New bike - a few questions

doodah

doodah

doodah

Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
28,370
Location
London
Recently bought a Boardman HYB 8.8 and loving it. I was temporarily using my wife's ageing Reebok mountain bike (:):p) which does the job but it's old and heavy. The Boardman has been fantastic on roads and parks. I have a few questions though...
  1. There's a rattle on the front wheel when it turns, it sounds like something is catching against the spokes but the sound is coming from inside the frame/forks.
  2. I have registered the bike with BikeRegister though a page I read online suggested the serial number is 6-10 characters long. The stamped number on mine is longer but seems the most likely to be the serial. Is it worth paying any extra on BikeRegister for their kits?
  3. I take it all insurers require the bike been attached to something immovable? There really isn't anything in our garden other than a tree but it's in an awkward corner so would need a massive chain which isn't ideal. There is potential to drill into a fence post or a back wall but I don't have a drill but could borrow one
  4. Any recommendations on a multitool? And basic maintenance items?
We have done two ~25km rides in the last few days and hopefully a ton more over the years, I think we will be looking for a women's hybrid soon enough. Thanks :)
 
1. Check brake bolts are tight, and the axle etc.

4. I've had a crank brothers one for about 5 years and it does the trick. Multi 19 or something. I still use it as my main chainbreaker.
 
Thank you. Slight twist, I went to go check the noise on the front wheel and the tyre is flat. We did have to cycle past some broken glass on a road yesterday but I spot it fairly quickly and thought I avoided it.

Edit - and of course these tyres appear to be out of stock :p.
 
1) does it still have reflectors on the wheels? they can often sit weirdly on the spokes and cause odd noises. Try removing them and see if it's still there?
2) different bike makes use different SN codes, so don't expect them to be the same number of digits.
2b) BikeRegister kits - no idea. At the end of the day, if the bikes are left somewhere accessible for long periods of time, they will likely go walkabout. Will a code stop a scrote from nicking it - doubtful. Will it stop it being sold through Facebook, gumtree, etc. doubtful. will you see it again? again, doubtful... I'm possibly overly cynical - years ago I had my bikes stolen from my shed and I even found 1 of them being sold on ebay - I told the police and they apparently spoke with the guy who said "he got it from a guy in the pub and it's already gone" - so, nope, didn't see it again... I have Bikmo insurance which came with some "smart fluid" to drop onto the bike to identify it - done so, but if my bikes got stolen I'd expect the payout and never see them again.
3) is there any option other than outside? it's a really bad idea - not only theft risk, but all the moisture will start to rust everything. If you can't store them indoors then get a shed (or bike store) and get a ground anchor to chain them to something like patio flags.
4) I've used the same Topeak Hexus multitool for the last 10+ years - does the job well when away from home. The latest version is https://www.wiggle.co.uk/topeak-hexus-x-multi-tool
5) flat tyre - can't you just replace the tube instead of the full tyre??? (if you think you've ridden over some broken glass, make surer there's no shards/glass embedded in the tyre to puncture the new tube straight away (be careful when doing this...)
 
doodah said:
Thank you. Slight twist, I went to go check the noise on the front wheel and the tyre is flat. We did have to cycle past some broken glass on a road yesterday but I spot it fairly quickly and thought I avoided it.

Edit - and of course these tyres appear to be out of stock :p.
Click to expand...


Just replace the tube! :p

Unless the tyre is shredded to pieces! I've glued a tyre together before replacing it. In-fact it might still be the one I'm using.
 
Thanks! Yeah sorry I should have said tube (definitely can't tell this is my first bike in 20 years :o). Got a bit of work to do but will read though at lunch time.

So pumped to get into cycling :D.

Edit - pumped the front tyre and will check again in a few hours, if it is a puncture I assume it's a slow one.

Edit - definitely a slow puncture, back down again this morning. Will fix today.
 
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Bless Halfords - doing my best to support local businesses but it felt a very disjointed shop. If I hadn't rang a couple of times, I get the feeling they would have taken weeks to sort out the inner tube.

Turns out the rattling was something to do with the calipers, needed resetting apparently. Any way all good now, cheeky Richmond Park cycle today :cool::D.
 
So I found this by the side of the house....



Surely it could be easily unscrewed though?

Edit - disc brakes work well as a dog jumped out of nowhere yesterday right in front of me at speed :p.
 
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doodah said:
So I found this by the side of the house....



Surely it could be easily unscrewed though?

Edit - disc brakes work well as a dog jumped out of nowhere yesterday right in front of me at speed :p.
Click to expand...
If you're happy with that there and dont want it unscrewed then just carefully drill into the screws to round them and prevent a screwdriver from being able to bite?
 
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