Mountain Biking - Did break my new bike?

Ok, Im really new to this so sorry if this is a stupid question.

I just bought a Trek 3900 and have ridden 15miles and now when I brake the frount wheel shakes a little? Did I cause this to happen? how could it go wrong so quick?

Did you check the front quick release to make sure its tight? Does the wheel shake visably or do you just feel a pulsation through the brake lever/handlebars?

NO matter what though you didnt break anything. If you're worried take it back to the shop where you bought it and they will fix it for free this early. If theres a defect it's still under warranty.

http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/qrexplained1.jpg

Like what Flak said, check that:

First check to make sure the front wheel is tight, if it is and it shakes, you need to retighten the front hub.

Yeah, Im going to bring it in after work (take it back to the shop that is). Wheel is tight. I does not shake to the eye, but it kind of looks bent and every time in the same place the brakes will twitch.

What makes wheels warp?

Oh sounds like you might have just knocked it out of true. No biggie as long as the rim isnt dented (unlikely) and the shop will fix you up quick no worries.

Didn't the bike shop tell you to bring it back for adjustments after riding it a bit? Sounds like you wheel needs to be trued, which is normal for a new bike.

Oh thats good news.

Are there any big dos and donts or biking 101 links you could send my way. I not super new to ridding just super new to having a "real" bike. before I was riding about 300-400miles a summer over 2 yaers on a walmart bike that was kinda sloppy around and I really dont want to trash this one.


Thanks for all this quick feedback :)

Didn't the bike shop tell you to bring it back for adjustments after riding it a bit? Sounds like you wheel needs to be trued, which is normal for a new bike.


Yeah they said I would need to bring it back after 20 or so hours of riding. I guess I just was not expecting this to be one of those things that would need to be broken-in and so quickly. So you think that after I have it tuned-up it wont go out of true for a while and this its just b.c. its new that this happen?

Ok, Im really new to this so sorry if this is a stupid question.

I just bought a Trek 3900 and have ridden 15miles and now when I BRAKE the frount wheel shakes a little? Did I cause this to happen? how could it go wrong so quick?

Do you have Disc brakes? If so, it sounds like your brake rotor is pulsating I.E. out of round or true. Technically, out of lateral run-out. A crescent wrench and a skilled bike tech can take care of that.

Yeah, take it in to the shop and describe what it's doing to them. You could have a wheel out of true, the quick release could be loose, your headset could be sloppy, or you could be getting feedback from a brake that's not working properly. Your shop will be able to set you straight and given that you just bought the bike there shouldn't be any cost. Even after this visit you will need regular maintenance, either the DIY kind or in the shop, and you may even have other issues in the near future but your shop should be able to get the kinks worked out in pretty short order.

After the initial break in things won't need a whole lot of tuning anymore, besides your usual periodic maintence and/or you change any parts out. When a bike is brand new things like the tension of the spokes, the tension of the brake and shifter cables, etc will need a little adjustment. Being that they are metal a certain bit of stretching occurs as the components have gone from just sitting around to actually having a load put them from you riding the bike around. Because of this the metal will change shape and elasticity a bit because of this. After the parts have done this they will stay in that state for a vastly longer time compared to the initial break in period, as long as you don't go running into curbs and other silly stuff.

A good set of wheels will hold their true for a long time if treated right. Brakes and shifters will usually hold their adjustement pretty well too. When you notice the shifting starting to get a little sluggish or the brake pads starting to wear in you can use the barrel adjusters on the corresponding parts to get them back working good again quite easily. Have the bicycle shop show you how to do this when you take your bike in sometime if you haven't done it before.