CRANKSĬheck the cranks and crank bolts or nut for tightness grab a crank arm in each hand and try to wiggle them to check for looseness. It’s important that during this process you never come to a complete stop or lock up the wheels at any point.”ĭoing this process should drastically improve the performance of your brakes and prepare them for many happy rides. Then accelerate the bike to a faster speed and apply the brakes until you are at walking speed. “Accelerate the bike to a moderate speed and then firmly applying the brakes until you are at walking speed. SRAM has a really good guide for bedding in disc brakes: New disc brakes won’t deliver their full power until the rotor and pads have bedded in. If your brakes start feeling a little spongy after a few weeks, you can adjust them at the barrel or the clamp or ask a mechanic at your local bike shop to do it for you.

This is partly why new bikes come with a first free service. you have to pull the lever much further back or harder in order to get the same stopping power you once had. The symptom here is that they usually start to feel quite loose. Your brakes will also be affected by cable stretch (provided of course that they are NOT hydraulic in which case this does not apply). This tune up is considered a necessary part of any bicycles maintenance schedule and as such should not be ignored. It is advisable to get the cable tension adjusted as soon as this happens either by your local bike shop. A front derailleur may no longer want to shift all the way onto the big ring or will require a much firmer push to get it there. Generally you may have to shift up, or shift down a couple times to quiet it down and settle the derailleur into a “happy gear”. A rear derailleur that we have tuned to hit every gear, nicely and quietly, may now not be making each shift causing a sensation and sound of “being in between gears”. CABLE STRETCHĬable stretch tends to occur shortly after a new bike has been ridden a few times. As a result, the gears may need tweaking, some nuts and bolts may need tightening and you may well need to check the adjustment of the saddle and handlebars. After the first few weeks of use, the whole bike will settle down.

Fathom 2 2019