Does anyone use some kind of checklist or assembly procedure when building up a bike? Or, do you just work in a logical order? I work at a nuclear plant and virtually everything we do is step-by-step, using a procedure and crossing off each step as it is completed. Obviously, assembling a bike carries a lot less risk than a nuclear plant, but finding your stem loose as you round a corner isn't good either. Or having to take something apart because you forgot an earlier step. I've built up several bikes with no major mishaps, but I was just curious how others are doing it.

I do it in a logical order, meaning headset and bottom bracket prior to cables and housings. Once I'm done, though, and before I ride I do a quick check of things like wheel attatchments, headset & stem, saddle/seatpost, brake levers.

Sometimes I will leave those items not at their final torque specs since I'm adjusting, but before I ride they all get checked.

There's a pretty basic order on some parts that must be followed but I don't think it matters if you do the headset before the bottom bracket or hang brakes before derailleurs.

For me, sourcing parts and having components cleaned and prepped usually dictate more of the build order. I'm usually building wheels toward the end and the last things I always do are cables and bar tape.

I have no written list although I have used the Barnet check list system when teaching my employees before. This is a very complete approach, not sure how current it is as my manuals were from the early 1990s before suspension/disks/et al.


But my personal method is to work from within and extend out. Take a wheel- To true it one needs to insure that the hub is well adjusted which means the cones and lock nuts are first properly counter tightened on the axle. Only then will working on the spokes have real meaning. And to seat a tire the rim must be true first. Brakes. The lever must be tight before the cable can be dealt with just as the caliper has to be adjusted before the cable is dealt with (in this case there's two "centers"). Then the cable is added. But before the final brake system is set the wheel needs to be so first. And so on.


I also tend to work on the bike front to rear. This comes from assembling so many boxed bikes and that ft wheels and bars are not installed yet. Getting the front done first reduced the parts dangling or about quickly. I tend to do the FINAL headset at the end as without being able to lock the front brake on and then rock the bike back and forth any headset adjustment is using only a portion of the possible feedback available. Andy.

ummm...

Fixing a bike is not nuclear science. Just sayin.

For me, I move as the spirit wills.

Like this^ Anybody that's worked at an LBS for awhile has probably assembled 100's of bikes out of a box, and was taught a certain method for highest efficiency. After awhile you can do it while flirting with customers on the other side of the counter, dreaming about riding, or having deep conversations with your wrenching buddies.

That works too!

My checklist is all in my brain.
Seriously though, I don't really have anything done in order other than bb and headset/fork/stem go on first before everything else.

This is quite similar to my method. Bear in mind that "build" is after I've completely taken a bike apart (winter work) and individually cleaned, lubed and prepared each component for the reassembly. IOW wheels done, derailleurs done, pedals done, alignments checked, etc. Then my primary objective is to create a roller since my shop is multi purpose and I cannot leave a bike build sitting in the middle of it, even overnight.

So, like VV, headset / fork first so I can, then, put in the wheels and the bar/stem and move the bike around , store it elsewhere. Next BB and the cranks. Like VV, I often do not final torque anything as I'm also checking fit and alignment and the interaction of the parts - which may require I back up somewhere to rework.

Then its a mind game so I hang all major parts - brakes, levers, shifters, RD, FD, chain, etc - so it really looks like a bicycle, like the final result will be. This keeps me motivated to stay at it and allows me to, sometimes, just sit on a bucket and stare at the thing and contemplate. All the details after this are as I feel like it, housing, cables and adjustments last.

Do the final torque of everything and ride it down to the mail box and back. Check it all over and see what was missed or loosened. Then ride around the block. Check it all over again. Then ride 10 or 15 miles and check everything again including re-true the wheels and check spoke tensions, BB play, HS play, hub cones. Should be AOK then but I make it earn my trust over the next few weeks.

Plenty of good advice in all the above, to which I will add:

I always go back at the end of a build or adjustment and check tightness of everything I've touched. That's particularly important with anything involving brakes and their cables.

1. Build it
2. Ride it
3. Tighten anything that comes loose

Wait till everything I ordered from Asia arrives. Get all the old parts clean as a whistle. Fix a giant 3X 1liter cocktail. Start with the drivetrain bottom bracket, drivetrain components, wheels, then, forks, handlebars, levers & cables, seat, & last of all - chain. Then, begin adjusting. If you start after dinner around 7 then you might get in bed by midnight.

BTDT. When I built the Limerick Nuclear Station (dual 1100mw BWR) we had an mantra: "when the paperwork weighs as much as the plant, we'll be ready to start it up." Took me ages to get that 'written procedure for everything AND two back up procedures' out of my head.

An oldy but a goody from 1972.

A study was done a while ago comparing hospitals that use checklists and those that don't.

Most doctors went into the study saying "I don't need a checklist."

Those that went along (grudgingly, usually) with the checklist idea found that their error rates were reduced to a statistically significant degree.

Hospitals that instituted an institution-wide checklist policy reduced their costs resulting from malpractice suits, insurance, etc., by an average of 20%.

Worth thinking about for the mechanics here who trust their instincts implicitly.

Huzzah!

Yeah, I generally build bicycles to relax & for a hobby. I have a detached garage. Dad's pad when mom's mad. Turn on the tunes, pop a couple tops, and, get a nice buzz while building bikes. (Avoid having to watch dreadful television shows & listen to my wife ***** about everything I need to fix around the house). Be good. Have fun.

I have followed much of what was mentioned above. However, I have found that putting the drive side crank on last avoids damage to my hands and arms or knee or other body part. Then the chain. The rest of the activities are adjustments.

Here's an interesting read on that very subject.

Although, when I personally build a nuke plant, I usually just have a few beers, a few bong hits and have at it. Any leftover parts just get tossed in the junk drawer.

Man that is so the way. Too much moral judgement in society, right and wrong is subjective.

Headset cups
Fork crown race
Fork/frame grease and assemble
Insert "stand seatpost" and place frame in stand by clamping stand (if an odd size then lightly clamp top tube with soft towel protecting paint)
BB Chase
BB install (various degrees of complexity)
BB taper greas
Pedal thread inspection
Removal thread inspection
DS crank installation and runout check
NDS crank install
Dust caps
Stem and handle bars
Put wheels and tires on for initial fit (especially stem height)
Shifter/brifter mount
DT cable stop mount (depending) w threadlock
Rd grease and install
Insert cassette or fw
Insert rear wheel to frame
Rd stop adjusting
Find the right furrles to match frame
Fd alignment to chainring
Fd install light pressure
Adjust FD cable stops
Remove chain links to largest possibility
Install chain
Shifter cables inner insert into brifter or DT shifter
If brifters, carefully determine outside cable length and match each side, cut and dry fit
Trim or grind outer cable ends flat
Open cable inner wit dental tool and make sure inner cable passes through smoothly
Fit together cables
Tape all cables to bars with electrical tape at a few points as you go to maintain their proper position
Cable rest of the RD with appropriate furrles
Make sure brifter/rear shifter on little cog setting
Pull cable to remove slack
Set rd clamp lightly
Quick RD adjust on inner ring
Reset rd cable attachment if needed, lightly
Adjust FD brifter to low ring setting
Pull slack
Initial cable clamp of FD
Note SRAM modern FD's are completely different
Test and adjust the FD
Move chain to big ring and tune RD
Remove a chain link if needed
Put insulation pad on top tube to avoid dents
Install front wheel
Install brake calipers
Adjust pads to wheel, toe in etc
Slightly unscrew adjusters
Install brake inner cables
Inspect, measure and cut outer cables
Trim or grind cable ends flat
Open inner cable with dental pick and make sure inner cable passes smoothly
Fit up brake cables and tape to bars as needed
Use clamp or third hand tool to do initial cable clamping of brakes
Use adjusters to set brake play
Hard pull brakes to remove slack
Reinspect and adjust until proper
More fully clamp all cables and FD
Grease pedal threads add washers and install pedals
Remove stand seatpost and put the actual seat and post on the bike
Adjust height
Test ride then retune derailleur and brakes as needed
Tape bars
Install bottle cages if any
Take numerous DS photos
Post them on BF

I'm partying with this guy.

On the other hand, this is reasonable method.

My answer is pretty much the same as Andrew R Stewart's above, and for the same reason that it's become a habit from working in bikes shops:

My method when assembling new bikes is generally to work front-to-back, top-to-bottom, with a few exceptions when it makes sense to hang something on the bike, or put a component that involves a sub-assembly together, earlier in the process just to keep things organized, or the handful of things it's easier to finish when the almost complete bike is out of the stand. Then I test ride the bike and do any final adjustments required.

Going in order helps me avoid missing anything even if I'm distracted, tired, unfocused, am interrupted during the process, etc.

When doing a personal build (vintage or otherwise) I might hang parts on the frame as I gradually acquire them, but when I have everything in place I always do a final checkover according to my standard procedure before actually going out for a ride.

My wife was a nurse in a large hospital. She used to tell stories about mistakes or close calls that she had seen. I would think "a lot of industries tackled that issue years ago, by using checklists". One problem is the hospitals don't share a lot of information with each other, due to malpractice suits, so they can't learn from each others' mistakes. And like you said, egos can get in the way, too. They were also slow to adopt basic safety equipment like gloves and eye protection. After her second trip to the employee health department, she decided that wearing a face shield was better than catching an incurable disease from a patient.

Thanks to everyone for the responses. I was just wondering what other people used as a sanity check before sending a bike out the door. And even if I think I know what I am doing, someone else may have another way that I hadn't thought of. Like setting the brake lever body parallel to the downtube instead of using a straight edge off the handlebar drops. Who knew?

Years (eons) ago, when learning to work with heavy machinery I was given this bit of advice, which I appy to many of the things I do.

Always do the same job the same way -- every time. Doing things the same way develops habits and like any kind of drilling, allows us to work without thinking, yet staying on track.

So, I'm a firm believer in ingrained habit and don't use checklists for anything I do on any kind of regular basis.

Often, on the way to the airport, Deb would ask me "are you sure you locked the front door?" Rather than turn I just say yes, and in fact I am sure. Why? because I'm just about incapable of leaving the house without locking the door, and not doing so requires active thought. Which is why I've so often locked Deb out if she's working in the yard when I leave.

So, my advice to anyone reading this is the same as I got all those years ago.

Develop habits and routines for mechanical work, and always do the same job the same way.