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What would be normal wear and tear in 2 months?

A bit of a Noob question, apologies.

I turned an occasional habit to a routine one last year and started cycling the 6 miles to work on my 25 year old Halfords Apollo hybrid every day, even through the winter.

As it became a habit I started going out on small jaunts in the evenings on weekends in the rough hill roads and tracks around where I live and on the way home from work. Started enjoying cycling just for the sake of it and got fitter.

My Apollo bike was starting to get more of a maintenance problem than it was worth, so I decided to get myself a modestly priced gravel bike for both commuting and weekend leisure. Right in the middle of the Great Bike Shortage of 2020. I couldn't get the Boardman bike I wanted until December, so in August I ordered a cheaper Voodoo Nakisi gravel bike from Halfords instead (yes, I know other bike shops are available, but tbh they were not accomodating).

I really enjoy riding it as it is loads of fun. But I have been back and forth to Halfords almost every other week since I got it - details available on request as I won't bore everybody by listing them here.

Currently, both wheels have very noticable wobbles in them. Nothing major, just annoying at present and I know they will have to be sorted. The front wheel I've already had straightened by Halfords once, about two weeks after I got the bike.

My question is, is this normal or a result of buying a cheapish bike with budget wheels? I'm not exactly testing the tolerances of the engineering IMO as I'm only back and forth on roads to work in the week and on tarmac (but rough) roads on the weekend. I've gone on gravel or MTB type tracks literally twice since I had the bike. I don't think the wheels have had any bangs other than what you might expect from rough roads.

Are regular wheel wobbles something to be expected or have I got bit of a dud of a bike? Or am I maybe riding it too much like the 100kg oaf that I am? 

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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21 comments

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Parvez | 3 years ago
1 like

"yes, I know other bike shops are available, but tbh they were not accomodating" - 1-0 to Halfords vs LBS.  They can all improve on their customer service skills. Bike snobbery is the dumbest thing I've ever come across

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chrisbird616 replied to Parvez | 3 years ago
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It was a bit of a shame. My most local LBS is really nice and accommodating but just seemed to be struggling in terms of his suppliers. My big LBS shutdown completely during lockdown as it decided to swivel to online only for a bit, and only recently re-opened. They didn't have much stock, either.

Halfords were much the same, I was just looking online with them a lot and saw that they suddenly had stock of a bike I could get almost immediately.

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TheBillder replied to chrisbird616 | 3 years ago
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My immediate thought was that you need to get to the LBS because whilst Halfords are good at supply chains and mass marketing, they are very variable on spannering skills. Some good people but I get the impression that this is despite their employer, not because of it.

But your consumer rights are all with Halfords and it's worth keeping going on at them. They sold you a bike (and wheels) that should be of merchantable quality, and it sounds as if they are not. There are plenty of strong cheap wheels (they sell some I think) and plenty of 100 kg riders, so they ought to be able to get this right, even if they can't get the OEM wheels to work properly.

I'm aware of a few budget brands that have gone too far on cost saving on wheels - judging by customer reviews, the French shop that sounds like Daley Thompson's favourite place is not immune from this. It's much easier to market a carbon frame or nicer groupset than better wheels at the budget end.

Good luck.

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pablo | 3 years ago
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Sometimes even with wheels more expensive than the total cost of your bike you can get a badly tensioned set.  I had a Shimano set on a bought bike that were out of true in a couple of weeks.  I would just retrue them or take it back to Halfords for a trueing.  As for gear tuning unusally i haven't touched a bike this year normally i have to do a bit of tweaking and i'm just under 6.5k for the year.  The only tuning that should really be required is cable tension which can be adjusted with the barrel adjusters unless you knock the derailleur.  As we've had a very decent summer bike maintainance has been pretty minimal other than cleaning.  Winter being here now i expect way more maintainance for far fewer miles.  

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chrisbird616 | 3 years ago
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Found a picture of my 2 month old big chain ring.

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ktache replied to chrisbird616 | 3 years ago
3 likes

That just seem to be a bit of paint wear on that, when a chainring wears it gets proper pointy.

They are "ramped" to enable the gears to change.

I got a very old and faded 90ish purple middleburn big ring.  Ebay, it was purple. All the teeth are the same and there is quite a knack of getting the chain onto it.

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don simon fbpe | 3 years ago
1 like

A badly built wheel is a badly built, whatever the cost. As for repairing it, I believe that the wheel would have to be stripped back and rebuilt from scratch, rather than just replacing/retightening the damaged spokes.

I would be having a look at the weight limits too, but I wouldn't have thought that it's come with a 16 spoke flyweight wheel, so shouldn't be a problem.

Buying a cheapish set of new wheels might be a way forward, it worked for me. And you can always take them with you when you buy a new bike.

As for other stuff, some wears out, some needs maintenance and some will just be cheap shit on  a budget bike.

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Awavey replied to don simon fbpe | 3 years ago
1 like

Agreed, though even new wheels can open up just as much pain given the cycling world cant seem to standardise on a single setup for anything and you get multiple axles,multiple hubs,multiple brake setups & fitting systems, requiring multiple tools...I often think it would be cheaper sometimes just to buy a new bike

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don simon fbpe replied to Awavey | 3 years ago
2 likes

You get little or no choice on the wheels that come with the bike, the replacement set you select by brand and reputation, greater chance of getting a good wheel.

You've got this old fogie on the axle thing though.... I'd forgotten about that marketing malarkey! yes

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Awavey replied to don simon fbpe | 3 years ago
2 likes

yes and tbf they are usually rubbish wheels, or at least the hubs are,the wheels themselves maybe ok,but thats how they keep the bike price down.

Its just I bought a set of new wheels for my bike recently and they turned up setup for thru axles, and my bike takes QR skewers, so ok swap the axle end caps around,but thats not as easy as it sounds with the rear hub likely to explode into pieces if you pull too hard on the wrong bits, then its got centre lock discs which my original wheels didnt have, and then there are even two versions of centre lock lockring for discs, because hey just having one method of securing a disc to a wheel is so last year...and I thought all Id have to do is fit an inner tube with a tyre and it would be job done...oh yeah the wheels also came tubeless ready so I had to remove the tubeless valves, and remember where I end up putting them just in case I decide one day to go tubeless so I dont then have to buy replacements.which no doubt by then will come in a different diameter or some such other bike nonsense  1

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don simon fbpe replied to Awavey | 3 years ago
1 like

I feel your pain. I'm stripping a rear Campagnolo Zonda and a Campagnolo lite (Fulcrum) for bearing renewal. Zonda freehub slips off easy as anything, Fulcrum budget freehub is a screwfit. Screwfit is a bikeshop job as my shoulder isn't up to the job.

I recall the disc brake and tubeless shenanigans on the mountain bikes a few years ago.

I haven't started on the axle confusion yet.

Shall we start a bottom bracket thread?

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mdavidford replied to don simon fbpe | 3 years ago
3 likes

don simon fbpe wrote:

Shall we start a bottom bracket thread?

Would that be a threaded bottom bracket thread?

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don simon fbpe replied to mdavidford | 3 years ago
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Got to start somewhere... yes

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chrisbird616 | 3 years ago
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@David9694 - No, the 100kg is just me in my cycling socks! I'm not ashamed of it, I've shed loads of weight since I started cycling and I am now just a slimline lump of a man. I still recognise that I might be on the heavy side for things built for humans and I'm possibly stressing things out more than I relise on every bump. Especially on a budget bike.

I've had lots of issues tbh, mainly some teething problems and with the gears, including just having them reindexed after a bit of riding in. But having that done multiple times, four times so far by my count. Also had a gear cable replaced. A new set of pedals as one started seizing after about four weeks. Also it was picked up from the store with the handlebars on skewif, about an inch longer on one side and pointing downwards with the brake hoods parallel to the ground... (I sorted that myself...).

Also - to me - the big chain ring looks worn as the teeth are irregular and no two looks quite alike. I know that they aren't all going to be identical and the bike chappie in Halfords told me that 'they are supposed to be like that for the indexing', but these just look like they have work irregularly.

No loose bolts yet, to be fair.

I really like the bike and it seems a lot better quality than I was expecting in terms of build and finishing. I'm sure it will last me quite a few years but the number of issues, the chain ring and the frequency with how often I'm getting wheel wobbles for basically riding it on main roads is a bit worrying.

I used to tackle wobbles in my wheel rims on my old Apollo bike after a bit of practice with a spoke key. I was using the rim brake pads as a reference point on that, which I can't do on my current bike.

I guess the best next step is to take it to my LBS for him to sort my wheels / spokes out and look at my chain ring. 

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Awavey replied to chrisbird616 | 3 years ago
2 likes

Unless the gears/chain are skipping under load I wouldnt worry yet about the chain ring, my gravel bike has irregular shaped teeth all round as it's claimed to aid gear shifting under load on irregular terrains, and I doubt I'll ever be able to look at it and judge if its worn properly or not unless it goes needle point sharp

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mtbtomo replied to chrisbird616 | 3 years ago
3 likes

I wouldn't worry about the chainring either. The teeth often aren't regular heights to aid pick up when shifting gears.

They start to look more like shark fins when they are properly worn rather than being different heights.

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chrisbird616 replied to mtbtomo | 3 years ago
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Like the chainring on my old bike!

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mtbtomo | 3 years ago
2 likes

I agree with Cyclefaster, no reason why a bike at the cheaper end of the scale can't give months and years of good service if set up well in the first place and then well maintained.

If the wheel wasn't built very well to begin with, and that is quite possible with factory built wheels, then the spokes might not have been the correct tension to start with or been de-stressed (can't remember if that's the exact correct term). If that's the case then it's likely they will continually go out of true as spokes loosen. This assumes you mean the wheel rim moves side to side like the first response queries - rather than it being loose bearings.

A shop that can build wheels should be able to tension the wheel properly rather than just tweak some of the nipples around the out of true section to bring it back straight. Or buy yourself a spoke key and read how to true the rim yourself. It's not difficult if you take it slowly.

If you're on tarmac and avoiding big potholes, even at 100kg they shouldn't be going out of true that often but I think it would be hard to argue the wheels are a warranty issue, without the opinion of someone who knows what a well built wheel is.

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kil0ran | 3 years ago
1 like

Depends if you're talking about buckles in the wheel or a bearing issue. Buckles are just an occupational hazard and factory-built wheels can/do go out of tension and true pretty easily. I had a brand new Raleigh wheel from Halfords fail within 15 miles (I was also well north of 100kgs then). I'd take the wheels to a proper bike shop and have them true them for you and check spoke tension. Both these things are an acquired skill and best left to professionals IMO when you're just starting. 

Wheels are often an area where corners are cut to make a price point - Decathlon wheels had a reputation for crap bearing life a few years back for example. You can tell if there's play in the bearings by grasping the wheel firmly at the top and pushing it from side to side. There should be no play and if they've gone in two months then that's a defect, particularly as the weather hasn't been particularly bad yet. 

You should also expect brakes and gears to go out of adjustment in the first couple of months as cable housing settle down into their stops. Usually resolved by a quarter turn on a barrel adjuster at the rear derailleur. Sora is a good quality groupset these days so it should be reliable, but gears do need occasional tweaks to get them running smoothly. 

I'm guessing you've got disc brakes and they'll also need fettling regularly.

Bike maintenance is actually pretty easy to learn yourself these days with Youtube and your bike is on the simple side with big tolerances in terms of shifting setup. The disc brakes will probably be a constant faff as cable-actuated discs just go out of whack really easily. The trickiest thing to learn is probably indexing gears - the key to that is having good eyes and ears and to make small adjustments only (we're talking a quarter of a turn at a time on an adjuster. Rear gears are easier to index than the front. 

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David9694 | 3 years ago
1 like

I daren't step on the scales either - that is a fair bit to put on your wheels - do you carry much cargo too? I can see this model at £550 - is that correct? That's on the modest side, tbh.
 

What other issues have you had? cables always stretch a bit from new which can play havoc with indexed gears; random bolts come undone in the first 200 miles. 

It's possible the wheels haven't been put together very well - spokes should generally go "ping" at around the same pitch when plucked  - it may be "pong" on the drive side of the rear. They should all feel pretty tight - but it's a dark art how tight - and there shouldn't be any loose ones. 

You can true them yourself, if they are a bit out,  with a spoke key. 
 

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cyclefaster | 3 years ago
2 likes

My first road bike was a £300 from Decathlon which was an all year round commuter for a number of years. I have plenty of faith that cheap bikes that are reasonably well maintained can be solid performers and up to the job and I wouldn't expect to have problems with it, especially after 2 months.

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