Congrats on the new bike.

Keep riding and you'll be amazed at how quickly your legs will will become thick like tree trunks. Don't worry too much about skidding- many FG riders never do it, there is nothing wrong with using the brake on a FG.

10-4, glad we are both on the same page.

i'm going to give the drops a little bit of time. it might be that i never end up using them because i feel too unstable.

i've heard a lot of recommendations about changing parts on the bike already - saddle, post, stem, etc. i don't see what so bad about the stem, though i might want to get one a bit shorter. i don't know yet.
i don't plan on adding any flat black parts; i want all the metal to remain polished/chrome. if there's going to be any color on the bike it'll be white or blue wheels/tape/seat.

+1 on chrome/blue!

Aint low till you flop that stem

Jobst Brandt, some local mechanics and myself disagree.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/i...ng-cranks.html

I have always greased square taper spindles. This allows the crank to slide onto the spindle properly (not "too far") rather than be limitted by friction which is an entirely inconsistent method of fitting. Your cranks don't just pop off or come loose with grease either, you still need a crank puller to remove them.

I was looking at this bike online yesterday. Enjoy the bike!

Couch

friction is by no means inconstant. as long as the empirical properties of the two metals are not changed, it is as accurate as you can get. there is even a formula for it:

coulomb friction:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/0/c...413171d4bb.png

also, even lubricated, friction is STILL the limiting force. the coefficient of friction is just changed by the properties of your lubricant (dramatically different depending on what you use)

any lubricants will dramatically reduce the coefficient of friction and this WILL cause the cranks to slide on further. this WOULD be ok if the two mating surfaces and torque specs took lubrication into the equation but they DO NOT. advise your instructions, not some local mechanics and sheldon brown. both shimano and campagnolo have been at this for some time.

I have never seen the instructions for a shimano or campagnolo crankset. To my knowledge, my IRO cranks did not come with instructions.

That said, I've always lubed my spindles with no problems, the mechanics who've recommended doing so have been at their jobs longer than most of us have been riding bikes, and Jobst Brandt is more than credible on the matter. Read the entire link, the logic makes sense

I totally don't know anything, but I don't see how adding anything (lubricant, dirt, water, whatever) would allow a crank to go further onto the spindle. Lube just makes things slippery, not smaller. If you're jamming them in too far, that's the problem, not the lubrication.

(I'm not a mechanic and I don't know what I'm talking about)

i did read the entire link, and what he said does makes sense. unfortunately most manufactures designed there parts for dry fitment, not lubricated. i do know white industries cranks/bottom brackets recommend grease. maybe the other manufactures should have as well, who knows. thanks for keeping things civil and informative :thumb:

its not an issue of bigger/smaller. its the coefficient of friction. sort of like if you do a skid stop on a wet road, you will skid farther because the water reduces the coefficient between the tires and concrete.

maybe a better example is putting grips on flat bars. if you use some soapy water they go on with less resistance. the grips and bars are both the same size but the soap/water lets you do it with a lot less work. grease on a square taper works in the same way. theoretically the crank will slide on easier and if the same force (torque) is applied it will move further (ramps up on taper)

campy's instructions call for 28ft/lbs dry and if i recall shimano's is some where around 30ft/lbs dry

just read some more info,

according to race face greased cranks WILL go on .5mm farther than dry using the same torque value. to fight the corrosion issues discussed in eltwitcho's link, they have taken this into account and machined they're components for a grease fitment.

i guess i can only reinforce the the importance of reading the instructions suppled with your cranks/bb

sorry for filling your thread with information not applicable to your bottom bracket. i hope that you have located the noise.

i do love your bike. i think a new stem and seat will really clean it up

thanks, mang.

i don't know the first thing about BB's, but this is how i learn.

side note i got a hair dryer and removed all the stickers from the wheels cleanly. 18 effing stickers. looks much cleaner now.
i spent the rest of the night trying to learn how to trackstand in my apartment. almost put my hand through a mirror (awesome)

um yeah i can't see why they wouldn't want you to give them $25 for a 17t cog

For a moment I read the title thread as "i got my first GF" but I was disappointed when I clicked and seen a chrome pista.

I spent an hour in a park today trying to trackstand. had a really hard time doing any rocking back and forth.
eventually my legs got tired, so I went for a ride.. which was a blast. heard the creak/rattle but I can't tell whether it's the bb or further back.

eff it man, the bike is brand new... I'll stop by the store and have them check it out.
maybe I'll have them put a 17t on the other side of the hub and have a high/low gear

3 things that helped me learn to trackstand: 1) Find out which foot your "chocolate" foot is (I don't know why it's called that). That's the foot you would have forward on a skateboard. Or the opposite foot that you would kick with. That is the foot that you will have in the forward position. Don't forget to turn the wheel towards the front foot. 2) Get as good as you can at riding slow. Like, really slow. Like as slow as you can go. Also, riding in very small circles at very slow speed will help. 3) Roll into a stop (while you're doing the very slow riding) with all your weight on your BACK foot. Once you do that, you should have to start to transfer your weight to your front foot to keep from going backwards/falling over. It's all about the transfer of momentum/weight from front to back foot. That should help you with the rocking back and forth. Once you can do that, then you just make the rocking motion smaller and smaller until you can consider it a stand, instead of a wobble back and forth. Then work on doing them seated. Then no handed. Then you get the chicks.

Yeah man totally take it in, therein lies the beauty of buying @ LBS versus online, they should be cool with identifying/remedying any issues in a brand new bike they sold you, cuz if not they know you can just harass them. There shouldn't be a creak or a rattle. Let us know what it was.

Trackstand tips: use your dominant foot forward (later you can become ambidextrous), turn the wheel towards it, and try turning it quite a bit, like 75deg.

Great bike!

16x52!!!!!!!!!!!!
do it.
get a leather saddle and two brakes.
skid on follow fixer!

I am right handed, would kick with my right foot, but I'm right-foot-forward on a snowboard or skateboard. Will my bike explode if I try to trackstand?

Keep the bike as is until stuff wears out or you positively, absolutely can't stand it. The urge to upgrade is especially strong when the bike is new but if you resist it you'll save yourself a lot of money.

You've got a good bit of setback on the saddle and a long stem; if you feel like you are leaning too far over, a shorter stem will help. When your hands are on the flat tops of the bars, you should be able to remove them without falling over. Or close to it. You are riding on the street, not pursuit on a track; sitting a bit more upright is cool.

When your pedals are in the 3 and 9 o'clock positions is your knee over the pedal spindle or behind it? If behind, you can move the saddle forward a quarter-inch to half-inch at a time. You'll then need to raise the seatpost slightly to correct the height. There should be a slight bend in the knee when the pedal is at the bottom.

Using the front brake will help you to skid by unweighting the rear.

I second the blue bartape when you get tired of dirty white bartape.

Place a bit of tape on the seatpost to mark its position then remove it. Clean the post and also the inside of the tube as much as you can. Then, lightly grease the post up to the tape mark and carefully reinsert it. Remove the saddle, keeping track of its position on the post. Wipe the rails clean, reinstall. Make sure the bolts are tight but don't kill yourself.

Remove the bottom bracket. You'll have to remove the crank first. The threads on the bottom bracket should be greased. If so, reinstall the bottom bracket and crank.

The act of removing and reinstalling components will often clear up those mystery creaks and is good practice.

I would take your wheels to the LBS and have them check the spokes for even tension and also make sure the spokes were stress relieved at the factory. Creaking spokes/nipples can drive one crazy. Cheap machine made wheelsets often need retruing at the bike shop anyways.