Road bikes shaking to bits?!

lvquestpaddler

Hi, I was wondering how often it is necessary to check over the whole bike for bits working loose? I naively assumed my Carrera Vanquish was ok from leaving the shop, but in the short time since the driveside chainset has come loose, and after close examination of the cassette to count the teeth top and bottom last night I noticed play in it. The cassette lockring was finger tight.....
God knows if it was like this from new but whipped the wheel off and tightened the cassette up(40Nm? Who knows but won't come off again), upon reassembly realised I couldn't shift to the 25T sprocket! I've since had to readjust all the gearing as the whole assembly had moved enough inwards to throw off the gearing....
As the gears have worked fine from new I'm assuming Halfrauds are just crap mechanics and set the gears to a loose cassette
So, with rock hard tyres and no suspension are roadies more prone to shaking to bits than the average mtb?
It's getting the full strip and reassembly next available opportunity!
(Or, is it possible to overtighten a cassette in absence of a torque wrench? Did it the same as my mtb's never had probs there)

cervelors

It is a Halfords bike - they rarely do pre-delivery checks to an acceptable standard. Take the bike to a real bike shop and get them to service it for you. You will get less problems with a bike mechanic not a 17yr old schoolkid looking after the service.

Buckled_Rims

The most common complaint I have with LBS mechanics is the failure to tighten screws, bolts, lockrings, etc. I now do most of the maintenance myself, but if I do take the bike in, I double check everything and usually find a problem with their work. :x

New road bikes need to bed in for a few weeks or a few hundred miles. The cables stretch and the spokes need to be checked. gears go out of sync. That's why you usually have a free 6 week service.

During the summer I usually do 500+ miles a month and give the bike a good check at the end of each month, but rarely find a loose bolt.

Weejie54

Or, is it possible to overtighten a cassette in absence of a torque wrench? Did it the same as my mtb's never had probs there)

It's possible but unlikely, unless you used an extension on the wrench and gave it some welly.

Ben6899

Weejie54 wrote:

Or, is it possible to overtighten a cassette in absence of a torque wrench? Did it the same as my mtb's never had probs there)

It's possible but unlikely, unless you used an extension on the wrench and gave it some welly.

+1

40Nm is some proper tong po!

ColinJ

Having your tyres 'rock hard' doesn't help! They are supposed to be a simple form of suspension, you know.

I find that many cyclists generally fit into one of two categories:

(1) Those who never check tyre pressures. They ride around with tyres almost flat, rims almost on the ground, wondering why they get so many punctures and why it always feels like they are riding through thick gloopy mud. (2) Those who pump their tyres up before every ride and so hard that bits fall off their bikes and their fillings get shaken out even on the smoothest of roads.

I use about 95 PSI rear, 85 PSI front, rarely get punctures, am pretty comfortable and still have acceptably low rolling resistance.

desweller

You have to remember that bikes are not very complicated and require very little mechanical nous.

So LBS bike mechanics are usually either

A) Competant, experienced fitters with a real love of cycling, enough that they chose to forego better paid factory jobs in order to work in a bike shop

Callow youths hoping to become As

or C) mouth-breathing spanner monkeys

Needless to say there are a lot more Cs than As or Bs, especially at the big chain bike stores. I would exercise a high level of caution when a firm like Halfords is involved.

cougie

Things do work loose - when I build my bikes I take them for a couple of shake down rides just to iron out any bugs. It's no bother to get the allen keys out when you clean the bike.

lvquestpaddler

Ta for the replies, I never use anyone to service any of my bikes and have slowly accumulated most of the critical tools. need to get out things like the BB and grease it just in case it's not been done etc, but the first thing I'm checking is the brakes!!!
Doing the mechanics for me is a huge part of the fun of cycling!

paul64

You don't need a stand to check all nuts and bolts on the bike but for a regular check and proper clean with wheels out of the way it's a good idea. You can take your time looking round at a convenient height. This one chosen only as it doesn't need to grip the frame

giant_man

Hows that Tacx spider stand working out for you paul64? Any good? or is it a Park one?

paul64

It's the Tacx Spider. Perfect for the road frames (carbon or steel bikes) without the fear of crushing the carbon. Easy to store, easy to set at a good height and I like the fact it will swivel so I can stay where I am and turn the bike rather than walk around it.

Found that my MTB (Whyte 901) is too long for it though. Guess I might get something for that along the way. In the meantime I can use my Elite Crono (Fluid ElastoGel) Trainer and still spin the rear wheel if necessary. The folding Minoura rear wheel stand usually gets first look though.

God, I sound like a kit geek. Genuinely useful tools, I vowed to equip for proper self-sufficient maintenance rather than pay bike shops when I got back into cycling last year.

freehub

ColinJ wrote:

Having your tyres 'rock hard' doesn't help! They are supposed to be a simple form of suspension, you know.

I find that many cyclists generally fit into one of two categories:

(1) Those who never check tyre pressures. They ride around with tyres almost flat, rims almost on the ground, wondering why they get so many punctures and why it always feels like they are riding through thick gloopy mud. (2) Those who pump their tyres up before every ride and so hard that bits fall off their bikes and their fillings get shaken out even on the smoothest of roads.

I use about 95 PSI rear, 85 PSI front, rarely get punctures, am pretty comfortable and still have acceptably low rolling resistance.

You should know that having high tyre pressure, for example 100-120psi does not make bikes fall apart.

I run mine at 110-120PSi, does not cause me or the bike any problems.

Monkeypump

ColinJ wrote:

Having your tyres 'rock hard' doesn't help! They are supposed to be a simple form of suspension, you know.

I find that many cyclists generally fit into one of two categories:

(1) Those who never check tyre pressures. They ride around with tyres almost flat, rims almost on the ground, wondering why they get so many punctures and why it always feels like they are riding through thick gloopy mud. (2) Those who pump their tyres up before every ride and so hard that bits fall off their bikes and their fillings get shaken out even on the smoothest of roads.

I use about 95 PSI rear, 85 PSI front, rarely get punctures, am pretty comfortable and still have acceptably low rolling resistance.

You may be surprised to learn that there are some of us who just check our tyre pressures every few rides and inflate as necessary.

How quaint...

AidanR

True, but in general I have to agree with him - many people have their tyre pressures too high in the mistaken belief that it will make them faster. 99% of the time it just makes them more uncomfortable.

ColinJ

ColinJ wrote:

I find that many cyclists generally fit into one of two categories:

(1) Those who never check tyre pressures. They ride around with tyres almost flat, rims almost on the ground, wondering why they get so many punctures and why it always feels like they are riding through thick gloopy mud. (2) Those who pump their tyres up before every ride and so hard that bits fall off their bikes and their fillings get shaken out even on the smoothest of roads.

I use about 95 PSI rear, 85 PSI front, rarely get punctures, am pretty comfortable and still have acceptably low rolling resistance.

Monkeypump wrote:

You may be surprised to learn that there are some of us who just check our tyre pressures every few rides and inflate as necessary.

Why would that surprise me? It's what I do and it's what my friends do. I was talking about the non-sensible folk!

Freehub - I was exaggerating for effect. I'm well aware that high pressures are not a problem on smooth roads. Let's face it, a velodrome track is like a perfectly smooth road and I know what sort of pressures are used there.

Incidentally, I put some new wheels and different tyres on my bike yesterday and decided to put an extra 5 PSI in to see what it felt like (100 PSI rear and 90 PSI front). Result? The surface of the A646 between Hebden Bridge and Todmorden is so bad that my bottle was almost getting shaken out of the cage and I was getting cramp in my foot due to the vibration. I'm going back down to 95/85.

Weejie54

Result? The surface of the A646 between Hebden Bridge and Todmorden is so bad that my bottle was almost getting shaken out of the cage and I was getting cramp in my foot due to the vibration. I'm going back down to 95/85.

I doubt if it will improve the road surface.

ColinJ

Weejie54 wrote:

Result? The surface of the A646 between Hebden Bridge and Todmorden is so bad that my bottle was almost getting shaken out of the cage and I was getting cramp in my foot due to the vibration. I'm going back down to 95/85.

I doubt if it will improve the road surface.

It won't, but it will reduce the punishment from OHHH-FFFF-FFFF-SSS to just Aaa-aaa-aaa-argh!