Putting together road bike.

Tar.Aldarion

Hey, I'm getting my first bike delivered tomorrow and apparently it needs to be put together.
I imagine it's a hard job to put a new bike together and fine tune it. Am I better off bringing it to a shop, how much will it cost? Any shop recommendations around town?

feck sake lads

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Hey, I'm getting my first bike delivered tomorrow and apparently it needs to be put together.
I imagine it's a hard job to put a new bike together and fine tune it. Am I better off bringing it to a shop, how much will it cost? Any shop recommendations around town?

any of the mechanic's here will gladly do it for you;)
i'm neary sure theres one lad that will call to your house and do it there .

Lumen

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

I imagine it's a hard job to put a new bike together and fine tune it.

No, it is not. You almost certainly won't need to "tune" anything.

happytramp

You should be grand. A decent set of Allen keys and a couple of basic tools will probably see you through.

Take it for a ride up and down the road to see how it feels. If the gears aren't smooth or the breaks responsive you might take it to Dara at 'beecycles' on south circular road for a quick and relatively cheap tune up.

Also, there's youtube video's for almost any eventuality.

Tar.Aldarion

feck sake lads wrote: »

any of the mechanic's here will gladly do it for you;)
i'm neary sure theres one lad that will call to your house and do it there .

Oh might take somebody up on the offer, I can build their PC in return

Lumen wrote: »

No, it is not. You almost certainly won't need to "tune" anything.

Grand, so it's just a case of slapping it together and truing the wheels if they need to be? The guy sending it said most dont need to be out of the box.

happytramp wrote: »

You should be grand. A decent set of Allen keys and a couple of basic tools will probably see you through.

Take it for a ride up and down the road to see how it feels. If the gears aren't smooth or the breaks responsive you might take it to Dara at 'beecycles' on south circular road for a quick and relatively cheap tune up.

Also, there's youtube video's for almost any eventuality.

Well I have a set of allen keys and some very small screw drivers for building pcs, bout it. So I'd have to buy a screw driver at the least.


I was told to follow this guide but that i wouldnt need to true the wheels
http://cycle-tec.blogspot.co.uk/p/how-to-build-your-bike-in-box.html

Do you need lubricant and grease then too I suppose.

Lumen

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

I was told to follow this guide but that i wouldnt need to true the wheels
http://cycle-tec.blogspot.co.uk/p/how-to-build-your-bike-in-box.html

That's way OTT for all the bikes I've received by post.

Usually bikes are fully assembled by the retailer then slightly dissembled for packing and shipping. That guide seems to be for bikes as they come from the distributor.

Tar.Aldarion

Hmm thanks, it could be either way as they just got it delivered and sent it on to me straight away.

Tar.Aldarion

Hey, I havent decided whether to try myself or to bring it to a shop as it hasnt arrived yet, even though it was 'definitely' arriving on friday.


Just in case anybody else is searching for reference here is some of the quotes I got:
cycleways: 60
buildabike: 60
rothar: between 10 and 20 (gonna call in and make sure this is right :-D)
mcdonalds: 30.

Also if you want to do it yourself and dont have tools/lube/grease etc rothar give you a workstand for 5e an hour.
http://rothar.ie/fix_your_own_bike.htm

happytramp

Try here too http://www.beecycles.net/ The owner is a regular on here and very good/inexpensive

Honestly, you might be stressing about nothing. A set of allen Keys might be all you need. Sometimes all it takes is turning the handlebars around the right way and putting the pedals on (both Allen Key jobs). If you are capable of removing the back of a PC i'd say you're more than able of it.

Tar.Aldarion

Thanks. Yeah I can build pcs fine, it might be best to spend a fiver and go to rothar I think, I live nearby. I think it will be less built up than that seeing as the guide they sent me!

Seaneh

What bike did ya get in the end Tar?

Tar.Aldarion

Seaneh wrote: »

What bike did ya get in the end Tar?

Specialized Allez sport 2013 £652
Good price I think.
Cheers for your help

DisasterIRL

Where abouts are you? I wouldn't mind calling over and giving you a hand or if you have trouble with anything.

Have two years experience and I'm fairly bored :P

Tar.Aldarion

Cheers thanks a lot. I live in D7 too, I'll give it a shot this evening assuming it arrives and see what to do then.

Seaneh

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Specialized Allez sport 2013 £652
Good price I think.
Cheers for your help

Yeah, nothing between it and the CAAD8 in fairness. Good choice.

DisasterIRL

Well just send me a PM if you're interested

Wishbone Ash

Tar.Aldarion - be careful not to destroy the threads on the pedals. I'm not sure if you're aware of it but pedals threading is slightly different from standard.

You'll usually need a 15mm spanner.

To install the drive side pedal (i.e. the right side if sitting on bike) you turn clockwise as normal.

However, the left side pedal is reverse-threaded and has to be turned counter-clockwise to install (which is opposite of the norm).

An easy way to remember it is that to loosen pedals turn both back towards the rear wheels- to tighten turn both forward towards the front wheel.