weeks back, and got all confused. It was such an effort!

Also I'd completely agree with the ignore it on the pads, as iirc leveling is a pita with mechanical discs. They'll probably sort themselves out when bedded in anyway.
 
When you need a service what you should do is not go to a shop.

look on google for a mobile bike mechanic most of them will happily service your bike at your house on request rather than taking it to theirs in a van and bringing it back. so you can observe and learn

Now I'm imagining these people are in the sport for the love of bikes and they won't do a half arsed job like some shop workers doing it will.


Example of such people so you can get an idea of what they charge
http://theflyingspanner.co.uk/durham_bike_servicing.html

obviously you need to find on in your area, I know there's a bunch in newcastle and I'm guessing most cities are the same


also if you can locate a dedicated cycle cafe near you then some of those offer servicing and will likely see your custom as important.

not far from me a farm in the middle of nowhere has a cafe and offers some services including bike fitting :O
It's probably not that rare

You could also check if sky ride do any social bike rides near you, befriend someone who will sort you out for a few beers ;)

There's probably even someone on ocuk who lives near you that will do it for beer money
 
Last edited:
When braking last night I was using roughly 70%~ back brake 30%~ front brake!

When I was younger I slammed the front brake on too hard and inevitably went flying over the handle bars, smashed my face into a railing and had the bike slam against my tail bone (ouch!). I wonder if thats the reason for me using mostly back brake :D


edit: Would it be wrong to sit on an icepack at work? ;)
 
Last edited:
I'd rather lock my rear brake every day of the week personally. The idea of locking the front just fills me with images of either flying over the handlebars or the bike sliding away from me as I hit the floor at speed around a corner.
 
Andr3w said:
When braking last night I was using roughly 70%~ back brake 30%~ front brake!
Click to expand...
For general braking if you flip that (70% front, 30% rear) you won't be too far wrong. Also apply the rear brake a fraction before the front.

and the effects of locking up at the front are generally much less severe than if you lock up at the back.
Click to expand...

Not sure about that one. With a locked front you have no steering and it is very easy for the front wheel to wash out when locked leaving you on a one way trip to the road.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom