Bike Servicing

Jimmy Mc

Morning all

Over the past week my Orange G2 has developed a few annoying 'characteristics'. Brake rubbing and a huge vibration under braking from the rear, a strange clicking noise from god knows where and gears slipping.

I'm not the most technically skilled person on the planet so am a little apprehensive in undertaking the tasks myself as I have images of the wheel falling off while doing 30 mph or the brakes failing completely!

My questions are

1) How much can I expect to pay for a decent service of a hard tail?
2) Can any one recommend any decent places to get it done? I live in Luton but wouldn't mind travelling 30 miles to get a good job done on it.

Oh and my LBS have proved to be useless in any service issues. I've had to have the BB changed and it took them 6 weeks so I'm not keen to use them.

Cheers

Jim

dave_hill

If you learn how to do it yourself, you'll save yourself a lot of wonga in any case.

Few pointers -

Brakes could be - warped disc; glazed pads; loose disc/caliper; loose wheel (axle/bearings/spokes)

Gears slipping - msot likely the cable(s) have stretched and the tension wants taking up at the barrel adjusters. Strip the cables off and lube them too. If the cables need replacing I can highly recommend Goodridge ones as a replacement.

Your clicking could be anything - where does it seem to be coming from? Ride around and see if you can narrow it down a bit! Does it happen when you pedal/freewheel/all the time?

You don't need many tools to do a basic service and there are plenty of guides around - check out Park Tools website, and also all your component manufacturer's websites (Shimano/Sram/Avid/Hayes/etc). They nearly all have downloadable service/installation guides.

Jimmy Mc

Cheers Dave

I would love to give it a go myself - I'm just not that confident in my ability to put it all back together safely!

With regard to the problem with the rear brakes how would I go about diagnosing the root of the problem? My bike is only 3 1/2 months old, hasn't done a huge amount of mileage and certainly hasn't been ridden to destruction so my guess it's something that needs only a slight adjustment. That is only a guess though as I'm a complete novice!

dave_hill

Jimmy Mc wrote:

Cheers Dave

With regard to the problem with the rear brakes how would I go about diagnosing the root of the problem? My bike is only 3 1/2 months old, hasn't done a huge amount of mileage and certainly hasn't been ridden to destruction so my guess it's something that needs only a slight adjustment. That is only a guess though as I'm a complete novice!

First off, did you allow the brakes to bed in properly - 20 or 30 hard stops in quick succession is the usual formula. If you didn't and you've dragged your brakes at any time, there's a good chance that you may have glazed the pads or warped the disc.

As with any new machinery, when you start to use it you find that things bed in and loosen up. Nothing to worry about, but you do need to give things a going over with allen keys, etc. This is why good bike shops will offer you a free service after a week or two, just to run an oily rag over the bike and make sure that everything has bedded in properly.

New wheels (especially machine built) also work loose - the spokes un-twist and slacken off as you ride and will need re-tensioning and possibly the wheel truing.

Learning to diagnose faults is unfortunately a case of listening and learning - it's not something that you can pick up overnight! Plus, as with your riding, the more you try to diagnose and cure (and the more you get it right) the more confident you will get! Start with simple jobs - read the instructions carefully before you start, gather the right tools and materials and take it slowly, step by step.

Tuning your gears for instance is so simple it isn't true. The only tools you need are a set of allen keys and a cross-head screwdriver! I'm constantly amazed at the number of people who won't touch it - if you can operate a camera or program your Sky Box, you can tune bicycle gears!

pittpony

If you're new to all of this it can be quite daunting but doing things bit by bit you can become quite competent very quickly. Some bike shops run bike repair courses which although quite expensive would save you a fortune on labour costs long term. I do everything on my bike now (have found out how from Parktool and this forum) and shudder to think how much i would have spent on servicing and fixing if i hadn't learned how!!

Brake rubbing may just be caliper alignment. It's an easy job to start with if you have the manual

Jimmy Mc

Thanks for your comments guys.

I'd happily undertake a bit of a tinker on the brakes if I had a decent manual that came with them. The one supplied with the bike was effectively a photocopy that is so unclear it makes no sense at all.

pittpony

What brakes are they? Virtually all manufacturers have manuals to download from their websites 8)

dav1

dave_hill wrote:

Jimmy Mc wrote:

Cheers Dave

Tuning your gears for instance is so simple it isn't true. The only tools you need are a set of allen keys and a cross-head screwdriver! I'm constantly amazed at the number of people who won't touch it - if you can operate a camera or program your Sky Box, you can tune bicycle gears!

This is definatly worth learning to do.

As my new rear mech settled in i was having problems with it so I retensioned the cable and reindexed the mech in about 2 minutes on the trail.

It is worth knowing how to so these things both at home and on the trail, not only will you save money but you will alo be able to quickly rescue your rides if things get a bit pear shaped.

Jimmy Mc

pittpony wrote:

What brakes are they? Virtually all manufacturers have manuals to download from their websites 8)

They're Funn F2s. A Google search has returned diddly squat!

Edit - actually I've found their website but no manuals. I'll drop them an email to see if they can email me an electronic copy.