mushrooshi

I came in for a Giant Cypress, Came out with a Giant FCR3! Yay me!

Panthers007

Congratulations! What are you doing here reading this? Go for a ride! And keep those tires inflated.

mushrooshi

Well, I saw the Giant Cypress for $380, got on it, but I wasn't really comfortable on it. Then I saw an FCR3 for $400, WAYYY marked down (Giant's MSRP is $600, LBS price was $550, was marked down to $400), sat on it, and it was very awesome feeling.

Now, to get them fenders, cyclometre, and rear rack

edit: I took it for a quick ride around the block. Very awesome ride! On my previous Huffy (which sucked), I couldn't even pedal up hill. Now I can do it. I'm out of shape, not overweight, just weak, but even so I was able to climb up the hills.

I don't care about how it's not an FCR alliance or a carbon fiber or something, I like my ride very much, and this entry level hybrid is worlds better than that suck huffy.

Panthers007

I wouldn't write the words 'Huffy' and 'Giant' in the same sentence. Your computer might catch fire and explode.

Timber_8

Huffy actually had its day on top in the 60s

mushrooshi

Well, I called the LBS I purchased from, but its 18:54 and they are closed at 19:00, so no answer.

Heres is the thing:

When I use the left shifter (The one that shifts the gears on the pedals), going from gears 1 to 2 I have to push the thing all the way before it shifts. If I go 75%, it tries to shift but ends up hung up on 1st gear, and it makes silly noises. Going from 3rd to 2nd, its butter.

WCoastPeddler

Nice!

With a bit of practice and getting in shape you should be able to out ride those bullies who are chasing you.

Timber_8

Hear save this to your Favorites and start by watching the clip on how to shift your bike.
Tamara you can use this too. Their is a lot of useful stuff hear. The narrator is also a member of BF

https://bicycletutor.com/guide/

https://bicycletutor.com/gear-shifting/

TamaraEden

OH NO...I've been pegged as a poor shifting newbie!

I actually have been riding with my husband in a little riding group downtown and trust me, they've given me pointers. I've been working at the not pushing, going into a harder gear a ways before a hill, and switching to easier and easier as the incline arrives. I've got some tools...so thanks

Timber_8

LOL I didn't mean to single you out but I knew this would be helpful to you. the sight is the most usefull I have ever seen. Every tutorial is narrate. just click and watch

DigiK

Check out the following post regarding some initial FD issues that I also had:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...35&postcount=8

In summary with EZ/RapidFire shifters, it's necessary to apply continuous pressure going from front small to medium chain ring until the chain has fully engaged. If you're still having issues with the chain not catching or dropping, the FD might be improperly adjusted. Feel free to read the whole thread; there's a bunch of good information on FDs in there.

BTW, congrats on the bike purchase--looks like a very good bike for an awesome price.

TamaraEden

Actually, that was great. I tend to ride mostly in two when it's lots of stop and go and inclines that pop up like where I live. I am not rich, we live in a tiny 1 bedroom apt. but living at the foot of the Hollywood Hills can be killer. I've been switching to 3 when we do those downtown rides which are flat and have some nice long straightaways. And of course, doing the hills on our more excercise style rides I switch to 1.

NOW...what I didn't know was that when in 1, I should stay between 1 and 3, and when in 3, I should stay between 5 and 7. THAT is great info, so thanks!

Panthers007

Many bike-shops do a half-a**ed job of installing and adjusting the front-derailleur. And the cables do stretch, throwing it off further. But this is about normal. So fear not - it will be remedied.

TamaraEden

^ Yes.

I'm new too and after not even a dozen rides I brought my bike to the LBS (since I purchased it there I get lifetime basic tuneups!). The guy there said it was definitely in need of adjustments already. My rear brake had come pretty loose (well pulled loose). I also wanted to adjust the brakes since my hands seemed to stretch far to get them and I had them rotate my bars up a notch for comfort. I was told that it takes a few tunes ups like this to get it perfect. I've also raised my seat 3 times now to get it right.

Good luck with the bike and don't worry about these mishaps...it happens to all of us. Just last week I was making a left turn from Hollywood Blvd to a cross street. There is lots of traffic here so to go smoother I did an idiot move and switched my gear while stationary which caused my rear derailler to lock up and jam. I ended up walking the bike a few blocks to the meeting I was on my way to and had a guy I work with fix it; he's a cyclist too.

Timber_8

I'm glad it was helpful, it won't be long before you fixing other peoples bikes for them. owning a bike has a way of teaching you

mushrooshi

No bullies chase me

I was just asking that question out of my slight paranoia.

WCoastPeddler

That's a relief. I was getting a bit worried about you.

Enjoy your new bike -- looks like you did well on it.

Panthers007

Don't even think about leaving it for "just a sec." as you dash into a store. It WILL be stolen. And keep it in your house.

mushrooshi

I keep it inside. My dad is insistent on keeping it in a garage, but if I put it on a doormat (placed inside) that should take care of dirt problems.

Panthers007

If not - try putting it IN your bed. Then he might be willing to negotiate - if he thinks his son has the hots for his bicycle.....

Don't skimp on a lock. I like the Kryptonite ones. But it depends on what you'd be locking it to.

I had a bike stolen from my garage - and mint Raleigh Sport 3-speed. The crook drove up our long driveway into the forest where our house, and garage, stood. He was driving a Porsche! He was in his 50's. As I hunted for the ammunition for my rifle - the guy had the bike, stuffed it in his Porsche, and drove off. It was 3:00am.

mushrooshi

I'm looking at the Kryptonite Kryptolok Series 2. The Evolution and higher are quite pricey, and they look like they are stronger than the very bike racks they will secure my bike to.

What is the Onguard equivalent to the Series 2, Evolution, and New york. The New Yorks are way too pricey for me as well.

How common would it be to break a lock with powertools? I'm in the 'good' part of town, and at most the worst thief in the area would be some random teenager. The bike is primarily for my commute to the school and back, and the school is swarming with police and security cameras. The bike racks are pitiful though, in that you could probably cut through them easier than an Evolution or a New York. Out of what I can remember, all of the bikes stored there are Huffy, Next, Schwinn, etc. I can't recall seeing any nicer bikes, so that might be a problem. In addition, I don't go to the school I'm commuting to; I go to an engineering program at a different school in the school district, so I catch a school bus. My bike will be one of the first and one of the last in the bike rack.

Should I get a bike lock weaker than the racks? Antitheft guarantees only honor if the lock itself was broken into, and if they steal the bike rack or something, they don't honor it. In addition, if the lock isn't present, you can't get the guarantee.

Should I weld a 3 dollar chain combo to the U-lock? That way, if the bike gets stolen, no one can just grab the U-lock and throw it away (for some stupid reason). The U-lock is still there, attached to the bike rack, so I can recover it.

Do you guys know of anyone who was honored their antitheft guarantee?

Sixty Fiver

Nice catch on the FCR... it will be a far faster bike that the Cypress and still offer a decent level of comfort.

You will need to know this...

Cables don't actually stretch and if the installation is professional there should be no need to adjust the cables but that rarely happens.

Over the first 100 or so miles the cables will seat themselves into the ferules and stops and this reduces the cable tension which throws off the shifting.

The fix is really easy and when this happens you can save yourself a trip to the lbs by tightening the cables yourself... the barrel adjuster at back of the rear derailer controls cable tension and there is a fine tuning adjustment at the shifter itself.

With the bike in it's top gear (smallest rear cog) and chain on the middle or chain ring one click of the shifter should smoothly pull the chain up to the next gear and and if this does not happen the adjuster will need to be turned counter clockwise to increase the tension. A few turns of the barrel adjuster should be all that is needed.

The best way to do this is with the bike on a stand as you can turn the barrel adjuster as you turn the cranks... if you have a second person who can hold up the rear of then bike while you make the adjustment (it takes a few seconds) that can help.

Indexed front derailers are the work of satan.

Panthers007

- fixed.

Not if you break all the rules by using a FD said not to work with your set-up - claiming your chain-rings can't be over a specific size - and to abandon ship on the very idea. Such as the XTR I'm running on my 52-39-30 crankset.

Don't Believe the Hype!

mushrooshi

Wait what? I'm new to this!

I forgot to add too, did your homeowners insurance cover your bike?

Panthers007

That was in 1973. And yes - homeowner's covered it.

What I'm getting at is that many things are possible that the accepted rules say is not possible. I have an indexed system on my hybrid. One 'click' and it's supposed to change the gears one gear at a time - both FD and RD. And it never worked right. It would go out of adjustment on a simple 5-mile ride. I got rid of the stock FD, and put on a mountain-FD. It wasn't supposed to work according to Shimano. That the largest chainring it could handle was 48T on the way outside. Guess again. And it worked perfectly after I installed it. 'click, click, click'

So what I'm trying to tell you is this: Don't get worked-up. The bike is very capable of working perfectly with, perhaps, a bit of patience. 65 (as i call him) knows a great deal about bikes and how they work - and don't. But he, it seems, doesn't get along with indexed shifters. But nowadays I know how to set them up to work perfectly. No problems. But I break the rules to do it - sometimes.

Now relax. Snuggle-up with your bike in bed. And go for a Sunday ride! And have some fun!