Tightening Up My Bike: A Lesson in Attention to Detail

As I sat down to work on my bike, I realized that tightening the right hand pedal was the first task at hand. It's easy to remember that the right hand pedal has a right hand thread, with a nice blob of copper grease or something on them to prevent rust and make it easier to take them off when needed. One day, I'll want to swap out my pedals for new ones, but if I haven't greased the threads, they'll have rusted slightly, causing me to bend the bike.

I reached for my trusty pedal spanner, only to realize that I had mistakenly grabbed the wrong one. A quick look around revealed my spare spanner, which I quickly grabbed to get the job done. As I tightened the screws, I couldn't help but think about how important it is to double-check my work. It's amazing how often a small mistake can cause bigger problems down the line.

I moved on to the front brake, noticing that the steering felt slightly tight. The test of this was evident when I took the bike off the stand and examined it more closely. I realized that the bike had been tightened too much, causing the steering to feel stiff. This is not unique to new bikes; even seasoned cyclists can find themselves in similar situations with their own bikes. When you're on a stand, putting weight on the front brake causes the bike to lean forward, making it difficult to feel any movement in the steering.

The ideal balance is just right – not too tight, but not too loose either. I adjusted the screw accordingly, knowing that it would be about a tenth or an eighth of a turn to get it just right. This small adjustment made all the difference, eliminating the slight grumbliness in the bearings.

As I worked on my bike, I couldn't help but think about the side stand. It's a curious feature that seems out of place on a bike designed for speed and agility. My friend Sarah's bike has a similar stand, which she enjoys using to stand up her bike when it's still moving. On the other hand, my old green bike had a more practical approach – simply getting off and releasing the bike onto the pavement or grass verge.

I realized that the side stand is essentially a waste of space, taking away from the sleek design of the bike. However, it does make for an interesting conversation starter. I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of teenagers using this feature to their advantage. But in reality, it's not necessary – and wouldn't take up much time or effort to simply release the stand.

I decided to remove the side stand, knowing that it wasn't actually tight anyway. The bolts were only slightly over-torqued, but it was still worth addressing. By taking them out entirely, I ensured that the bike would feel smooth and responsive.

With the side stand gone, I focused on final adjustments. I put the bike back on the stand, making sure to align everything properly before starting work. The pedals, unfortunately, weren't clearing the stand, so I adjusted it slightly to accommodate the new configuration. It was now time to address the gear change and brakes.

As we moved forward with the adjustments, I couldn't help but think about the final touches that would make this bike truly special. The feel-o-vision feature, which would allow us to see how everything was coming together, was still a few days away. But for now, it was time to test ride Tom's new birthday bike around the block.

With all the final adjustments complete, I was excited to take Tom out for his first spin on the bike. The bunker provided the perfect setting – a quiet, enclosed space where we could work out any kinks in the bike without disturbing anyone else. As we set off, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. It had been a long day, but the end result was well worth it.

In the next installment of James Builds: Tom's Son's Birthday Bicycle, we'll have Feel-o-Vision, where we'll be able to see exactly how everything is coming together on this fantastic new bike. Join us as we celebrate Tom's special day and take our ride for a spin around the bunker. Don't forget to subscribe and comment below – we can't wait to hear your thoughts!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello bike fans welcome back it's part two of james builds tom's son's birthday bicycle we put the bike together apart from the saddle and the pedals the first thing i want to do is adjust the front brake because it's actually slightly tight and all the adjustment has gone from the barrel adjuster down here on the caliper so i'm going to have to remove or slacken the cable clamp and allow a little bit of play in that and then we will adjust it back to perfection let's undo the clamp yes there's plenty of movement the brake is actually coming on about there so what i'm going to do is i'm going to give myself some adjustment room in the barrel adjuster here so this barrel adjuster very similar to the sort of thing you would have on old-fashioned caliper brakes would normally be screwed fully home when the bike and the pads are new as it is here because then as the pads wear down you can keep unscrewing it a bit to keep the clearance the same so you don't get too much movement up at the lever but what i'm going to do is put it about half way so that i can adjust it in both directions and then here's a tool you almost certainly haven't got at home unless you're a really pervy bike mechanic like me let's see if i can do this in such a way that you can see it it will pull on the cable and lock itself in position like that so i can set see that is on so if i slacken it off by a couple of teeth wheel is almost moving how about there so the wheel is just starting to move and then i can use the standard allen key with my shaky weight lifters right arm tighten the clamp get rid of that that's about 10 newton meters it's just rubbing but because i put the adjuster in the middle i can now give myself a bit of slack and the bike stand is still giving me grief because it's a little bit pony assed no it made a terrible mistake have we how else could i have done that i think that cable would be better off going that side given that this you know this is going to be ridden by a young lad who's going to do stunts and bunny hops and fall off it with the steering turned to the extremes that cable is actually taught and pulling and actually it's going to even rub on the tire in that position look so you don't want that that's very bad i would root that in front of the stem let's put the saddle on obviously not a particularly difficult job it's got a little bit of grease on it which is good um how big is charlie obviously there's a bit of adjustment for you to do when you get that home pedals left hand pedal has a left hand thread worth remembering you'll spend your whole life trying to tighten it up the conventional way and you will not do it right hand pedal i'm going to tighten that up in a minute so obviously right hand pedal has a right hand thread it's quite easy to remember isn't it right is right and left is left they've got a nice little blob of copper grease or something on them as well on the threads which is a very good idea because one day you'll want to take them off and put some different pedals on and if you haven't greased the threads they will have rusted slightly and you will bend the bike where's my special pedal spanner no i'll have to use a spanner spanner and not that one what a complete amateur and to get some new children's tv presented and elsewhere in the glasses uh psychopaths i'm in two minds about them i i like them i think it's another example of something that's ideal for the the more timorous cyclist i don't think really experienced roadies and the like want cycle paths because they slow them down because they're full of people not going very quickly because they're not very confident riding their bikes i use i'm a little bit cavalier about it i'll use them if they're empty and i'm very grateful for them especially the ones in london which are sort of bollarded off so nobody can get to you but if things are a bit busy i just go outside and go on the road and then that annoys car drivers and taxi drivers because they say well you should be in the bicycle lane and yeah they're probably right but you know suck it up buddy right the pedals are on the saddle is on are they ready for final adjustments there's a few things i'd like to point out we've got that front brake i would say that the steering is a little bit tight now the the test of this really is i'm gonna have to take the bike off the stand to show you what i mean this is not just true of new bikes this is true of your own bike when you have it on the deck you put the front brake on you shouldn't be able to feel any movement there or there okay but at the same time you don't want it so tight that it doesn't fall side to side immediately and that is just very slightly on the tight side and if if this was feel o vision which we will have one day you'd be able to feel as i can when you have your hand on the end of the bars and the wheel lifted off the floor there's just a slight grumbliness to the bearings almost as if there's little facets on the ball so it's fractionally too tight and when i say fractionally it's going to be about probably a tenth or an eighth of a turn on that screw there i'll show you what i mean this bike has a side stand which is a curious idea sarah's bike has a stand and she likes that in fact my old green that one over there the old doors also has a side stand i can't believe a teenager would ever use that i can't believe a teenager would waste that much of their young life doing that to stand it up you will simply get off the bike and whilst it's still moving release it onto the pavement or the grass verge that's what childhood is about i think we take it off don't take it off yeah but won't you say where's my side stand he doesn't know well you'll see the bracket i think it's i think it looks quite cool on the stand it makes it more like a motorcycle what do you think everybody will just say charlie you big pansy get rid of that side stand slack in the stem bolts don't take them out entirely they weren't actually very tight anyway i would say those should be about um turn that the right way that is a good idea i would say those probably be about seven or eight newton meters torque wrench ready four millimeters righty tighty there you go that little grumble has disappeared and that really was about about a tenth of a turn there you are you still don't have feel o vision but i can assure you that now feels absolutely gorgeous brake works that will bend it you think we should take the side stand off and decide he can decide i mean it's not it's it's a two-minute job to get rid of that okay i think we should put the bike back on the stand then we can have a bit of a fiddle around with the gear change what do you think so i already know that the pedals aren't clearing the stand so let's put it out to about there and let's do this up properly this time and i'm going to say join me in the next installment of james builds tom's son's birthday bicycle and we will do final adjustments brakes gears pump the tyres up tom can take it for a test ride around the bunker like comment subscribe see you then goodbye youhello bike fans welcome back it's part two of james builds tom's son's birthday bicycle we put the bike together apart from the saddle and the pedals the first thing i want to do is adjust the front brake because it's actually slightly tight and all the adjustment has gone from the barrel adjuster down here on the caliper so i'm going to have to remove or slacken the cable clamp and allow a little bit of play in that and then we will adjust it back to perfection let's undo the clamp yes there's plenty of movement the brake is actually coming on about there so what i'm going to do is i'm going to give myself some adjustment room in the barrel adjuster here so this barrel adjuster very similar to the sort of thing you would have on old-fashioned caliper brakes would normally be screwed fully home when the bike and the pads are new as it is here because then as the pads wear down you can keep unscrewing it a bit to keep the clearance the same so you don't get too much movement up at the lever but what i'm going to do is put it about half way so that i can adjust it in both directions and then here's a tool you almost certainly haven't got at home unless you're a really pervy bike mechanic like me let's see if i can do this in such a way that you can see it it will pull on the cable and lock itself in position like that so i can set see that is on so if i slacken it off by a couple of teeth wheel is almost moving how about there so the wheel is just starting to move and then i can use the standard allen key with my shaky weight lifters right arm tighten the clamp get rid of that that's about 10 newton meters it's just rubbing but because i put the adjuster in the middle i can now give myself a bit of slack and the bike stand is still giving me grief because it's a little bit pony assed no it made a terrible mistake have we how else could i have done that i think that cable would be better off going that side given that this you know this is going to be ridden by a young lad who's going to do stunts and bunny hops and fall off it with the steering turned to the extremes that cable is actually taught and pulling and actually it's going to even rub on the tire in that position look so you don't want that that's very bad i would root that in front of the stem let's put the saddle on obviously not a particularly difficult job it's got a little bit of grease on it which is good um how big is charlie obviously there's a bit of adjustment for you to do when you get that home pedals left hand pedal has a left hand thread worth remembering you'll spend your whole life trying to tighten it up the conventional way and you will not do it right hand pedal i'm going to tighten that up in a minute so obviously right hand pedal has a right hand thread it's quite easy to remember isn't it right is right and left is left they've got a nice little blob of copper grease or something on them as well on the threads which is a very good idea because one day you'll want to take them off and put some different pedals on and if you haven't greased the threads they will have rusted slightly and you will bend the bike where's my special pedal spanner no i'll have to use a spanner spanner and not that one what a complete amateur and to get some new children's tv presented and elsewhere in the glasses uh psychopaths i'm in two minds about them i i like them i think it's another example of something that's ideal for the the more timorous cyclist i don't think really experienced roadies and the like want cycle paths because they slow them down because they're full of people not going very quickly because they're not very confident riding their bikes i use i'm a little bit cavalier about it i'll use them if they're empty and i'm very grateful for them especially the ones in london which are sort of bollarded off so nobody can get to you but if things are a bit busy i just go outside and go on the road and then that annoys car drivers and taxi drivers because they say well you should be in the bicycle lane and yeah they're probably right but you know suck it up buddy right the pedals are on the saddle is on are they ready for final adjustments there's a few things i'd like to point out we've got that front brake i would say that the steering is a little bit tight now the the test of this really is i'm gonna have to take the bike off the stand to show you what i mean this is not just true of new bikes this is true of your own bike when you have it on the deck you put the front brake on you shouldn't be able to feel any movement there or there okay but at the same time you don't want it so tight that it doesn't fall side to side immediately and that is just very slightly on the tight side and if if this was feel o vision which we will have one day you'd be able to feel as i can when you have your hand on the end of the bars and the wheel lifted off the floor there's just a slight grumbliness to the bearings almost as if there's little facets on the ball so it's fractionally too tight and when i say fractionally it's going to be about probably a tenth or an eighth of a turn on that screw there i'll show you what i mean this bike has a side stand which is a curious idea sarah's bike has a stand and she likes that in fact my old green that one over there the old doors also has a side stand i can't believe a teenager would ever use that i can't believe a teenager would waste that much of their young life doing that to stand it up you will simply get off the bike and whilst it's still moving release it onto the pavement or the grass verge that's what childhood is about i think we take it off don't take it off yeah but won't you say where's my side stand he doesn't know well you'll see the bracket i think it's i think it looks quite cool on the stand it makes it more like a motorcycle what do you think everybody will just say charlie you big pansy get rid of that side stand slack in the stem bolts don't take them out entirely they weren't actually very tight anyway i would say those should be about um turn that the right way that is a good idea i would say those probably be about seven or eight newton meters torque wrench ready four millimeters righty tighty there you go that little grumble has disappeared and that really was about about a tenth of a turn there you are you still don't have feel o vision but i can assure you that now feels absolutely gorgeous brake works that will bend it you think we should take the side stand off and decide he can decide i mean it's not it's it's a two-minute job to get rid of that okay i think we should put the bike back on the stand then we can have a bit of a fiddle around with the gear change what do you think so i already know that the pedals aren't clearing the stand so let's put it out to about there and let's do this up properly this time and i'm going to say join me in the next installment of james builds tom's son's birthday bicycle and we will do final adjustments brakes gears pump the tyres up tom can take it for a test ride around the bunker like comment subscribe see you then goodbye you\n"