Any bike experts on here?

[kirsterz09]

Hi everyone, well basically I brought my fiancee a new bike last week as we live next to a cycle track and well we've only had it a week and already it's going wrong! :grumpy
Basically when he's riding it the back wheel keeps going to the left and catching the side of the frame making a annoying whurring noise! We've tried loosening the bolts and straightening the tyre up again which worked at first but it slowly return to its fave postion on the left again! and now today we headed out and it was fine but then as soon as we hit the track it did it again, so we stopped and straightened it but now as soon as Nick got back on and attempted to peddle the whole back tire went striaght back to the left again, and when we tried to tighten it up the wheel kept pulling to the left but we managed to get it to stay in the middle until any weight was put on it, again at which point it would head straight to the left again! :grumpy
I was wondering if anyone on here had any bike knowledge and would be able to give me any advice, as the people we brought it from aren't being very helpful plus are asking for money we haven't got to fix it for us, when I reckon with a bit of know how it could be fixed by ourselves for free. So if any one has any advice it would be greatly appreciated, I can provide pics of the back wheel and bolts if needed. I'm just hoping that the money we were saving for a rainy day hasn't gone on something we can't use :cry2

 

[pamnock]

My son is a bike mechanic (he's at work right now). PM me to remind me to have him take a look at your post tonight when he gets home. Also - what is the brand of the bike? Pics posted to this thread would also be of help.

 

[kirsterz09]

Hi thanks that would be great i'll send a pm in a mo, here's some pics of the bike, it's a Trax tr1,

General pic of the bike

The left side of the back wheel, as you can see the metal it very scratched and it won't go all the way down into the gap, currently to keep the wheel straight it has to be around that area.

The right side of the wheel, again the wheel does not go fully into the gap and is prevented from doing so by the gear, we think this is the side that is causing the problem, as it looks like it is this side that moves causing the wheel to fall to the left.

A closer view of the right side here you can see the huge gap behind it, we've tried pushing it back into it but it doesn't seem to stay there it tends to slip forward.

A close up of the left side

A overhead view of the wheel, as you can just see, the gear side of the wheel is infront of the other side, I'm guessing this has something to do with why it is catching the left side.

A close up view of the tyre, as you can see by this point it is really making contact, (it has been getting worse each time! to the point now where the tyre will barely go round)

Anouther shot of the tyre, you can just see where it's worn the paintwork down to the metal.

We tried wedging the sides of the tyre into the gaps with cardboard to stop them from moving forward, it worked while the bike was upside down, it seemed very tight and wouldn't move from side to side, but as soon as he rode it it went straight back to the left again, It definatly looks like the right side bolt moves forward causing it to stray to the left.

 

[pamnock]

My son is trying to explain to me, but most is going over my head LOL

The primary issue is that the bike is improperly assembled. If you can afford it, my son suggests that you take it to a local bike shop to have it reassembled. The bike is currently a danger to ride and more likely to flip over. A kid broke his neck when riding on the road in front of our house when his incorrectly assembled bike malfunctioned. (Pedals were not properly tightened - special pedal wrench required).

If you want to try to fix it yourself:

The front fork is on backwards (loosen top bolt and spin it around) - the brakes should be positioned in front as in this photo:

(front of this bike is facing towards the right)

The cause of the rear wheel problem is that the rear derailleur is incorrectly installed. (I learned something today - I thought it wasspelled "derailer").

Move the derailleur farther back into the dropout - you may be missing the crescent washer that correctly spaces the derailleur. Then the wheel can be correctly positioned farther back into the dropouts (the rear slots where the axle is.) You also need to use serrated washers between the axle nut and the frame.) Those washers stop the axle from moving when you tighten it.



Inside view of rear bolt below (tire removed) w/ rear derailleurcorrectly installed.

below: outside view of rear bolt (tire removed) w/ rear derailleur correctly installed.

There's more complicated stuff - post more photos when you try to fix it and my son might be able to be of further help if you are still having problems. He can further disassemble a bike to better show you what he's talking about.

 

[pamnock]

He wanted me to add that theaxle could also be bent from improper assembly - so be sure to check it.

Here's my son wrecking his bike (he was lucky to only have dislocated his shoulder):

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6AXUcbCnQo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6AXUcbCnQo[/ame]

 

[kirsterz09]

Thanks for the advice, we were gonna give it a go but then thought better of it and thought maybe it would be safer to wait till we got paid and took your sons advice to take it to a proffesional, at least then if there was any other problems it could be sorted proporly and we'd have a fully functional bike thats safe to ride, I'd be terrified that if we did it would fall to bits when he rode it.
So again a big thanks to your son for all his help, I tried to watch the youtube vid but me laptop won't play it, doesn't like youtube suddenly, but it certainly sounds painful and I hope he was ok.

 

[pamnock]

Glad to hear that you are taking it to a pro! Most department stores don't have professional bike mechanics to assemble the bikes they sell: (

The only downside is that the department store bikes often cost more to work on than their actual value, and are in fact more difficult to work on due to cheap parts.

I remember one forum member who I believe wrecked their bike when the pedal assembly fell apart - luckily they were not seriously injured.



Pam

 

[kirsterz09]

Well we have a halfords down the road that are pretty good, they have a bike clinic so I guess we'll be taking it there.

 

[pamnock]

Let me know how things go with getting the bike back in service.

 

[kirsterz09]

Will do, we're going to be taking it in sometime next week.