Road Cycling Essentials

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I've got a problem with the wheel alignment on my bike. It's a fairly new Trek 1.2 that I bought about 3 months ago and I had a free service only a month ago.

I had to take my wheels off the other day to replace the inner tubes and I can't get my wheels set up right again so that they are in the middle of the space in between the brake pads. One of the brake pads on my rear wheel was brushing on my tyre which I hadn't noticed as I rarely use the rear brakes. I think this is something that the bike shop missed. So to resolve it I've had to push the wheel hard to one side just before I lock the wheel into place with the lever. Surely it should fit together easier than that?

I don't have the expertise or tools to fix this, so would it be reasonable to expect the bike shop to fix this for free as they might have missed it when they did the service?

Also one of my wheels is ever so slightly wonky, this causes problems as it can brush the brake every rotation. I haven't done much with this bike other than commute 4 miles each way to work, are wheels that fragile that they need truing already or is it likely to be a manufacturing 'defect'?

Would it be wrong of me to ask the bike shop that I bought it from to correct this free of charge?

Lastly, I noticed a small hole on the side of my wheel with a slight bulge and I think that is the inner tube starting to pop out. Also there are lots of cracks forming on the tyres. Given the age of the tyres, would it be reasonable for me to request that the bike shop provide a discount/free tyre?

Thanks
 
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They have given you the free service most shops give you so I think they will want to charge you.

The brakes have a small lever at the side with the cable to make it easier to take the wheel off,did you use that? You want the wheel sitting in the bike perfect and you then allign the brakes around that not the other way round.

The cracks could be from you riding with the tyres with low pressure to be honest.

You need to true the wheel to stop it rubbing on the brakes,isn't hard but you need a spoke key. Again with wheels it's down to how you ride however long they stay true.


You can try your luck with the shop if you explain what you've did and be honest about it. I checked over a guys bike the other day after he fell off it after a few days and that involved adjusting Stis,brakes and fixing the wheel.
 
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Jonny ///M said:
They have given you the free service most shops give you so I think they will want to charge you.

The brakes have a small lever at the side with the cable to make it easier to take the wheel off,did you use that? You want the wheel sitting in the bike perfect and you then allign the brakes around that not the other way round.

The cracks could be from you riding with the tyres with low pressure to be honest.

You need to true the wheel to stop it rubbing on the brakes,isn't hard but you need a spoke key. Again with wheels it's down to how you ride however long they stay true.


You can try your luck with the shop if you explain what you've did and be honest about it. I checked over a guys bike the other day after he fell off it after a few days and that involved adjusting Stis,brakes and fixing the wheel.
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Thanks for the advice.

I've almost sorted out the brakes now, but I'm still not happy about my rear brake. One of the brake pads is still very close to my tyre and it is as far down the brake bracket as it can go. I had to push the wheel further sideways before locking it in place so that when the brake pad comes in it doesn't contact the tyre, but it still isn't quite right.

I've never owned a road bike before, so this might sound like a daft question. How 'true' do new wheels tend to be when they come on bikes below the £1000 mark? Are you to expect that they won't be perfect? Just trying to figure out if it is something I've done to make them 'untrue' or they were like that when I got them.

Yes, the cracks are most likely from riding from too low a pressure as I got double snake bite punctures the other day. I didn't realise I had dropped below the 100PSI mark! I'll still have to buy new tyres because of the hole and small buldge in the side wall though :(

Also had a nightmare fitting some SKS Chromoplastic mudguards where I discovered you have to cut the stays so they fit your bike, and two supplied bolts do not fit either...
 
BlackDragon said:
Thanks for the advice.

I've almost sorted out the brakes now, but I'm still not happy about my rear brake. One of the brake pads is still very close to my tyre and it is as far down the brake bracket as it can go. I had to push the wheel further sideways before locking it in place so that when the brake pad comes in it doesn't contact the tyre, but it still isn't quite right.

I've never owned a road bike before, so this might sound like a daft question. How 'true' do new wheels tend to be when they come on bikes below the £1000 mark? Are you to expect that they won't be perfect? Just trying to figure out if it is something I've done to make them 'untrue' or they were like that when I got them.

Yes, the cracks are most likely from riding from too low a pressure as I got double snake bite punctures the other day. I didn't realise I had dropped below the 100PSI mark! I'll still have to buy new tyres because of the hole and small buldge in the side wall though :(

Also had a nightmare fitting some SKS Chromoplastic mudguards where I discovered you have to cut the stays so they fit your bike, and two supplied bolts do not fit either...
Click to expand...

It's not uncommon for the wheels to need a small tweak on the lower end road bikes. That should be done when it's pdi'd though but if you got a snakebite...you must have hit something pretty hard ;)

Set your wheel so it sits in the dropouts properly. Loosen the bolt that holds your brake caliper onto the frame,pull the brake and hold it whilst you tighten the bolt back up. There should be a small allen grub screw on the caliper that you can use to tweak the balance of the caliper.

Best thing to do is take the quick release skewer out of the wheel and slot the wheel into the dropout with the bike on the deck and pressure down on it and then slide the skewer in and tighten it. I've had trouble getting wheels back in before because the person had put the small QR springs on backwards and that was jamming between the frame and the axle.
 
Jonny ///M said:
It's not uncommon for the wheels to need a small tweak on the lower end road bikes. That should be done when it's pdi'd though but if you got a snakebite...you must have hit something pretty hard ;)

Set your wheel so it sits in the dropouts properly. Loosen the bolt that holds your brake caliper onto the frame,pull the brake and hold it whilst you tighten the bolt back up. There should be a small allen grub screw on the caliper that you can use to tweak the balance of the caliper.

Best thing to do is take the quick release skewer out of the wheel and slot the wheel into the dropout with the bike on the deck and pressure down on it and then slide the skewer in and tighten it. I've had trouble getting wheels back in before because the person had put the small QR springs on backwards and that was jamming between the frame and the axle.
Click to expand...

Would it be reasonable for me to ask the bike shop that assembled it to true it for a reduced price/free as it should have been trued (or at least identified as needing trueing) as part of the free service? Although this is assuming that I haven't messed the wheels up myself. How can one cause a wheel to not be true?

I got my punctures when I mounted a inch high curb at a slowish pace which was quite surprising! I guess I hadn't noticed that my tires has gone down so much.

I shall give that trick a go and see if it resolves the problem.

Thanks for the advice
 
Well it finally happened after clocking up 2000 miles, I've finally gotten a *cture. Annoyingly, my pump was so wet it wouldn't work either, so I had to complete the journey to work (roughly a mile) with a very flat rear tyre.
 
I guess I'll find out soon enough if they'll fit on my bike. Ordered some mudguards for the Sirrus, should hopefully get them this week. I am determined to take the Sirrus out for a ride this weekend regardless of weather, it should be interesting to see how it compares to the commuter given that it has more gears, bigger wheels and narrower tyres.
 
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My rear tyre exploded today. Fortunately fairly near to a friends house, so I dumped the bike and got the bus. In full cycling gear. Those commuters just don't get it. Full cycling lycra on a bus is perfectly fine.
 
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