Welcome back to part four on how to install a bike from scratch!
In this last episode we're going to install what you touch and feel.
So that's the saddle, the pedals
and your grips, adjust your cockpit including your suspension
and get the bike ready for that maiden ride that you can't wait for anymore.
So let's get to it!
Installation of the pedals is fairly straightforward
You just put a little bit of grease here on the threads,
identify which one is left which one is right
right being the drive side.
And if you have one of these pedal washers
provided by the crank manufacturer
you might want to use it.
It is usually useful when your pedal axle looks like this.
What you see here on the flats.
The non-drive side thread is reversed
however there is a rule of thumb easy to apply for both pedals.
By the way for these flat pedals I'm gonna use a 15 mm wrench.
(rule is) Turn your axle towards the front of the bike
and that's how you tighten it.
This is true on both sides of the bike, both left and right.
Other pedals like this use an 8 mm Allen key to install.
Same thing, rotate towards the front and in this case
you're going to reach out from the inside of the pedal
and just tightenthem up to the same 40 Nm.
If you're using carbon cranks and you use
what's called the crank arm boots or guards like this, remember to install
them first on the cranks before you install your pedal.
If you're new to this
or you're trying to develop new skills I would highly recommend using flat pedals.
I use clipless or I'm clipped in only when racing cross-country.
I find them to be a bit more efficient when climbing
but this was an acquired taste and even
today when I'm going out for fun or again trying new areas I would prefer to
have the flat pedals with me.
Installation of the saddle is pretty simple
and if you have manufacturers with a good sense of humor they're even
gonna mention here which ways forward for your saddle.
Put a a bit of grease on the saddle rails
just to prevent noises coming from there.
And the installation is usually fairly self-explanatory, it kind of differs
from manufacturer to manufacturer.
To start with I would install the saddle right in the middle of the rail
and use the manufacturer's torque specs to make that happen.
If you decide to go for a carbon rail saddle remember that the
manufacturer might have very specific requirements for the installation.
I would definitely follow those.
With the bike on the ground orient your saddle
parallel to the ground or if you have one of these indicators for angle just
put it out zero for now.
And one last thing here when shopping for a saddle.
If you see the word I-beam anywhere in there in the description, it refers to
this I-beam rail you see it here on the saddle, so it's very different than
what you're used to see.
And the saddle and the seat post has to be purchased as a set.
Saddle height is very important and is something you're going to adjust over time
but a good starting point is with the crank in line with your seatpost
put your heel on the pedal and raise the saddle until
your knee is locked in that position.
That way when you put you the ball of your foot over
the pedal, so normal pedaling position, you can have that slight bend in your knee.
Fine-tune your saddle height after that but this is a very good starting point.
The last point of contact with the bike is the handlebars and the grips
and if you remember from part 2 we have some unfinished business right here
at the headset which is not tightened properly yet.
I left this close to the end because it's best done with the bike on the floor
but first let's adjust the handlebar.
Most mountain bike handlebars provide a rise and a slide backwards angle
or back sweep. That means that you have to adjust this angle
off the handlebar when tightening the stem.
Kind of a rule of thumb when looking from the side
is to have this part here where the grips get installed
to have that parallel to the ground.
For me, I find that position and then I rotate the bar slightly forward.
So the tips here will be slightly up.
That will give you a good starting point
for refining this angle of the handlebars.
Obviously you make that adjustment
with these bolts you loosened up, and once you're happy
with the position of the bar
then you're gonna have to tighten it.
And the maximum torque is usually specified
either here on the plate or somewhere on the stem.
Maximum torque for carbon handlebars is
as usual 5Nm, so grab your torque wrench and start tightening.
There is a proper way of doing this
and that is crisscross and we're in diagonal so imagine
one, two, three, four, that would be the order of tightening these bolts to that 5Nm.
Next we're gonna finish adjusting the headset and for that
just loosen up this top cap bolt, and also the two bolts here on the stem
As soon as you do that you will be able to move your handlebar freely
relative to the front wheel.
Start by tightening the bolt on this top cap,
and I would tighten it to snug and then back it out 1/8 of a turn.
Next align your bar properly
with the front wheel because we don't want it crooked.
And once you're happy with that
just take your Allen key and start
tightening the bolts on the stem.
These two bolts are actually the ones that are
holding your stem and handlebar attached to the steerer.
The torque value needed here
is usually mentioned on the stem and they are specific to each manufacturer.
To make sure that you don't have any play here in the headset
just grab your front brake, and then put your hand like this around the top bearing
and just rock your bike back and forth.
As you do that you shouldn't feel any
movement here on the top bearing and if you don't and the handlebar is moving
nice and freely, you are good to go.
Time to install your grips and there are
usually two big types: lock on, and these are foam or silicone.
Foam or silicone, they slide right over the handlebar
and then you have a bar plug or bar end.
The lock on type might have one or two of these collars.
I prefer these ones that only have one,
they are strong or stable enough for me.
And if you have two collars, one on each end, you're most probably gonna have to
use one of these bar plugs as well.
Lever position can make a big difference in
your safety and performance on the bike so loosen up the bar clamp and the first
thing you want to do is to just how far out is your lever gonna be.
These are meant to be used with one finger so for maximum leverage you want your finger to
sit somewhere here close to the end of the lever.
Lever reach each is how far from the bar
is your lever in the resting position.
These XT brakes have the adjustment right here.
Other brakes provide an adjustment screw, use an Allen
key usually to adjust it either through here or from the other side.
The way I set them up is so in this relaxed position, my first joint of my breaking finger
just reaches the lever, so when I start braking I use this middle part of
my finger to do that.
Also make sure that when you squeeze your lever to the max
you're not gonna be hurting your knuckles of the other fingers.
And definitely you don't want this to go all the way down to the handlebar.
Finally you would adjust the angle of the brake on the handlebar
and you are gonna be aiming for a straight wrist over here
so in your preferred riding position
whether that's standing or seated, just adjust this up and down
to match your preferred style.
You don't want it too far down or too far up as they would
not provide a proper position for your hand.
If you cannot test that out yet
just adjust it at 45 degrees to the ground as a good starting point for this adjustment.
The only thing different here on the shifter side would be
the position of them relative to your brakes.
In case you have them integrated like this
Shimano allows you to tilt them up and down a little bit
and also bring them in and out.
If you have separate bar clamps
for the two controls, you'll have to test the bar clamp of the shifter on each side
of the brake and see which position gives you a better reach for the shifter levers.
Tighten the bar clamps to 5 Nm again
or a better way of looking at it
tighten them until they stop moving and then give it another 1/8 of a turn.
That way if you crash, the levers will still be able to move up and down
instead of braking or bending them.
Only a couple of things left to be done
one of them being the suspension.
You have a few things to set up.
One is how much air you have in your air spring.
That is the compression damping.
And the third thing usually available is the rebound damping which is here
at the bottom of the right leg.
If you have rear suspension
the setup is no different than setting up a fork.
New suspension needs a braking period
so you'll have to revisit these dials later on.
But for starters what you want to do
is set up your compression here to fully open,
this is usually all the way counterclockwise.
Mine has three positions, so counter clockwise to fully open.
Then you would have to set up the right amount of air in your air spring here.
You have this little o-ring to setting up sag.
If you don't have that little o-ring
just use a zip tie, just wrap it around it.
SRAM and the newest Fox forks
provide a little sticker here giving you some guidance on how much
pressure you should put on those forks.
If you don't have that just look for the
serial number of forks, for SRAM is usually here
for Fox it would be something similar to this.
And armed with that information you
would usually go to the manufacturers website and look for information.
In case of Fox, they have that clearly presented here in a few tables.
SRAM recently introduced the Trailhead app and online page.
It is www.trailhead.rockshox.com
You enter the serial number of your fork and is going to provide you all the information
about your fork, tuning recommendations, documents and a few other things as you see in here.
Armed with the shock pump, inflate your suspension to the
manufacturers recommended value
but then set up sag to anywhere between15-20% up front
20% to 25% (or 30%) in the rear.
Last thing is the rebound adjustment
this is usually provided in terms of number of clicks
from fully closed.
So turn it clockwise all the way
until it stops.
And then, if the manufacturer recommends 5 clicks
that is counter clockwise, one, two
three, four, five.
If you don't have that recommendation from your manufacturer
I would set it up in the middle of the adjustment range as a good starting point.
There's books and countless of videos about setting up suspension
you don't need to be a guru to set it up properly,
start with the manufacturer's recommendations
and just start to tweak it based on your needs and your feel.
That's the most important thing, and this is something that you will probably be
doing for the next little while.
The final bike check is probably one that
I would do before every ride.
I always start at the back and make sure
that my rear axle is tight.
Then if I have a clutch make sure that the clutch is engaged.
Moving up to the saddle, you shouldn't have any play in it.
If you have a dropper, tiny bit of play is okay.
Coming down to the cranks
you don't want any site-to-site play in here.
Obviously pedals have to be nice and tight as well.
If you want to get a bottle cage, this would be the time to install it over here.
As you're moving along the frame, take a look to see if
there's any cables rubbing against the paint.
I showed you how to check for play in the headset.
Especially for new headsets, they tend to loosen up a bit
after couple rides make sure you check that out.
Coming up to your cables and hoses
some people go crazy on making sure they're super neat and tidy.
Just make sure that they are looking decently and that they have enough slack,
hopefully you've already done that right.
In my case I used a couple of zip ties and a piece of velcro.
Coming down, is paramount to keep these stanchions clean.
And keep the wipers clean.
I also use this which is Finish Line suspension spray
It doesn't attract dirt and it helps with lubricating them a little bit.
So every time I wash the bike I use that as well.
Obviously you want that front axle to be tight,
just like the rear one.
And finally, remember to check the tire pressure.
Tire pressure is very important for your comfort and your ride quality,
the grip available to you.
Use Stan's recommendation for adjusting pressure
and don't be afraid to go lower tire pressure than you thought before.
And congrats!!!
for finishing up your first ever bike from scratch.
My two bikes are: one all-party
and that would be the Kona.
More of a trail bike that ended up with
beefier tires, all tubeless, that is 25 lbs and ready to play.
Norco it's all business
this one is 20.5 pounds, is ready for racing
and has skinnier tires and everything was done
with the idea of weight and mind.
But overall, a really fun project
that I really enjoyed sharing with you guys.
And this is the party bike, 6 hours after I finished it.
Was it muddy or what?
The good news is the bike held up very well.
It's a very good fit for the rider
and overall a joy to ride.
The bad news is that I have
a lot of cleaning to do as you can see it here :)
Throughout this series I referred to a lot of videos
that I posted earlier,
or a lot of parts that are available online.
Make sure you use the links below to take a look at those.
And this is the end of my little project folks.
I really hope you found something useful in it.
If you did don't forget to like the videos
and subscribe to my channel.
If you have any questions
use the section below to start a discussion.
And until next time,
I really hope to see you guys on the trails.
Cheers guys, Cheers!