Missing Manuals
06-02-18, 01:29 PM
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Missing Manuals
I just picked up a brand spankin’ new Specialized Roll Elite from my LBS and drove it home. Lovely bike. But now I’m a bit confused.
Before I retired, I was a computer geek. I’m from back in the day when every computer and piece of software came with thick manuals in three-ring binders, often in cloth-bound slip cases. Now, you just download and go, nothing comes with a manual anymore.
Ditto with bikes, apparently. I received a thin and very generic Specialized manual written in 2007, before the Roll was even a dream in the designer’s eye. Nothing about those fancy valve caps showing green to indicate the tires are at the correct pressure. Exactly what pressure are they set to? Nothing about the hydraulic disk brakes, which I’ve never used before. I figured out the shifters on the ride home by trial and error - never used that sort before. No information about the little shock absorber in the saddle, or how to adjust the handlebars, or what torque is required, or anything that wasn’t written by a lawyer and intended to minimize liability. (Did you know your bicycle can kill you? If it sneaks up on you in the middle of the night and holds a pillow over your face, Specialized is not liable.)
OK, it’s been a while since I bought a new bike, and a lot has changed. Is there any place I can find a real manual? Is there a modern-day equivalent of my teenage bible, Richard’s Bicycle Book? Where can I find a vade mecum for the modern bike?
Before I retired, I was a computer geek. I’m from back in the day when every computer and piece of software came with thick manuals in three-ring binders, often in cloth-bound slip cases. Now, you just download and go, nothing comes with a manual anymore.
Ditto with bikes, apparently. I received a thin and very generic Specialized manual written in 2007, before the Roll was even a dream in the designer’s eye. Nothing about those fancy valve caps showing green to indicate the tires are at the correct pressure. Exactly what pressure are they set to? Nothing about the hydraulic disk brakes, which I’ve never used before. I figured out the shifters on the ride home by trial and error - never used that sort before. No information about the little shock absorber in the saddle, or how to adjust the handlebars, or what torque is required, or anything that wasn’t written by a lawyer and intended to minimize liability. (Did you know your bicycle can kill you? If it sneaks up on you in the middle of the night and holds a pillow over your face, Specialized is not liable.)
OK, it’s been a while since I bought a new bike, and a lot has changed. Is there any place I can find a real manual? Is there a modern-day equivalent of my teenage bible, Richard’s Bicycle Book? Where can I find a vade mecum for the modern bike?
06-02-18, 02:27 PM
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hmmm I just did a quick google search and lead me to the Specialized Roll Elite product page but as you mentioned the manual is from 2007 
.
As for you tire pressure if you scroll down towards tho bottom of the page is says 25-50 PSI for 650b x 2.3". I should also state this on the tire it self, Probably small put it is there. Me, I would run them between 35-40. Thats Just me and not sure how that would work for you. Perhaps some one else will have better info or call your shop and see if they may be of more help.
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/ni...flect/p/131655
Congrats on the new bike!!!!
. As for you tire pressure if you scroll down towards tho bottom of the page is says 25-50 PSI for 650b x 2.3". I should also state this on the tire it self, Probably small put it is there. Me, I would run them between 35-40. Thats Just me and not sure how that would work for you. Perhaps some one else will have better info or call your shop and see if they may be of more help.
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/ni...flect/p/131655
Congrats on the new bike!!!!
06-02-18, 03:02 PM
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hmmm I just did a quick google search and lead me to the Specialized Roll Elite product page but as you mentioned the manual is from 2007 .
As for you tire pressure if you scroll down towards tho bottom of the page is says 25-50 PSI for 650b x 2.3". I should also state this on the tire it self, Probably small put it is there. Me, I would run them between 35-40. Thats Just me and not sure how that would work for you. Perhaps some one else will have better info or call your shop and see if they may be of more help.
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/ni...flect/p/131655
Congrats on the new bike!!!!
.As for you tire pressure if you scroll down towards tho bottom of the page is says 25-50 PSI for 650b x 2.3". I should also state this on the tire it self, Probably small put it is there. Me, I would run them between 35-40. Thats Just me and not sure how that would work for you. Perhaps some one else will have better info or call your shop and see if they may be of more help.
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/ni...flect/p/131655
Congrats on the new bike!!!!
06-02-18, 06:57 PM
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are they something like this Schrader valve covers?
06-03-18, 07:21 AM
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are they something like this Schrader valve covers?
06-03-18, 07:22 AM
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But that’s the least of my issues. What I’m looking for is recommendations for a proper technical manual.
06-03-18, 08:52 AM
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What ships w/the bike is a generic manual aimed mainly at limiting liability.
The various parts on the bike are from different brands, and you can often go to the brand sites to find documentation. However, the more lower end and generic the parts, the harder it can be to find technical documentation for them.
Amazon will have books on bicycle mechanics. Common types of components such as mechanical disk brakes all work much the same. Mostly. But not always.
Shop mechanics will have access to documentation from their bicycle brands, and also to industry manuals such as Barnett's: https://www.bbinstitute.com/the-barnett-manual
Your Specialized dealer would be the best person to ask about the valve cap. It's a Specialized-branded item, and one would hope the dealer would have access to some sort of documentation on it.
Last edited by JonathanGennick; 06-03-18 at 08:56 AM.
06-03-18, 10:59 AM
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06-03-18, 11:50 AM
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Good question, and I should have been clearer. I’m a geek, I want to know how the systems work. The only maintenance I’m planning to do is cleaning, lubing, and fixing a flat, but I’d like to understand things well enough to know what I’m talking about when I hand it over to the bike doctor at the Local Bike Shop.
Just got back from a 20+ mile shakedown cruise. God, the Roll is a comfortable bike!
06-03-18, 12:11 PM
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06-03-18, 12:42 PM
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Good question, and I should have been clearer. I’m a geek, I want to know how the systems work. The only maintenance I’m planning to do is cleaning, lubing, and fixing a flat, but I’d like to understand things well enough to know what I’m talking about when I hand it over to the bike doctor at the Local Bike Shop.
Just got back from a 20+ mile shakedown cruise. God, the Roll is a comfortable bike!
https://www.sheldonbrown.com
If you really get into the techno-history of bike gearing systems The Dancing Chain is quite a book. Not to start off with though.
06-03-18, 03:37 PM
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OMG!! I've longed for a Stainless Roll 8 ever since the few that rolled off the assembly line did years ago. I still regularly browse/search for one.
The thing about bike manuals is that they all seem to come off the same original draft. Safety stuff, model-generic, and not much else. I think my electric-bike one is the only recent one that had any meaningful material, and even that was limited for what I had to know and learn. I still have the binders/manuals that came with my KAYPRO 10 and my HP Omnibook, but I don't remember bikes ever coming with good bike/model-specific manuals. I don't think you'll find a helpful manual anywhere for that Roll because one was never printed.
The thing about bike manuals is that they all seem to come off the same original draft. Safety stuff, model-generic, and not much else. I think my electric-bike one is the only recent one that had any meaningful material, and even that was limited for what I had to know and learn. I still have the binders/manuals that came with my KAYPRO 10 and my HP Omnibook, but I don't remember bikes ever coming with good bike/model-specific manuals. I don't think you'll find a helpful manual anywhere for that Roll because one was never printed.
06-03-18, 05:13 PM
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OMG!! I've longed for a Stainless Roll 8 ever since the few that rolled off the assembly line did years ago. I still regularly browse/search for one.
The thing about bike manuals is that they all seem to come off the same original draft. Safety stuff, model-generic, and not much else. I think my electric-bike one is the only recent one that had any meaningful material, and even that was limited for what I had to know and learn. I still have the binders/manuals that came with my KAYPRO 10 and my HP Omnibook, but I don't remember bikes ever coming with good bike/model-specific manuals. I don't think you'll find a helpful manual anywhere for that Roll because one was never printed.
The thing about bike manuals is that they all seem to come off the same original draft. Safety stuff, model-generic, and not much else. I think my electric-bike one is the only recent one that had any meaningful material, and even that was limited for what I had to know and learn. I still have the binders/manuals that came with my KAYPRO 10 and my HP Omnibook, but I don't remember bikes ever coming with good bike/model-specific manuals. I don't think you'll find a helpful manual anywhere for that Roll because one was never printed.
You’re right about the manuals. My wife’s Pedego had more actual info (though not all that much).
Sheldon Brown of happy memory had some great, but rather general stuff. Park Tools definitely has more.
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