Couple of settling in to the new bike questions

[lucklesspedestrian]

1) When I got the bike (Forme Longcliffe 3.0 road bike) delivered (boxed up from Rutland Cycles) I got the son of a work colleague who works in a bike shop to build it up.

I was wee bit surprised on my 2nd run to notice the chain rubbing against the front derailleur (shimano tiagra, 2x10) so I followed instructions on a few 'how to' vids but still no joy. I then took the bike into my my LBS and was surprised when he told me that this was normal e.g. when on the largest of the 2 front rings and getting down to the small cogs on the rear cassette. He took the bike anyway, adjusted the gears and did a few other little jobs, only charged £12 and gave me the bike back.

Went out for a spin this evening and sure enough, the chain still rubs a bit on the derailleur once I hit the 5 smallest cogs on the cassette if I'm on the big front ring (which I'm quite pleased to say I seem to do quite often!!!).

So my question is....is the LBS guy right, is this normal?

2) My front brake makes a helluva noise when I apply it. Again, I mentioned this to the LBS and the chap said he could see some debris in the pads and would sort it, but again, when I took the bike out this evening it was really noisy. (rear is not exactly quiet either!) Are there any super- duper replacement pads I might purchase? (I've got Mavic CXP 22 rims and Forme alloy dual pivot 47- 57 mm cartridge pads).

3) sorry to go on....!

I really miss not having brakes to hand like on the flat bars and having to either drop down or my hands can just about get some leverage but not full power if I'm riding with my thumb and forefinger either side of the brake/gear mounts. Does anyone know if microshift brakes can be retro-fitted with those extra levers which you can just pull in from the tops?

I'll leave it there (for now!)

Thanks

Steve

 

[lpretro1]

With all new bikes cables settle in as does the rest of the kit on a bike. If you had bought the bike at an LBS they usually offer a free 6 week service for this very reason but you bought it on line. It is not unusual for the cable tension to require adjustment on a new bike. It should be adjusted so that if you are in the big ring you do not get cable rub in the smaller sprockets. It sounds as though the front derailleur cable tension needs sorting. It is best not to use the 'extremes' of the gears - ie big-big and small-small as this puts a lot of bend on the chain at that point so not ideal. You should have a 'trim' fucntion for the big ring so that as you go to bigger sprockets you give the shifeter a little clikc and this adjusts the cage slightly.
Brakes usually squeal because they are not toed in - they also need to bed in a bit as do the rims so give them a chance. It may be an idea to clean the braking surface of rims in case there is anything on them.
If you do not like the drop bars - why did you buy a bike with them?

 

[Herzog]

Hi Lucklesspedestrian (Steely Dan fan...?)

1: Chain rub is normal when in extreme combinations (e.g., small sprocket, small chainring).
2: Try toeing in the pads, this may reduce the noise.
3: No idea

Hope that helps

 

[lucklesspedestrian]

If you do not like the drop bars - why did you buy a bike with them?

Fair point, I used to ride 'racing bikes' i.e. what we now call drop bar road bikes all the time back in the 70's/80's and was fine with the drop bars then, so I thought I would be now. Thanks for the advice re the trim function, actually the LBS mentioned that but I didn't really take in what he was saying, I shall inversigate further!

 

[lucklesspedestrian]

Hi Lucklesspedestrian (Steely Dan fan...?)

1: Chain rub is normal when in extreme combinations (e.g., small sprocket, small chainring).
2: Try toeing in the pads, this may reduce the noise.
3: No idea

Hope that helps

Yup, Steely Dan fan!

thanks for the advice re toeing in the pads, I'll try that at the weekend.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I managed to adjust chain rub out on both extremes ie sm/sm and lge/lge - took a bit of patience but I got there in the end.

 

[the snail]

Does anyone know if microshift brakes can be retro-fitted with those extra levers which you can just pull in from the tops?

Steve

Don't see why not. Obviously you'll need levers to fit your bar diameter. Purists will say it's just wrong to fit them a road bike, but I've got them on my tourer and miss them on my road bike - I can get a lot more power on the the brakes than on the hoods.

 

[the_mikey]

Chain rub can be normal, while I've adjusted it out of my shimano chainsets, it's impossible to eliminate from one of my bikes with an FSA chainset,

 

[the_mikey]

I had Mavic CPX22 rims on a Giant Defy2 and they were always noisy, replacement wheelset purchased and have never had a noisy ride since.

 

[vickster]

Don't see why not. Obviously you'll need levers to fit your bar diameter. Purists will say it's just wrong to fit them a road bike, but I've got them on my tourer and miss them on my road bike - I can get a lot more power on the the brakes than on the hoods.

Crosslevers are great IMO if riding in traffic - they saved me from being squashed the other night! No way I would have been able to brake in time on the brifters!

 

[Bryony]

I have a longcliffe 4.0fe and have never had chain rub when I change up or down on the chain ring I have to give it 2 clicks and that adjusts the front mech to prevent chain rub. My back brake makes the odd noise but nothing major.

 

[Mo1959]

Just wondering if you are pushing the lever across far enough. I find with mine it is quite a long throw to move it over. Sometimes you think it has changed ok but there is a slight noise and if you push it over again it gives a little click when it has engaged properly.

I wasn't hugely happy with the brakes on mine either. A very kind forum member kindly sent me some new brake pads he wasn't using and I put them on and thought it improved things quite a lot.

 

[lucklesspedestrian]

Just wondering if you are pushing the lever across far enough. I find with mine it is quite a long throw to move it over. Sometimes you think it has changed ok but there is a slight noise and if you push it over again it gives a little click when it has engaged properly.

I wasn't hugely happy with the brakes on mine either. A very kind forum member kindly sent me some new brake pads he wasn't using and I put them on and thought it improved things quite a lot.

Could well be my technique that's off (wouldn't be the first time!)

Didn't realise there was a trim function on the shifters so I'm going to have to experiment (sadly looks like the rain is going to be on for the weekend!)