New to the road...

Chrisj22

Good Evening,

I'm Chris, and I'm a new to the road. Got myself a basic Boardman bike to start off with, and I've even got the cycling shoes and cleats - the full shebang!

I did a little practice for 10 mins today, getting used to the cleats and nearly fell over a few times :oops:

The gears seem to not work though? It's making a clicking sound, almost as if they're stuck. I've watched a few videos online but I'm really not getting anywhere. Thinking of taking it back to Halfords this weekend for them to look at as it's only 3 weeks old.

Any suggestions?

Also, is there a website that has cycling routines for beginners? No, I don't want to pay a coach, lol. I just want a 12-15 week or whatever it is) routine that builds you up from nothing to some milage.

Any help is appreciated!

myideal

Hey,

Don't worry about falling off. I think we all will have had a wobble at some point. It strangley doesn't seem to hurt that much.

As for the gears, have you tried adjusting the little tensioner on the end of the cable? That is what most of the videos show you what to do and does usually do the trick. It is natural for things to move a bit on a bike, however as it's new I'm sure Halfords will do any adjustments that are required for you.

As for training. I think the best advice I can give (I'm no expert) is start small, and then get a little bit further each time. I guess the other option is find a route, then do timed laps around it, see if you can get a bit quicker each time you go round for 5 laps or so.

ayjaycee

For the future, you really should learn to do the more routine stuff for yourself but there is no shame in taking the bike back to Halfords to get them to sort it out. Indeed, I would say take it back and make a fuss as they really have no business letting a bike leave the shop unless it's 100% good to go. I would also be concerned that the rest of it was set up properly and that everything was tightened up as it should be but, again, that's the sort of thing you need to learn for yourself in time.

Remember, the Internet is your friend - there is very little on a bike that you can't learn to do with a bit on on-line research.

vysie

Hi pal I can assure you once you start your be addicted, I've only just started myself came from mtb background, but now every day I want to go out on bike. I was going to just commute on it but now I just go out and ride feels great and most of all I feel great, where are you located maybe someone local could get you to tag along on a little ride

fat daddy

ayjaycee wrote:

I would say take it back and make a fuss as they really have no business letting a bike leave the shop unless it's 100% good to go. I would also be concerned that the rest of it was set up properly.

knee jerk reactions aside .... cables stretch when new, its quite, quite common for a brand new bike no start running like crap after that time as they stretch and go out of line.

Pretty much every bike shop should advise you of this and normally tell you to bring the bike back after a month for a check over to make sure everything is still where it should be

hmmmm, that said I bought some "s-works" cables for my road bike and that hasn't shifted at all in a couple of months, perhaps parts with lower tolerances are more susceptible to things stretching and slowely undoing.

but as had been said, you need to learn to do the basics, bike are not put together like cars with locking nuts, locktite etc etc ..... they slowely do fall apart thanks o simple small light components being bounced around and put under stress, you should check your bike every ride ( Idont :oops: ) to make sure everything is functional and tightened up

perfectmark

I like to use http://www.cycle-route.com when looking for a new route in an area.

ayjaycee

What's knee jerk about that? The bike's running like crap so take it back to the shop and get it sorted. The OP was not explicit but my read was that the bike had relatively light use thus far and perhaps not even enough for the cable to stretch to the extent that they stop doing their job properly. Of course, it could also have been that the thing came out of the shop not properly set up but perhaps that never happens with Halfords!

figbat

I'm pretty sure Halfords offer you a 6-week free check-over when you buy a new bike - they did when we got my son's new bike from them. (With a cynical marketer's hat on, it's one of those things that seems like a nice gesture, but is really only an excuse to get you back through the doors to buy more stuff).

Ascot17

Take it back to the shop and get them to sort it out. For the very limited use it has had, there should not be any problems.

Have a look online for bike clubs in your area. Most clubs will do an easy weekend ride for relative beginners. Riding in a group is much more fun than riding alone!

Chrisj22

Thanks people.

I have been looking online trying to learn things, but this is extremely new to me, but I'm someone who'll always try fixing something themselves first. There is that other side though where if you don't really know what you're doing, you could actually make things worse.

Putting cleats on my shoes and changing pedals is massive for me! lol

I'll take it back to Halfords tomorrow, minus making a fuss These things happen, and I'm sure they'll look at it. If they don't, then a fuss will be made