Still Pedaling

Because of lack of funds, my wife and I had no choice but to purchase two rather inexpensive folding bikes. It's the Adventure brand sold by Campingworld. Up until now they have performed quite nicely, and I have been riding it everyday now for the past three weeks. I just recently came in from a ride, and I am feeling a tad deflated. Of course, I can't expect wonders from a bike priced lower than $200, but when your wallet has anorexia, you don't have much choice.

I encountered some of the gears slipping with a very loud clacking kind of sound while changing and on top of that, when the gear was finally engaged I noticed a slight knocking noise from the back end of the bike. I pedaled backwards for a few seconds, resumed normal pedaling and all was quite until I changed gears again. Like I said, it all ran nicely at first and now this. Would the problem be coming from the derailleur and sprocket assembly? If so, what would you recommend, other than purchasing another bike because I, unfortunately can't afford that route -- love to but can't. The derailleur is of course one of those Shimano Tourney models that you would find on low priced bikes. After bringing the bike inside, I thought I would have a look see. While on the stand, I leaned the bike over so I could spin the rear wheel. As the wheel slowed down I heard that slight knocking noise again. Obviously a mechanic would need to see and experience the problem to make a definitive conclusion, but I was wondering if you experienced folks might be able to shed some light on it for me.

Thanks
Wayne

fietsbob

Your local bike shop should be able to do the tuning the non bike shop did not.

Take them in and have them looked after. service charge should be small..

I expect Camping World did nothing more that take them out of the shipping carton.

Still Pedaling

Yes, I'm definitely going to do that. I'm wondering what could have happened because the gears changed nicely up until now.

fietsbob

Answers, realistically, (for mechanics), require seeing the problem, in person..

Still Pedaling

Agreed. Just thought that someone might know perhaps from experience what could be wrong. Thank you for your help. I will take it to the LBS around the corner.

Cheers
Wayne

fietsbob

Got a Long time, how many Blind guesses do you want to wade through?

Pinigis 

Cables do stretch over the first few weeks of use, so you may just need to make a quick adjustment to compensate for the shifting issue. The knocking sound is a little more troubling and will reqruie hands-on investigation. One of our cutsomers had a similar noise that turned out to be a small stone stuck in the chain.

sreten

Hi,

A Shimano Tourney rear derailleur is good quality for a budget bike.

It just needs adjusting properly and it will be fine. Go online.

rgds, sreten.

BruceMetras

Go visit Park Tools ... the instructionals are very good and easy to understand... sounds like simple adjustment to me .. as others have said, most likely new cable stretch..

jefmcg

I'd like to back this up: if you pay full retail (at least in the UK) you get a free service at 6 weeks to readjust everything. If you have been riding every day for the 3 weeks, you'd be past what most people would have done in 6. So the problems you are having are expected, even with the highest end road bikes.

Agree, if you are short of cash, then it's time to learn a bit of basic bicycle maintenance. Best if you can find a local group that has maintenance nights. Paying a mechanic will bite into your savings.

Still Pedaling

That's a great idea. I'll search some appropriate videos on You Tube, and also find out if there are any such groups in my area. Thanks for that.

Cheers
Wayne