Hi Guys,

I am planning to buy a Scwinn Traveller online from Costco,

https://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11202029&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|111|195|22170&N=4007944&Mo=4&pos=3&No=0&Nr=P _CatalogName:BC&cat=22170&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10999-Cat195&topnav=

from an earlier thread i figured it wud be a gud buy and suit my needs well.


However, I am sceptical about the assembly, I have no idea of how to go about it and what tools would be required. Would it be an easy enough job or should i consider just buying a bike from a dealer store?
for which, i really dont want to spend since, i go to college and the number of bikes tat are stolen there is scary!

www.parktool.com/repair will help you with all you need.

Assembly is fairly easy and takes just a few basic tools. Just make sure you use the right sizes or you'll strip things out, making life difficult later on. A metric size Allen wrench set that includes 4, 5, and 6 mm will be needed, as well as a #2 Phillips tip screwdriver. You might get away with an adjustable wrench if it has jaws narrow enough to put the pedals on. The left side pedal has left hand threads, meaning that it screws on reverse from what you're used to. A little bit of grease (not really important what kind) on all the threads, as well as the seat post will also make life easier later.

As an added bonus, CostCo sells dictionaries, and you'll have saved enough on the bike to be able to afford one. This will make your college life easier, and will keep people like me from hesitating to help you.

I guess i will be the first to say that you shouls have a professional assemble the bike. Out of the box there are many things that still need to be done for the bike to be properly assembled. One of the hardest would be spoke tension, I have rarely seen a boxed bike that does not need this adjusted. For this you will need a spoke wrench and the knowledge of how to do it. Do you know how to adjust the derailleurs on a bike? Have cone wrenches and know how to use them?

I could go on and on. If you are really set on purchasing a bike online from Costco you should pay to get it assembled at a LBS, one that has trained staff. Yes you can learn how to make everything work properly, but you will spend more on tools and spend a whole lot of time as well.

just my 2 cents.

About how much would a LBS charge for it?

In my area $20-30 at the LBS.

Your LBS may not touch a bike that wasn't bought from them, or they may charge you significantly more than $30.

As for things like spoke tensioning...that's a crap shoot. Not all shops take that level of care on initial assembly. Many will include a wheel true on their free "30 day tune up" or under similar policy, but don't bother on initial assembly. In other words, you didn't buy it from them, you get no tune up for free, and they don't habitually do it to start with. Dérailleur adjustments aren't hard. The Park site, as Stacey pointed out, will get you through it painlessly. Even Schwinns are pretty close out of the box though. And I've never seen a cone wrench used on a bike out of the box unless there's an obvious problem that indicates it.

95% of bikes can be assembled out of the box without any problem for anybody that can read and has a basic mechanical aptitude. Of course my experience building literally hundreds of bikes may make it seem that way to me, but on the other hand, I've talked to a lot of people that build bikes up for a living, and half of what they tell you gets done so thoroughly is crap. I think you'd be better off building it yourself, adjust things as you find them, ask questions if you run into trouble, and maybe taking it in for a basic tune up after about 6 months.

Have you ever assembled a book case from Ikea? It's about that difficult, except that you're going to need more than one Allen wrench.

I don't buy this. It really depends on the shop. $30 seems ridiculously low for a bike build. Yes I work at a bike shop assembling bikes as well. We do a VERY thorough job assembling it. We true all the wheels, check hubs, check bb. check EVERYTHING.

If you have any doubts about assembling a bike from a box yourself or about assembling something - let the LBS do it for you. Find the right LBS as well. It is NOT as simple as assembling an IKEA book case. You risk serious injury if you have no idea what the eff you are doing and assemble a bike and cruise down a hill at 50kph.

I'd say you work in one of the better shops. That amount of time doesn't go into the majority of builds from my observation. We do have a local shop, the one I use now that I don't work for one any more, that is also very thorough, but not all are. I think $30 is very low too, last bike I built that was a carry in, we charged $60 for the build. I thought it was a little much, especially considering how much fun I had riding a high wheeler for the first time, but then again I gave lessons as well. I thought the guy was gonna kill himself the first time he tried to mount it.

However even with some of those items not being checked thoroughly, the bike is unlikely to pose a safety hazard, even at speed. A campus bike isn't likely to be going all that fast, parts will just wear faster because there's too much play, things like that.

I haven't really gotten into my opinion, which would be to steer away from Schwinn or similar brands and buy a quality bike. Reality for a college student looking for basic transportation, and asking such basic questions here, is that they aren't serious about riding, they can't afford a lot, and riding a bike is just a little more convenient than walking. In most cases the end up outside, and before they could possibly wear a tire out they've either been stolen, had a wheel tacoed by someone that was mad that they couldn't steal it, or left to rust because the owner scrounged up enough to buy a beater car.

The shop I work for charges $25 to assemble a bike, this is a basic assembly. You would have to spend an additional $40 to get it fully tuned up, which it will need, even if it is brand new. I may work for one of the better shops, but ever wheel is trued, every cone is adjusted, and everything on a bike is adjusted to work properly.

A bike is easy to assemble if you are a professional mechanic, or if you have no idea how well a properly adjusted bike should feel.

If they're college students, the last thing they want is a shiny new bike. As you've just described. I mainly only see beaters and junkers at our university bike shop - as expected. Especially here in Toronto, theft is rampant. A nicely tuned beater bike from a dept store that has been reassembled before being ridden is a good campus-er.

People have broken locks just to steal inner tubes around here (whilst leaving the rest of the bike).

thanks for the help guys! i finally found a LBS which actually has some affordable bikes. so i'm gonna pcik one up from there. no surprise it was near campus

Exactly. The bike comes pretty much assembled. The most they have to put on is the handle bar, front wheel and some other small bits and tune the derailleurs + adjust the brakes.

just to give u an update, i picked up a Miyata 710 from craigslist, its old but it runs like a dream and its been maintained beautifully. these forums really helped me out. thanks everyone!