Originally Posted by
AlphaDogg
Just got back from the shop. The mechanic who was there was great and loosened it up. Now it's as smooth as butter. He said the factories like to really crank down on them. He also said that when he builds bikes, he loosens them up, but there are other people who bulld bikes there who don't. I guess a mechanic who doesn't loosen them up built my bike. I then proceeded to have a very nice and lengthy conversation with him about bikes, co-ops, home wrenching, etc. It really was very nice.
Do you guys think I might go faster now?
...and what else do those other people not do when assembling bikes?? Proper adjustment is not a personal preference. I hope it was not a head mechanic who said that. What he should have said was that he would make sure the manager knows that proper assembly was not done on that bike, and possibly on others, so that a repeat is avoided for other customers. When I was service manager we knew who assembled every bike, and I regularly pulled random assemblies to check them.
Hopefully the fact that it feels smooth now means there was no damage, as the bearing parts are quite hard. I still maintain that you should request of the store owner/manager that an experienced mechanic go over your bike carefully. There are both potential maintenance and safety issues with a poor assembly.
You will coast a little easier - I wouldn't count on telling the difference otherwise. Ride more, go faster