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Baby Huey
01-22-02, 12:46 PM
I have a lose break / shift leaver and can't seem to find out how to tighten the thing down. I don't really want to pay my LBS to turn a screw. I also don't want to regrip the thing of if there is a way without taking the tape off that would be great.
This also leads me to next newbee question.
How do you do a tune up?
I suspect my new Cannondale needs one, amount 150 miles on the clock.
:eek: :confused: :eek:
RainmanP
01-22-02, 01:36 PM
Look at the lever housing/hood (the black plastic and rubber) from the outer side. The front half inch or so is hard black plastic then there is the soft black rubber hood. About halfway down at the line between the plastic and rubber you will see a groove about 1/4 inch wide. Hold the rubber hood up a bit and slip a 5 mm allen wrench along that groove. Wriggle it until you feel it slip into place. Tighten it up. This works more easily with a ball head allen wrench, just because it slips into place more easily, but a regular one works fine.
Most shops offer a free new bike tune up because cables develop slack as they break in. This "tune up" doesn't consist of much more than tightening cables and adjusting brakes and derailleurs. I strongly suggest that you get a good repair and maintenance book for future reference. I have several, but my favorite is Bicycling Magazine's Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair. Good step by step instructions as well as quite a few explanatory pictures. Starts off with a good discussion of maintenance, terminology and basic tool kit. Most of the tools needed are regular metric wrenches and allen heads. There are only a few special purpose tools you need. Among these are cone wrenches, bottom bracket tools, cassette lockring removers, crank wrench/crank puller. These tools are not expensive, and you can just buy them as you need them. PLEASE do not try to make do without these few special purpose tools. They are too cheap not to buy them. They make the jobs quick, easy and safe (for the bike).
With the right tools working on my bikes is as much fun as riding them. Just my 2 cents worth.
Regards,
Raymond