Putting together my new bike - help.

daragh_

Hi.

My lovely new Planet-X arrived in a big box yesterday. It's my first 'proper' road bike after years of Hybrids and Fixies.

It came more or less built but the rear mechanism needs to be attached. I have no idea how to do this :eek: I imagine it's a fairly simple process but I don't want to feck anything up.

Any pointers? Lurked here a good bit so I know about Mr. Skeffington. Sadly I'm totally skint at the moment.

Morgan

You'll find everything you need to know here:

http://parktool.com/repair/

VanZant

I'm lurking here for a while but my first post- Boards was where I first read about Plant X.

Anyway, got one myself a few weeks ago and it was a case of attaching the rear derailleur, wheels and handle bars. Straight forward enough although I did need to tighten the headset too- there was slight play in the front fork but only noticed this after a few days, me being a complete newbie.
Visually check the front derailleur is clearing the large chain ring OK.
The parktool website mentioned is good and I also found bicycletutor.com good for a cycling blow in like myself.
I have a shimano groupset and found the technical documents on their website quite good too.
Good luck with it!

anoble66

when you say slight play how much did you have? Reason I ask is, my headset is completely tight but I still get a very very small amount of movement if I hold on the front brake and rock the bike.....not sure if a very small amount is normal or not? Already tried loosening the headset etc and bouncing it lightly to re-seat and re-tightened but its just the same.

VanZant wrote: »

I'm lurking here for a while but my first post- Boards was where I first read about Plant X.

Anyway, got one myself a few weeks ago and it was a case of attaching the rear derailleur, wheels and handle bars. Straight forward enough although I did need to tighten the headset too- there was slight play in the front fork but only noticed this after a few days, me being a complete newbie.
Visually check the front derailleur is clearing the large chain ring OK.
The parktool website mentioned is good and I also found bicycletutor.com good for a cycling blow in like myself.
I have a shimano groupset and found the technical documents on their website quite good too.
Good luck with it!

daragh_

Thanks for the info. Will let you know how I get on.

cdaly_

anoble66 wrote: »

when you say slight play how much did you have? Reason I ask is, my headset is completely tight but I still get a very very small amount of movement if I hold on the front brake and rock the bike.....not sure if a very small amount is normal or not? Already tried loosening the headset etc and bouncing it lightly to re-seat and re-tightened but its just the same.

That won't do it. What you need to do is:

1. Loosen the two stem clamp bolts so the stem can move on the steerer
2. Tighten the cap bolt to tighten up the bearing so it turns freely (you'll feel it binding if it is too tight) without rocking.
3. Tighten the two stem clamp bolts.
4. At this point, the stem is what is holding the bearing in place and you could loosen or even remove the cap bolt without affecting things (not that you would...).

VanZant

Like yourself, when I held the front brake I had a slight play on the front fork, which I didn't think was normal.
I removed the top bolt, then slightly loosened the internal headset fixture (large nut inside tube), put the cap back on and tightened the top bolt. The top bolt tightened the internal nut resulting in no play.
There was a bit of head scratching before I figured it out but was straight forward enough in the end.
With the play in the fork, I could easil move the plastic spacers but cannot now.

abcdggs

Picked up a a fame and groupset myself last summer and built up my current bike with absolutely no previous experience. My main piece advice would be just take your time, double check everything. I know i spent a couple days building mine up, most of that time was spent trawling the internet or here for as much info as possible on every aspect of the assembly. Basically i took the "measure twice cut once" mantra to heart, it worked out very well. Just make sure you have correct tools if you are going for the entire build yourself, ie torque wrench, chain whip, bb tool etc.

Anyway dont let my slightly OCD experience of building a bike put you off, It's incredibly interesting and certainly gives you a sense of accomplishment when you ride it. best of luck

anoble66

thanks very much cdaly, that fixed it :pac: Also explains the knocking noise I was getting when coming out of the saddle

daragh_

VanZant wrote: »

I have a shimano groupset and found the technical documents on their website quite good too.

Exactly what I needed. Thanks again.