Pedal Power Thread

There shouldn't be any play in there at all. Can you see where the movement is happening? Is there any grit lodged in there? I'm assuming you've not fallen off recently to dent anything?

Obviously just blindly tightening until it disappears is risky business so you've been sensible to not take it further than you're comfortable with. Do you have access to a torque wrench rather than having to guess how tight you're going?
 
no torque wrench...

no one here that could help apart from halfords...

havent fallen off the bike...so no grit should be there..

I wasn't going to spend any more money this month ;( it is £79 I think for full halfords service...

now am not sure if I should be cycling on it to work now...
Might switch to other halfs hybrid..
 
if the bolt on the top of the steerer wont physically tighten any more and you can still move your handlebars left and right then id put money on the top cap coming into contact with the fork steerer. if you take the top cap off completely with a measure how much space is there between the top of the steerer and the top of the stem?

you may need another (!!!!!) spacer.
 
you are talking foreign language to me now ;)

and another spacer??are 3 not enough ? ;)
 
Might take it all apart today...see what's going on with bearings and will take it from there....
Or maybe take one spacer out? Would it help?

Train to work today for me...
 
bastic said:
Might take it all apart today...see what's going on with bearings and will take it from there....
Or maybe take one spacer out? Would it help?

Train to work today for me...
Click to expand...

Removing a spacer may make it worse, depending on how much steerer you have and how below the top of the stem it is.

With the stem loose, can you tighten the top cap any further?
 
neil_g said:
Removing a spacer may make it worse, depending on how much steerer you have and how below the top of the stem it is.

With the stem loose, can you tighten the top cap any further?
Click to expand...

nope...

stem is at top of headset.
 
have a look at this

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/star-fangled-nut-installation

Ignore the top bit about "star nuts" - you need to go to the bottom 1/3rd of the post, from the words "Expansion Plug Installation"

the pictures give you an idea of how the expander plug needs to be set, and how far down the steerer tube needs to be in the stem.

If the steerer has been cut a little long, your expansion plug may be too close to the top of the stem. Personally I like a 3 or 5mm spacer ABOVE the stem, to provide a "full circle" for the top cap to bear upon...


Stem and Spacers by The Big Yin, on Flickr

If the gap from the top of the stem down to the expansion plug is less than a couple of mm then the top cap may not be able to get the tension into the system - the solution might actually be to add a 5mm spacer below the stem and move one of the 10mm spacers above the stem...

this may help explain things a bit too...

[YOUTUBE]1LTCthtmjD0[/YOUTUBE]
 
as in this video, when guy lifts and drops front of bike and you can hear rattle, it is what I get...
 
neil_g said:
yup, sounds like it needs tightening then. unless the bearings are shagged, but wouldnt expect that on a fairly new bike.
Click to expand...

cant get it anymore tighten...bike is standing on the floor, stem is loosen, top screw is tight as hell...use another washer for top screw ?

roads around here are terrible... so it is possible that bearings had it...
am in the process of trying to take them out now...
 
Ok..
I think there is no compression washer on top of frame, over top bearing...
like in this video :
4:55
[YOUTUBE]Iq9MHeMHauc[/YOUTUBE]
 
bastic said:
cant get it anymore tighten...bike is standing on the floor, stem is loosen, top screw is tight as hell...use another washer for top screw ?

roads around here are terrible... so it is possible that bearings had it...
am in the process of trying to take them out now...
Click to expand...

Sounds more like you need another spacer to me.

Has it always been loose?
 
show me what spacer is as I think I think about something else to what you are saying...
 
bastic said:
guys need help..
have noticed that there is movement between headset and frame.
if it should be stiff and there should be no movement at all, then there is a lot...



on the photo : there is a small gap between frame and headset - you can see it, it all moves.
Vertical line shows which way it all moves..

is that something bad ? how do I tighten in ?
Screw on top of headset is tight and won’t get tighter

Please advise
Click to expand...

You have 3 spacers there, this is what I mean. Maybe just a 5mm one. Might be best to take it to your local shop
 
and it is possible that it was always loose..not sure now
 
neil_g said:
Even halfords should be able to sort this in under 10 mins and for about £15 or less hopefully (parts and labour)
Click to expand...

including spacer ?

I think you might be right..as it needs to be more tight, I need 2-3mm extra on spacers or extra washer on top screw...
 
ok....putting shorts on , t shirt and on my way to halfords...
 
no luck in Halfords..they dont have spare spacers and there was no mechanic anyway...
will have to go and see them while at work...
 
bastic said:
including spacer ?

I think you might be right..as it needs to be more tight, I need 2-3mm extra on spacers or extra washer on top screw...
Click to expand...

Generally you should have about 5mm between the top of the fork steerer and top of the stem.

I think I have a load of spare 10mm spacers, if you're in no real rush I can lob one in the post if the other half has a first class stamp.
 
neil_g said:
Generally you should have about 5mm between the top of the fork steerer and top of the stem.

I think I have a load of spare 10mm spacers, if you're in no real rush I can lob one in the post if the other half has a first class stamp.
Click to expand...

I was about to order one but if you could post one that would be great :)
I will get hybrid ready tonight or tomorrow - depends how I feel ;)

will PM my address thanks again
 
Morning guys
Looking for some diagnostic assistance.
The last few days my bike has started to make a creaking/cracking sound.
When cold it isn't apparent but when the bike is up to working temperature that's when it kicks in.
The seat post is greased so it isn't that.
I then thought it could be the bottom bracket but I ruled that out when the symptoms showed up when free wheeling and not under load.

I'm now thinking it may be the rear hub bearings as the rear wheel is a bit noisey when spun by hand and there is a distinct clicking sound.

The bike (Boardman comp) is going back to halfords tonight as I've only had it 3 months so it is still under warranty.

Just gauging thoughts on here or if anyone else has ever had a similar thing happen.
 
stupar said:
Morning guys
Looking for some diagnostic assistance.
The last few days my bike has started to make a creaking/cracking sound.
When cold it isn't apparent but when the bike is up to working temperature that's when it kicks in.
The seat post is greased so it isn't that.
I then thought it could be the bottom bracket but I ruled that out when the symptoms showed up when free wheeling and not under load.

I'm now thinking it may be the rear hub bearings as the rear wheel is a bit noisey when spun by hand and there is a distinct clicking sound.

The bike (Boardman comp) is going back to halfords tonight as I've only had it 3 months so it is still under warranty.

Just gauging thoughts on here or if anyone else has ever had a similar thing happen.
Click to expand...

From that description it's pretty hard to narrow it down. First step is to identify where the noise is coming from. With a bit of luck it will just be a loose bolt or in need of some fresh grease.

Sometimes it's quite trivial things that make a noise. There was a terrible rattle on my bike coming from what sounded like the bottom bracket. It was only when I took a drink of water I realised it stopped. It turned out that the bottle cage had worked loose and the weight of a bottle of water was enough to create quite a noise!
 
Cranks are rock solid ad are pedals. I took a toolset to every exposed nut and bolt last night and all were fine.

The only reason I suspect the real hub bearings is when they are cold (thus any grease is nice and thick) there is no noise.
As i ride and the bearings warm up (grease thins) the sound kicks in.

I guess I'm also making a gross assumption that the click I hear when spinning the wheel by hand gets louder when the hub is under load (aka my ass is sitting on the bike).

Whatever it is, its doing my nut in and draws attention its that loud.
 
It sounds like you have done your own logical diagnostics to isolate the source. Depending on the quality of your hub you may have determined the issue.

I had a terrible creak that turned out to be the seat post, it had me going for about a month while I narrowed down the possible sources. Riding 200+ miles a week it drove me insane.
 
I once almost drove my mate insane by putting a ball bearing inside his handlebars then replacing the plug while he was inside faffing around before a 400km brevet :LOL:
 
got myself a new stem - Easton haven 55mm

I was quite close to sleeping with it tonight rather than putting it on the bike :|

9511898464_e5e88eec8e_c.jpg


9511890172_85284362d7_c.jpg
 
That's a sweet piece of metal work their.
Reminds me of the days when I kitted my old trek 4500 in race face components.

Damn you I want to spend cash now. :D
 
Ok someone in here has to be accountable for my actions :nono:

All last night I spent on the internet sourcing colour coded parts for my Boardman.
Believe it or not I managed to find a whole host of parts that match the lime green splash on the frame
If I'm not careful my wallet is going to take a beating :D
 
stupar said:
Ok someone in here has to be accountable for my actions :nono:

All last night I spent on the internet sourcing colour coded parts for my Boardman.
Believe it or not I managed to find a whole host of parts that match the lime green splash on the frame
If I'm not careful my wallet is going to take a beating :D
Click to expand...

par for the course of owning a bike in afraid.. its a never ending quest for new shiny precious..

:love:
 
Bike fit tomorrow,so will be interested to see if it improves my 20k bike time on my weekly triathlon
 
Paul_W said:
Bike fit tomorrow,so will be interested to see if it improves my 20k bike time on my weekly triathlon
Click to expand...

Do you do a triathlon every week? Do you always do sprint?

Be interested to see how it goes, thinking of getting one done myself.
 
There's a guy in brighton that runs a sprint on the seafront every wed may til the end of sept.
800m sea swim, 20k bike 5k run, if roads wed then deferred to sun morning. if sea conditions not good then a duathlon instead
 
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