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Whys my bike seizing?

RyanBrookRyanBrook Posts: 195
edited June 2007 in Road beginners
Ive started to notice my bike is seizing. It happened for minutes up a hill last week and then went back to normal and again yesterday. My average speed was 14mph for a 15 mile ride. I did a 50 miler averaging close to 18 the other day. Its a 2007 bike. I had it serviced last week thinking that's all it needed. Any ideas on what the problem could be?

Posts

  • UnknownUnknown
    seizing? Can you elaborate on that?

    Mleh Mleh Mleh
  • giant_mangiant_man Posts: 6,878
    It could be in the service but something might have gone wrong and they didn't tell you about it. It has been known.

    SIZE IS EVERYTHING! or at least that's what my LBS tells me.
  • RyanBrookRyanBrook Posts: 195
    By seizing I mean its turning the pedals and becomes unnaturally stiff and its hard to get any momentum. It came and went first 6 or 8 miles were like that and then it was back to normal. It happened briefly before the service. Maybe it a bearing problem in the front chainring(you know what I mean cant remember name). Thats all I can think it might be but Im no bike mechanic. It was raining during the ride so that may have had an effect of some sort.

    ________________________
    Mountains Climbed:Chamrousse, Col De Lauteret followed by the Galibier (fully loaded panniers), Col de la Madelaine (fully loaded), Alpe D'Huez
  • DavidTQDavidTQ Posts: 943
    Check for brakes rubbing on the rims turn the bike upside down and spin the wheels see if they bind on the brakes at all.

    With the bike right side up and holding the back wheel off the ground try turning the pedals and in each gear check for chain rubbing on deraileurs etc (most likely times for chain rub are with the chain at its extreme diagonally eg larges ring fron largest sproket rear and vice versa, but best to check big ring front to small sprocket rear and vice versa as well.
  • Chris JamesChris James Posts: 1,040
    I feel like my bike seizes when it goes up hills too!

    To slow you donw by four miles an hour you would need massive drag. Do the wheels spin if you lift them off the ground? Can you feel anything when you spin the cranks backwards? If you slip off the chain this should be very noticeable if there was anything untoward.

    Does the bike feel slow or are you just going off your computer? If so are you sure that you haven't changed from Km to mph (18mph sounds pretty quick for 50 miles to me, if both rides were on your own on similar terrain) or changed teh wheel size by accident?
  • RyanBrookRyanBrook Posts: 195
    <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by DavidTQ</i>

    Check for brakes rubbing on the rims turn the bike upside down and spin the wheels see if they bind on the brakes at all.

    With the bike right side up and holding the back wheel off the ground try turning the pedals and in each gear check for chain rubbing on deraileurs etc (most likely times for chain rub are with the chain at its extreme diagonally eg larges ring fron largest sproket rear and vice versa, but best to check big ring front to small sprocket rear and vice versa as well.
    <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

    I'll definately give this a check thanks.
  • RyanBrookRyanBrook Posts: 195
    <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Chris James</i>

    I feel like my bike seizes when it goes up hills too!

    To slow you donw by four miles an hour you would need massive drag. Do the wheels spin if you lift them off the ground? Can you feel anything when you spin the cranks backwards? If you slip off the chain this should be very noticeable if there was anything untoward.

    Does the bike feel slow or are you just going off your computer? If so are you sure that you haven't changed from Km to mph (18mph sounds pretty quick for 50 miles to me, if both rides were on your own on similar terrain) or changed teh wheel size by accident?
    <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

    Yeah it feels like a problem with the bike. My ride last week was Stourbridge to Worcester and back, my average was 17.7mph

    Yesterday I was back in Blackburn which has hills but It was the first half of the ride I could hardly turn the pedals up a hill doing about 9-10mph then when it seemed to stop up a similar hill I was doing 12-13
  • KryptonKrypton Posts: 466
    It's nothing to do with your bottom bracket is it?

    Have you talked to the shop that did the service to see if they changed/adjusted anything around the crank area?

    --
    Stopped smoking, saved a fortune. Started cycling, spent it all! - PS, don't <b>CLICK THIS LINK!!</b>
    --
    Stopped smoking, saved a fortune. Started cycling, spent it all!
  • on the roadon the road Posts: 5,631
    Try to spin the pedals/chainwheel by hand, you shouldn't feel any resistance, if you do then it could be the bottom bracket.
  • on the roadon the road Posts: 5,631
    Are you sure you're not just riding in too high a gear [;)]
  • mcdonji1mcdonji1 Posts: 121
    I had this once, on hills it would feel as if the brakes were on and that is the last thing I need on way up! Finally found that the rear skewer was not tight enough and that allowed the massive torque I was generating ( as well as the wheezing and gasping) to slightly twist the whole of the rear wheel in the frame so that it was catching the pads on one side. At the top of the hill the first pothole reseated the wheel. Nip up the rear skewer.

    Jim

    Kind words butter no parsnips.
    Kind words butter no parsnips.
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