Opinion on issues with my new mtbs plz :)

LouiseK

Hello

I'm Louise, 21 and i'm living in Portsmouth, UK.

I'm a noobie to MTBs and just bought myself a new Specialized Myka Elite yesterday.

I did have another one for about a month just before, but it got stolen -_-

Anyway! We bought it from a really nice dealer who told us they had checked it and it was all sorted, ready to ride but i went out for an hour tonight and i found that on some of the extreme gear settings that it kinda make a subtle clicking sound. It just made it while i was peddling, not when i let it roll. Also some of the gear changes sounded quite severe.

I'm going to give them a ring tomorrow but i was wondering if anyone has an idea what it might be and what might need doing to fix it? Just so i don't get fobbed off.

My fella bought a MTB also, a Specialized Rockhopper Pro, and he seems to be able to peddle with his rear brakes on full. When he phoned them they said that they may just need to settle but it sounded like he might need to see them... what do you think went wrong and needs doing?

Last question! Is it possible that we caused both issues, with my gears and my fellas brakes, when we took the wheels off to get the bikes into the car and then put them on again?

Thanks

Andy B

Hi.

It sounds like the gears may need readjusting slightly, or the rear wheel wasn't seated correctly when you replaced it.

Take the wheel out again & replace it again, if you get the same noises from the gears it is a simple fix that you can do yourself (will post links at page bottom)

If the wheels are quick release are they done up tight enough?

You should have the imprint of the lever in your palm when you close it tight enough.

Your Fella's bike, does it have disc brakes, or 'V' brakes?.

Disc brakes take a little while to bed in (just like on a car)

Has any oil contaminated the rotor/pads?

Links coming up..

How to set up & adjust gears: http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=64

V brake info: http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=21

Disc brake info: http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=138

trail jacker

just adding to Andy_B's suggestion, you could have knocked the deralleur out of allignment with the sprockets when you took the wheel off, and that may account for the clicking noise when pedalling (ive done that before :roll: ). if so, it may just need readjusting, but get the bike shop to do that.
as for your fellas bike, i reckon Andy_B's got that one fully covered!
btw, welcome to mtb!

mistercrabb

The clicking sound is probably the chain scraping along the front derailleur. This can be very easily adjusted, just by fiddling with the tension for the front gear. There should be a twisty thing where the cable comes out of the gear changer. Twiddle it around a bit and test it.
Note that in extreme gears (ie 1,7 or 3,1) the noise will probably happen anyway, but you arent supposed to use extreme gears like that, as it is bad for the chain.

About your guys brakes, there are two possibilities that i can think of.
One, There is oil on the pads. This probably wont sort itself out, so you will need to buy new pads. This can be caused by (for example), an attempt at wheel lubing.
Two, it might just be that the pads are too far apart and they cannot reach the rotor properly. Realigning the caliper and moving the pads closer would fix this.

Its more likely to be number one though. You can tell if it is number two because the brake lever will be able to move all the way to the handle bar.

skyliner

The gear issues have been covered well above.
The brake issue may down to air in the sysem if it's got hydraulic brakes, or cable stretch on V brakes.
Either way, take the bikes back to the shop to get them set up again, as this is part of the the initial "bed in" process for most of the components. This service should be provided free of charge, and you should still get a free 1st service after 4-6 weeks of use too.
If they try to charge you, quote the sale of goods act 1973 (implied terms) as this requires any product sold in the UK to be of satisfactory quality for up to 90 days after the date of purchase.(in most cases)

Most reputable dealers will perform the adjustments with no charge, or problem.
Once they're sorted, enjoy your new bikes and have fun.

Hope this helps.

stevebrock

Andy_B wrote:

Hi.

It sounds like the gears may need readjusting slightly, or the rear wheel wasn't seated correctly when you replaced it.

Take the wheel out again & replace it again, if you get the same noises from the gears it is a simple fix that you can do yourself (will post links at page bottom)

If the wheels are quick release are they done up tight enough?

You should have the imprint of the lever in your palm when you close it tight enough.

Your Fella's bike, does it have disc brakes, or 'V' brakes?.

Disc brakes take a little while to bed in (just like on a car)

Has any oil contaminated the rotor/pads?

Links coming up..

How to set up & adjust gears: http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=64

V brake info: http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=21

Disc brake info: http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=138

Come on Andy! Disc brakes on a Rockhopper Pro, you should know that!

I have sometimes found if you over tighten the skewers (QR) then the discs and pads rub. The skewers should not be overly tight!

stevebrock

We were all beginners once upon a time!

I would be taking both bikes back to the shop and explain all your issues! Your bikes are not set up properly, especially your b/f's rear brake.

Allowances can be made for the gears as the cables will be stretching and bedding in.

You could buy Zinn: The Art of mountain bike maintanence book and have a go at doing stuff yourself, but you will need to budget for some tools.

Let us all know how you get on!

Father Faff

New bikes always take a while to settle in as the cables stretch and brakes bed in. Expect to do several adjustments before its has settled down. Once everything has settled down you should expect to be able to ride without very regular adjustment however you will still find you will need to adjust things quite regularly, especially if you use the bikes hard.

To me it just sounds like the cables have stretched a little and you need a bit of micro adjustment (however you shouldn't be using the biggest front sprocket with the biggest rear sprocket for example as that is too "extreme") and on the other bike if its a disc brake it is normal for them to not bite for a while - use them heavily to get them bedded in and they should start gripping (provided there is no grease on the rotor).