Bike setup post health check questions

mdavenport555

I’ve got a 2 week old Broadman CXR 8.9 and noticed gears 5 and 6 don’t always engage when changing up. They are ok on the way back down.

I also noticed that even having tightening the headstem after aligning the handlebars that when apply front brake there was a slight movement.

I booked in with Halfords store (after buying from them online) for a free health check to look at these 2 points.

They adjusted the gears a bit and seemed ok in store but on going out on this tonight gear 4 seems to not always engage. Sometimes if I leave it it may go in and if I change up again it may go straight to 5. Is this normal or should all gear be perfect?

Regarding the movement when applying the front brake they tightened the stem and it still did it. He then looked at the wheels and seemed to think it may be coming from the wheel and then checked the rear wheel and said that seems to do the same (I never noticed it I the rear). He implied it may be something in the design with cyclocross and it could be normal. I wasn’t convinced and wanted to see what other people thought? I hope he is right.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

If the fork steerer rocks with brakes applied when moving bike forward and back, you need to loosen the stem clamp bolts on the steerer and see if you can remove the rocking by lightly tightening the topcap further, before tightening the stem clamp bolts back up.

Another possibility is that the fork bung inside the top of the steerer is loose, the bolt for which is inside the screw thread used by the topcap bolt. Make sure the bung lip is snugly down against the top of the head tube, before replacing the topcap and tightening the stem clamp bolts.

mdavenport555

N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

If the fork steerer rocks with brakes applied when moving bike forward and back, you need to loosen the stem clamp bolts on the steerer and see if you can remove the rocking by lightly tightening the topcap further, before tightening the stem clamp bolts back up.

Another possibility is that the fork bung inside the top of the steerer is loose, the bolt for which is inside the screw thread used by the topcap bolt. Make sure the bung lip is snugly down against the top of the head tube, before replacing the topcap and tightening the stem clamp bolts.

Yeah, I've done that and so did Halfords but there is still a little there. Halfords said its probably a bit of movement from the wheel but I wasn't sure if they were right and thought I would post here to see what you guys thought?

photonic69

Turn the wheel 90 degrees, apply brake and then rock backwards and forwards whilst placing thumb and fingers either side of the head tube where the lower bearing is. If there is any movement you’ll feel it in your fingers.

mdavenport555

photonic69 said:

Turn the wheel 90 degrees, apply brake and then rock backwards and forwards whilst placing thumb and fingers either side of the head tube where the lower bearing is. If there is any movement you’ll feel it in your fingers.

I tried this tonight and can feel it rock a little still. Whilst doing this I can turn the large washers/spacers that are in the middle.

However I’ve tightened up the centre Allen key as far as I can so not sure how to resolve this?

MattFalle

whats the spacing betwixt top cap and steerer like?

mdavenport555

MattFalle said:

whats the spacing betwixt top cap and steerer like?

There are about 3 spacers each prob 0.5cm

Is that what you meant?

photonic69

mdavenport555 said:

However I’ve tightened up the centre Allen key as far as I can so not sure how to resolve this?

Release the centre Allen bolt a bit. Then loosen the two (usually) bolts that clamp the stem to the steerer. THEN tighten the centre Allen bolt until the slack is taken up and THEN tighten up the stem bolts again. Check for safety by clamping knees either side of wheel and try to twist handle bars side to side to ensure stem is clamped firmly.

veronese68

mdavenport555 said:

MattFalle said:

whats the spacing betwixt top cap and steerer like?

There are about 3 spacers each prob 0.5cm

Is that what you meant?

When you take the top cap off is there a small gap between the top of the spacers/stem and the top of the steerer tube? There has to be a gap to enable a bit of compression to preload the bearings and eliminate the wobble. You either don't have enough of a gap or the bung is pulling up so not enough preload on the bearings. Probably best to watch a tutorial video as it's hard to explain.