Self assembling a bike

Linkex · 2 Jun 2012 at 03:53

The missus is about to buy a bicycle from halfords - Yes, I know, but she's on a very tight budget.

Anyway, the bike she wants is £20 cheaper if you buy it and assemble it yourself. Now, I'm no mechanic, and I've never really fiddled with a bike before, but I like to think I can turn my hand to most things.

So, does assembling a bike require any specialist tools? I have standard spanner/ratchets/screwdrivers, but if I'm going to have to spend a load of money on bike specific tools, its not worth it.

Also, assuming you approach it logically, I assume assembling a bike is reasonably straightforward? Or is this one of those things where you have to already know how to do it before you start?

robj20 · 2 Jun 2012 at 05:47

Not sure with a cheap bike, decent bikes require some specialist tools.
I think you will be alright with screwdrivers and some spanners/sockets.

Andelusion · 2 Jun 2012 at 08:33

You need to tell us how much assembly will be required really.

semi-pro waster · 2 Jun 2012 at 08:42

If it's a case of putting on the pedals/straightening the handlebars/adjusting the brakes etc then I'm sure you can do it yourself. If it involves taking the individual parts and putting it together from scratch then it's worth the £20 because things like bottom brackets and headsets tend to benefit from specialist tools to fit them - I'm aware you can bodge it to a degree and have it work but for the sake of £20 it's not a good plan if you don't know what you are doing already.

Richdog · 2 Jun 2012 at 08:52

Linkex said:
The missus is about to buy a bicycle from halfords - Yes, I know, but she's on a very tight budget.

Anyway, the bike she wants is £20 cheaper if you buy it and assemble it yourself. Now, I'm no mechanic, and I've never really fiddled with a bike before, but I like to think I can turn my hand to most things.

So, does assembling a bike require any specialist tools? I have standard spanner/ratchets/screwdrivers, but if I'm going to have to spend a load of money on bike specific tools, its not worth it.

Also, assuming you approach it logically, I assume assembling a bike is reasonably straightforward? Or is this one of those things where you have to already know how to do it before you start?

Halfords is one of the best places to get a bike from, Carrera are a highly respected brand in the press and with users.

As for assembling it... when did Halfords stop doing that for you?

[DOD]Asprilla · 2 Jun 2012 at 09:13

Halfords are one of the worst places for assembling bikes. Monkey skills.

VeNT · 2 Jun 2012 at 09:38

[DOD]Asprilla;22052059 said:
Halfords are one of the worst places for assembling bikes. Monkey skills.

Having said that if your spending 100 quid in a bike......

[DOD]Asprilla · 2 Jun 2012 at 09:58

It's not just the £100 bikes though, Boardmans are the same and they are getting up to £1500 these days.

Richdog · 2 Jun 2012 at 10:13

[DOD]Asprilla;22052059 said:
Halfords are one of the worst places for assembling bikes. Monkey skills.

...and yet you have never assembled a bike before, and are asking how to do it. Surely Halfords monkey skills are a step above that?

touch · 2 Jun 2012 at 10:31

Richdog said:
...and yet you have never assembled a bike before, and are asking how to do it. Surely Halfords monkey skills are a step above that?

I think you might want to read the name of the OP again.

Allen keys would be more useful than a set of spanners. You might need a (16mm?) spanner to put the pedals on but other than that, everything is likely to be allen bolts.

Richdog · 2 Jun 2012 at 11:27

touch said:
I think you might want to read the name of the OP again.

Allen keys would be more useful than a set of spanners. You might need a (16mm?) spanner to put the pedals on but other than that, everything is likely to be allen bolts.

name means nothing to me, and him asking "is it straightforward, or is it one of those things that you have to know before you start" does not signify great mechanical experience when I read it.

CSA · 2 Jun 2012 at 11:44

spanner set/socket set and a few allen keys,should be pretty simple but i always have trouble getting the V brakes right,disc brakes are a god send

[DOD]Asprilla · 2 Jun 2012 at 12:52

Richdog said:
...and yet you have never assembled a bike before, and are asking how to do it. Surely Halfords monkey skills are a step above that?

Ignoring the fact that I'm not the OP and that I build all my own bikes and do all my own maintenance apart from hub servicing, Halfords have terrible reputation for builds. I've seen forks put on backwards not to mention loose stems, loose handlebars and terrible caliper set-up. Some of them are down right dangerous.

Obviously not all Halfords mechs are poor but as rules of thumb go its pretty accurate.

touch · 2 Jun 2012 at 13:32

Richdog said:
name means nothing to me, and him asking "is it straightforward, or is it one of those things that you have to know before you start" does not signify great mechanical experience when I read it.

Well...name should mean something....it wasnt him that said that.
[DOD]Asprilla is not the one asking for advice on building a bike :confused:

norm · 2 Jun 2012 at 20:15

Generally all you do is attach the front wheel, fasten the handlebars using allen key, and attach the pedals using a spanner. You need some grease when you do the pedals, although you could get away with using Vaseline.

It's a good idea to get hands on with your bike anyway, when you inevitably have to change an inner tube or whatever.

Jonny ///M · 2 Jun 2012 at 20:46

If it's costing £20 to build it it means it will be a pretty poor Trax model of bike.

Even I struggle to get these build perfectly due to the quality issues.

Once you get everything out the box and apart then turn the forks!(brake to the front) fit the front wheel with a 15mm spanner, slide the stem(holds the handlebars) into the hole of the forks called the steerer tube. Tighten that with a 6mm allen key.

Next fit the pedals using a bit of grease and a 15mm spanner. They both tighten towards the front of the bike as the left hand crank has a left hand thread. The saddle/posts is tightened with a 13mm spanner, a bit of grease in there will help in the long run.

Inflate the tyres, set up the brakes and the gears using a youtube video or something. One thing to check is the bolts that hold the cranks/chainset(rings at the front) on using a 14mm socket as these are pretty much always loose on both sides. They are under a plastic cover.

Go over the full bike with a 5mm and 6mm allen key checking the bolts.

jaybee · 2 Jun 2012 at 20:53

I'd pay Halford £20 to NOT assemble it. I speak from the experience of seeing a mate deal with a bike they "assembled". It had safety issues.

Jonny ///M · 2 Jun 2012 at 20:55

To be honest can you not stretch to nearer £200? We sell a Barracuda that RRP is £220 for £200 most of the time. When set up properly by a local bike shop it will last a lot longer than the Trax bike and you have the back up of the local shop if it ever goes wrong.

touch · 3 Jun 2012 at 12:54

Jonny ///M said:
turn the forks!(brake to the front)

Unless it's a disc brake.
There's somebody who works in the same building as me riding a bike with the disc caliper in front of the forks :mad:

I dont know who's it is, it seems to arrive mid-afternoon at some point and is there when i leave.
Every time i see it i'm tempted to take an allen key with me and fix it.

Jonny ///M · 3 Jun 2012 at 13:34

touch said:
Unless it's a disc brake.
There's somebody who works in the same building as me riding a bike with the disc caliper in front of the forks
I dont know who's it is, it seems to arrive mid-afternoon at some point and is there when i leave.
Every time i see it i'm tempted to take an allen key with me and fix it.

**** yeah! There is a guy comes up to the spar at my work on a carrera subway with his forks back to front. God help them.