Why do bikes give me so much grief?

[Kookas]

On a new bike I would have thought it was more likely to simply be a case of needing to tighten the saddle clamps and post rather than greasing them. Also if its like riding a bag of bolts in general I would check all the bolts especially the headset to make sure its tight enough. The grease I use by the way is just standard lithium grease nothing special. (Note: If its a carbon post you will need grease suitable for it.)

Well, regreasing and refitting them will also mean tightening them up, so hopefully one thing or the other will have fixed it.

By the way, I did try tightening them up before I went out to buy some grease, and the creak was still there. So I've put some white lithium on the rails where it touches the clamp, the clamp where it touches the seat post, the bottom of the seatpost, and the interior of the seat tube.

 

[oldfatfool]

It's a very rapid ratchet sound, so not once every revolution. Nothing's catching.

In that case my money is also on the front cage.

 

[Kookas]

So today, the chain came off on the inside of the crankset, and the front mech's cage bent. I managed to bend it back, but it has been 1 month! The bike is 1 month old and it's already acting like a haggered pile of junk.

Someone please give me a very good reason not to just stick this piece of crap on eBay. The amount of money I've spent on cycling, I could have bought a lot of nice things, which I bet you would never constantly break like this.

 

[vickster]

Take it back to the shop and let them sort it

 

[HorTs]

Take it back to the shop and let them sort it

That's the problem with online shops.

 

[vickster]

Ah hadn't seen it was wiggle. I'd certainly be contacting them, and discussing terms of soga

 

[Kookas]

Ah hadn't seen it was wiggle. I'd certainly be contacting them, and discussing terms of soga

Will they send out a new front derailleur and pay for me to get it fitted? I can't imagine anything less hassle than RMAing an entire bike. I'd probably just leave it as it is if it is the latter case. It does seem to work now that I bent it back, but how well and for how long is anyone's guess.

 

[vickster]

I doubt it, as said, a shop would sort this, but then you paid less for the bike presumably so will need to cover the costs

 

[John the Canuck]

So today, the chain came off on the inside of the crankset, and the front mech's cage bent. ........................

''the chain came off on the inside of the crankset''....begs the question ..WHY.?

if the front mech was setup correctly - this should never happen

could the ''rapid clicking' have been the chain 'trying' to jump off the inside cog - until it finally did

 

[Kookas]

''the chain came off on the inside of the crankset''....begs the question ..WHY.?

if the front mech was setup correctly - this should never happen

could the ''rapid clicking' have been the chain 'trying' to jump off the inside cog - until it finally did

Doubt it, the chain is far closer to the left-hand edge of the front mech than the right-hand one. It could possibly be the limit screw, since it happened when shifting down.

But it's starting to feel like you need a degree in mechanical engineering just to get a bike to work properly for more than 50 miles. Surely it's not meant to be that way.

 

[fossyant]

When you get a bike, you do need to do fine tuning. Cables stretch initially as they settle down.

A chain coming off should not bend a mech, so I think "someone" has tried to pedal through it. If the chain jams, you stop, as the minimum it will do is take a chunk of paint off, worse is bend something !

These issues you are having are pretty common - it's a machine that needs a bit of fettling, and if you haven't a clue, you can make it a whole lot worse.

 

[Kookas]

When you get a bike, you do need to do fine tuning. Cables stretch initially as they settle down.

A chain coming off should not bend a mech, so I think "someone" has tried to pedal through it. If the chain jams, you stop, as the minimum it will do is take a chunk of paint off, worse is bend something !

These issues you are having are pretty common - it's a machine that needs a bit of fettling, and if you haven't a clue, you can make it a whole lot worse.

Yeah, because I tried to put it back onto the ring as it wasn't quite off the inside ring. What happened to bikes being simple?

 

[fossyant]

They are simple !

 

[Kookas]

They are simple !

Then am I OK to keep my current front mech, bent back roughly to what it should be, and just get it indexed? Or does it need replacing entirely?

 

[uclown2002]

Doubt it, the chain is far closer to the left-hand edge of the front mech than the right-hand one. It could possibly be the limit screw, since it happened when shifting down.

But it's starting to feel like you need a degree in mechanical engineering just to get a bike to work properly for more than 50 miles. Surely it's not meant to be that way.

Can you get the inner front mech cage closer to the chain without it rubbing?