Building my new bike

marksman

Hello all,

Im looking for some advice about picking up my new bike from Halfords.

Im due to pick up a Boardman Hybrid Comp through the cycle to work scheme next week, and after reading through various forums ive noticed that alot of people havnt been happy with the setup and have had to do it again when home.

Now im no expert and i know there are differences between the stores and its staff but should i let them build it or should i do it myself.

Now, i am not too 'aufait' with setting a new bike up but i can turn a nut and bolt so should i let them build it and then take it to my LBS?

Thanks

rafletcher

It's not about "building" it necessarily (though sometimes the assembly techniques employed by Halfords "mechanics" aren't the best!) but about setting up your position on the bike. Saddlle height and setback, bar height, lever positions etc. etc. And of course getting the gear shifting "just so".

All of this you can (and I'd say should learn to) do yourself with nothing much more than a decent set of allen keys, and downloading some instruction manuals from the web.

marksman

Thanks for the advice, it's pretty much what I was thinking and I think if I do it myself it will give me a better understanding of the bike.

Berk Bonebonce

Your bike might have been assembled in a factory in Vietnam in less time that it takes me to urinate. But after saying that, no bike assembled in a factory is going to ride perfectly without simple adjustments to things like brakes and gears.

Nairnster

Berk Bonebonce wrote:

Your bike might have been assembled in a factory in Vietnam in less time that it takes me to urinate. But after saying that, no bike assembled in a factory is going to ride perfectly without simple adjustments to things like brakes and gears.

I may be new on this forum, but EVERY post of yours that I have had the misfortune to read, seems to refer, normally in a derogatory manner to frames being made abroad and your dislike of this.

Like it or not, most bike companies have their frames made in places such as Taiwan, because it's cost effective, and these countries have developed very good and respected mass manufacturing methods.

I expect you must ride around on a custom bike, handmade by God himself (at the bottom of your own garden, as anywhere else is just too horrible to contemplate).

Oh, and although a Boardman may be made fairly quickly in a factory somewhere, I doubt it's made in less time than it takes you to urinate. It may however, be a fair bit faster than the time it takes you to wipe your mouth clean of all the sh*t you spout in these forums.

Nairnster

To the OP

The quality of 'mechanic' employed in Halfords stores varies greatly, as it does in an lbs to some extent.

I would always give any bike I purchase a good checkover before riding it. Even if its just to check all of the nuts and bolts are tight, brakes and gears work etc.

If in doubt, get a cycle-savvy friend to give it a once over, or as you said, a quick going over by a trusted lbs wouldn't hurt.

marksman

Okay, well I get the jist of how to go about this so I'm going to arrange for them to build it and I'll read up on checks to make when collecting it.

Thanks for the input guys :-)