Really need some advice please.

[Chris-H]

I've just brought a cheapo bike in a box,59cm frame Viking Giro D'Italia. Very nice looking but very cheaply made,i am planning on upgrading all the components over a period of time so as to soften the impact financialy,i know you are thinking i should've brought a better bike in the first place but being out of work money is a huge issue at the mo.
Firstly the brakes are absolutely crap,i've replaced the blocks with clarks ones and still crap,which calipers/blocks would you suggest,bearing in mind money is tight?
Secondly i'm 6ft3 and when in the drop position feel a little close to the bars,which stem would you recomend and what lengths are available?
Finally....what order would you do the upgrades to make the ride more enjoyable?
Really need some help on this as i would love to get into road riding and enjoy it as much as i do my mtb.

 

[chris-s]

Regarding the stem and fit, ideally you would get a 'bike fit' but considering the finances do some googling and you will find plenty of sites giving instructions on how to perform a bike fit ie what measurements to take of you and your steed and then some suggested alterations.

Upgrade wise, keep your eyes on the classifieds and eBay, but generally tyres are the first thing to upgrade and they can make a noticeable difference.

Chris

 

[Chris-H]

Cheers Chris,any suggestions as to a half decent tyre? I live in a rural ish area and most of my rides are rural so lots of leaves,horse crap etc on the roads.

 

[slowmotion]

For a DIY bike fit, I found this video incredibly useful. Just do as Christopher (in the video) says and then start experimenting with minor adjustments. Good luck and have fun.

[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAl_5e7bIHk[/media]

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Imho if your brakes are poor then that is what you need to fix first - there is nothing more important than safety.

The difficulty is to figure out what is wrong or where the weakeness is with your brake system. It could be the levers, the cable housing/ferrule setup or flex issues, the calipers or the pads - generally cables don't really stretch much and I assume you have alloy rims which should be ok. Sometimes for new bikes the brake cable housings may not have been cut as cleanly/squarely as they should, or are not fitting snugly within correctly sized ferrules, both could give rise to spongy braking, and both are easy to check/eliminate.

If you have Kool Stop salmon pads and you still have braking problems, then the issue is not with the pads. To save money you could try a pair for the front first - it is the one that matters most.

For a quick check on fit, you could try this. You might find that adjusting the saddle and/or flipping the stem upside down help. With aheadset swapping stem is a doddle (size need to match your handlebar and steerer diameters), the trick is to find the right one - this program will help. Once you have decided what stem geometry is needed you could always ask here, someone might just have the right one hanging around unwanted.

Best of luck!

 

[Fab Foodie]

The Viking's a perfectly basic but useable bike, but it's not worthing throwing shedloads of money at it.

Brakes - I'd fit Koolstop Salmon pads.
Tyres - Bontrager Hardcase Racelights, 25c £13 from JE James fast lightish and p*ncture proof.
Then save pennies for Mavic Aksium wheels. No more required really.

 

[Chris-H]

With regards to the brakes,the calipers are operating fine its the pads not getting enough grip on the rim,its as if theres a small layer of grease on the rims,being a new bike i used panel wipe on the rims to clean any residues off,one thing i have noticed on the front is the caliper has a bit of travel when the brakes are applied,hold the lever in,rock the bike back and forth and the calipers rock to and fro too???????
Tyres....have you a link for J E James please? they sound just the ticket

 

[ColinJ]

When I got my slightly-used Aksiums, the braking was terrible. I didn't realise how much oily grime was on the rims. After a very scary 20% descent, I took a rag soaked in degreaser to them and was amazed at how much filth came off them. The braking has been great since then.

You are 5 cm taller than me and your bike is about 1 cm bigger so you'd need to be making up a few cm somewhere. I tend to have my saddle forward so it could be pushed back a couple of cm. I use an 11 cm stem, but 13 cm stems are available. Going by those numbers, I'd guess that you could adjust your bike to suit you.

I know a lot of people recommend a pro bike fit, but you are hard up so that might not be affordable. I'd start by pushing your saddle back if you can and see how that feels. If you still feel too squashed up, try fitting a longer stem.

 

[cyberknight]

http://www.jimlangley.net/crank/bikefit.html

imho i would get the bike to fit and then save your pennies and buy a better specced bike down the line as you can spend a lot more money buying the parts separately than it could cots you to buy an entire bike with the same spec.

For example to change the shifters to STI will set you back around £90 when you can get an entire bike with them for less than £300 with a carbon fork
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-id_8167038.html

Another option is to see if your employer will do cycle to work scheme, even though the saving are not as good as before you can still get a bike for less than you would pay for it full price and spread the cost over a year.

I have just started paying for my new bike and it is costing me £42 a month , it is the only way i could afford to get a good bike .

 

[Cyclist33]

Dude, I say enjoy the Viking, angelfish is doing 80 milerson his and loving it!

 

[Chris-H]

some good advice there cheers mate,my problem is my boss laid me off last week so i'm out of work at the mo
I think once i get a 130mm stem,upgrade the calipers and pads and replace the tyres and get some spd's i'll be quite happy with it.......until i find somethging else wrong with it

 

[Cyclist33]

Plenty of cycling time.

 

[Fab Foodie]

With regards to the brakes,the calipers are operating fine its the pads not getting enough grip on the rim,its as if theres a small layer of grease on the rims,being a new bike i used panel wipe on the rims to clean any residues off,one thing i have noticed on the front is the caliper has a bit of travel when the brakes are applied,hold the lever in,rock the bike back and forth and the calipers rock to and fro too???????
Tyres....have you a link for J E James please? they sound just the ticket

Here you go!

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/