What pre-ride checks & preparation on my New bike ?

Apollo · Post by **Apollo** » 14 Mar 2020, 6:12am

Hi, Been a cycling uk member for a few months but this is my first post, so hello everyone.
Just bought my first brand new road bike yesterday, a carrera virtuoso. Should I lubricate the gear wires & oil the chain or are they done from the factory? Don't want to lube them & wash any factory grease out if that's the case. Sorry if a silly question, not been cycling very long. Thanks

thatsnotmyname · Post by **thatsnotmyname** » 14 Mar 2020, 9:13am

Should be fine to ride straight out of the box. Chain should have enough lube out of the factory to last for several rides, while the gear cables don't need lube as such, anyway. Might be appropriate to run some light lube through them at some point, but not for a few months at least. Ride and enjoy

531colin · Post by **531colin** » 14 Mar 2020, 9:18am

Cables won't be lubricated on assembly, and the grease on the chain is more to prevent corrosion in storage than to lubricate when riding.
Additionally, bearings won't be greased with an adequate amount of grease with adequate corrosion inhibitors for UK winter use (and are liable to be set up too tight if adjustment is possible) and fittings won't have been greased on assembly....for example seatpost, bottom bracket fittings, wheel releases, chainring and general nuts and bolts.

Brucey · Post by **Brucey** » 14 Mar 2020, 9:26am

probably the whole bike would benefit from being lubricated and adjusted properly. If it is a Carrera then this presumably means halfords? They usually offer a check up after a month or whatever; if so any significant problems (eg with cable lubrication or gear adjustment) may have manifested themselves by then.

I've only bought a new bike a few times but when I have done I have spent quite a long time servicing new parts and making sure that they are adjusted and lubricated correctly. Maybe I'm fussy about these things but in every case I have found parts that didn't fit correctly, were not adjusted correctly and were not lubricated correctly, so I certainly didn't feel that I was wasting my time. I have also seen a vast number of bike where parts have broken or worn out well before they should have, and this has evidently happened because there was some failing in the setup/lubrication of the part.

In the bike factory they do a bare minimum in a very short time. In most bike shops they remove the packaging, fit the pedals, turn the handlebars straight, check the wheels are straight, check the gears, check the brake pinch bolts and handlebar bolts are tight, pump the tyres up and that is about it.

In the bike shop their primary interests are

a) that you don't have a nasty accident e.g. because a bolt was left loose and
b) that the bike doesn't fail within the warranty period in such a way that it will cost them money.

This is a bare minimum and in no way ensures that (say) various bearings on the bike will have the life they ought to have if they were adjusted and lubricated properly.

Unfortunately it does not appear to be cost-effective to pay a mechanic to do a better job, so it is the sort of thing that riders do to their own machines. This is in turn only possible if you have the correct skills and tools.

It is not possible to describe everything that might be beneficial on a whole bike (although Colin's list is not bad), but for example taking the wheels alone, there are three main things I would do;

1) check the rim tapes. These are an unseen part and they often skimp on them. If you have double-walled rims and rubber rim tapes (rather than, say harder plastic) or the rim tapes are not the correct width for the rim (both common faults on bikes of this type) you can expect trouble down the line, eg with endless mysterious punctures.
2) stress relieve and retrue the wheels; this usually turns a pretty average wheelset into one that is much less likely to break spokes or go out of true.
3) Check (and if necessary adjust) the hub bearings. Remove the wheel and put some M10 washers between the QR skewer and the hub locknuts to simulate the frame dropouts. Now tighten the QR lever onto the washers, much as you as you would tighten the QR when the wheel is in the frame. Then (with the QR tight as it would be when you are riding the bike) check that the hub turns freely. If it is 'normal' (for this kind of bike) the hub will most likely feel as rough as blazes, and be noticeably stiff to turn. You may imagine that this means the hub will be suffering horribly in use and you would not be mistaken. IME most mechanics in big bike shops neither know how to set the hubs up properly or care. It only takes a few minutes to adjust hubs and to add (more, better) grease to the bearings etc but the chances of this happening in most bike shops is about nil.

So you can see that you can make a big difference to the wheels alone; the above might make the difference between bouts of utter misery with things not working like they should and a much longer, more trouble-free life. Similar concerns apply to nearly every part of the bike.

If you are keen to learn about bike stuff there are books, videos, evening classes etc.

hth

cheers

peetee · Post by **peetee** » 14 Mar 2020, 9:36am

I have considerable experience servicing Carrera bikes and, whilst they are good machines, they suffer from poor pre-sales assembly and checks. It is not uncommon to see loose steering bearings, cable ends fouling the cranks or wheel, front mech set-up stickers in place and catching the chain or gear and brake cables wrongly cut. This last point is most relevant to your question. A short rear gear cable outer can restrict the free movement of the mech whilst brake and gear cables that are too long where the leave the handlebar levers can introduce additional friction especially if they have a low drop that can trap moisture and cause rapid corrosion.
My advice is to take the bike to a trusted independent bike mechanic and ask them to check the points I have raised. It’s no more than an hours work for a competent person and can increase the service life of your bike and the pleasure you get from it.

Jamesh · Post by **Jamesh** » 14 Mar 2020, 9:43am

Ditto all the above.

I would also say that wd40 or gt85 aren't the best lubricants.

Ok for cleaning or a get me home if you have some handy.

Get some proper lube.

If cheap like me I've used wd40 motorbike chain lube which I found at cheap shops or semi fluid grease from Halfords which I use on bearings too.

Cheers James

thatsnotmyname · Post by **thatsnotmyname** » 14 Mar 2020, 1:08pm

531colin wrote:Cables won't be lubricated on assembly, and the grease on the chain is more to prevent corrosion in storage than to lubricate when riding.

Modern cables don't really need lubricating from new, if that was your implication. A steel cable in a nylon sleeve will normally run fine without any interference and the general consensus is that cables don't need lube assuming they are in good/new condition. Chains are indeed usually coated in a protective layer, but this works perfectly well as a lubricant in the short term.

531colin wrote:Additionally, bearings won't be greased with an adequate amount of grease with adequate corrosion inhibitors for UK winter use (and are liable to be set up too tight if adjustment is possible) and fittings won't have been greased on assembly....for example seatpost, bottom bracket fittings, wheel releases, chainring and general nuts and bolts.

No offence Colin, but this is just conjecture. Let the guy ride his bike without first having to spend half as much money again on a full strip-down and rebuild.

foxyrider · Post by **foxyrider** » 14 Mar 2020, 3:14pm

thatsnotmyname wrote:
531colin wrote:Additionally, bearings won't be greased with an adequate amount of grease with adequate corrosion inhibitors for UK winter use (and are liable to be set up too tight if adjustment is possible) and fittings won't have been greased on assembly....for example seatpost, bottom bracket fittings, wheel releases, chainring and general nuts and bolts.

No offence Colin, but this is just conjecture. Let the guy ride his bike without first having to spend half as much money again on a full strip-down and rebuild.

+1

Its very easy to say this needs checking, that needs doing etc, etc but from my own experience, if the bike has passed its pre delivery PDI apart from fit adjustments nothing else should need attention until the safety check at 4-6 weeks. Rather than too little lube, entry point bikes usually have too much grease everywhere when you get them out of the box - i'm not saying that a strip and rebuild would serve no purpose, it may or may not but let the retailer do their job, if something fails due to their incompetence its a warranty job, if the OP starts mucking about with stuff it won't be and could have much worse consequences.

Its unlikely the OP will be doing lots of high mileage in that period so the most that needs doing is dropping some appropriate lube on the chain if it goes out in the wet. If the gears stop working or the brakes are really slack (new cables will stretch- go back to the shop to get them adjusted. Just don't ignore that safety check, its your chance to get everything set better after its done a few miles.

Lastly, as riders we should be able to tackle the basics of maintenance, if you don't know how asking questions on here is one way but i'd recommend signing up to a bike maintenance course to get some hands on experience of gear / brake adjustment, changing tubes, cleaning regimes etc - books tell you how, physically doing it gives both experience and confidence.

peetee · Post by **peetee** » 14 Mar 2020, 3:41pm

The supplying retailer does have a high instance of poorly set up bikes. 12 years as an independent cycle mechanic has taught me that. To their credit they have always remedied this when challenged - I have written several inspection reports for customers and they have been fully reimbursed for the expense of my work when presenting the report to the shop where the bike was purchased. In one instance a hastily prepared mountain bike was devoid of functioning brakes within a week and the owner was reimbursed for the full cost of the bike after presenting my report. I do wonder if the retailer knows that their standards are lacking as I have never been contacted or challenged by them.
With regard to the common issues, I doubt that a PDI covers more than the mechanical workings and safety of the bike. Details such as greasing of seat post, correct length cabling and minor, shall we say, irritating issues pass un-rectified and only prove to be problematic or expensive some time in the future where they are taken by the owner as an ongoing expense unless highlighted as otherwise by someone who cares or knows.

iandriver · Post by **iandriver** » 14 Mar 2020, 5:17pm

It never hurts to know what an M check is. One guide here: https://www.sustrans.org.uk/our-blog/ge ... -11-steps/

sun ra · Post by **sun ra** » 14 Mar 2020, 6:13pm

To the OP; The tutorials on this chaps site have always seemed easy to follow

https://www.bikeride.com/guide/

The site used to be named ‘bicycle tutor’ and as you’ll no doubt notice the footage does look a little dated.

sun ra · Post by **sun ra** » 14 Mar 2020, 6:45pm

Overhauling hubs...

https://www.bikeride.com/overhaul-wheel-bearings/

You could probably find something more up to date

...but in the same breath ‘you could do worse’

cycle tramp · Post by **cycle tramp** » 14 Mar 2020, 8:21pm

Apollo wrote:Hi, Been a cycling uk member for a few months but this is my first post, so hello everyone.
Just bought my first brand new road bike yesterday, a carrera virtuoso. Should I lubricate the gear wires & oil the chain or are they done from the factory? Don't want to lube them & wash any factory grease out if that's the case. Sorry if a silly question, not been cycling very long. Thanks

Hello There,
Welcome to the forum..... do you remember the tale of three blind men trying to describe an elephant? Each blind man only felt one part of it, and thus each one had a totally different idea of what an elephant was...
...well, this forum is very much like that :-)

It's a bicycle. I hope you enjoy riding it, and when your not riding it, you're thinking about new routes and exciting destinations to ride to. The bike is a fairly simple bit of kit, something like 16 moving parts and 6 sets of bearings...

..perhaps get a book on bike maintenance from the library or something... and perhaps in the next 400 miles think about some chain maintenance... and just do some basic maintenance checks and that should be if for the first 12 to 16 months...

Brucey · Post by **Brucey** » 14 Mar 2020, 11:43pm

thatsnotmyname wrote:
531colin wrote:Cables won't be lubricated on assembly, and the grease on the chain is more to prevent corrosion in storage than to lubricate when riding.

Modern cables don't really need lubricating from new, if that was your implication. A steel cable in a nylon sleeve will normally run fine without any interference and the general consensus is that cables don't need lube assuming they are in good/new condition....

general consensus? Amongst who exactly? A bunch of people who don't know any better?

FYI before you go off on one (again.....), I'm not going to be dragging into a pointless argument; if you want to test your 'general consensus' theory go ahead, try a poll here and/or elsewhere. If you want to demonstrate if cables do or do not benefit from being lubricated this isn't difficult to do either; go on, knock yourself out, you might learn something.

thatsnotmyname · Post by **thatsnotmyname** » 15 Mar 2020, 12:35am

Brucey wrote:
thatsnotmyname wrote:
531colin wrote:Cables won't be lubricated on assembly, and the grease on the chain is more to prevent corrosion in storage than to lubricate when riding.

Modern cables don't really need lubricating from new, if that was your implication. A steel cable in a nylon sleeve will normally run fine without any interference and the general consensus is that cables don't need lube assuming they are in good/new condition....

general consensus? Amongst who exactly? A bunch of people who don't know any better?

FYI before you go off on one (again.....), I'm not going to be dragging into a pointless argument; if you want to test your 'general consensus' theory go ahead, try a poll here and/or elsewhere. If you want to demonstrate if cables do or do not benefit from being lubricated this isn't difficult to do either; go on, knock yourself out, you might learn something.

Wow, calm down Brucey. I think there's only one person 'going off on one' - and it ain't me. Let's keep it in context - the context being a brand new bike fitted with Shimano or Shimano pattern cables and outers - and whether the cables would need to be 're-lubed' once already fitted in order to work properly. The implication from Colin being that they would. I'm simply saying they would not.

The 'general consensus' in this case would be Shimano's own technical documents - there's a link to one here. I'm sure there are others.

https://si.shimano.com/pdfs/dm/DM-ST0001-05-ENG.pdf

Or there's this post from 2018, from this very forum, on a similar topic - in which you also contributed: viewtopic.php?t=125173 - there's a bit of a consensus there. Strangely, you didn't react so badly when others made the same or similar statements back then as I did above.

The 'TL/DR' from both the links is that modern cables and inners already come with enough of their own lubricant to work nominally without any further intervention from you or anyone else.

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