[chrisbird616]

A bit of a Noob question, apologies.

I turned an occasional habit to a routine one last year and started cycling the 6 miles to work on my 25 year old Halfords Apollo hybrid every day, even through the winter.

As it became a habit I started going out on small jaunts in the evenings on weekends in the rough hill roads and tracks around where I live and on the way home from work. Started enjoying cycling just for the sake of it and got fitter.

My Apollo bike was starting to get more of a maintenance problem than it was worth, so I decided to get myself a modestly priced gravel bike for both commuting and weekend leisure. Right in the middle of the Great Bike Shortage of 2020. I couldn’t get the Boardman bike I wanted until December, so in August I ordered a cheaper Voodoo Nakisi gravel bike from Halfords instead (yes, I know other bike shops are available, but tbh they were not accomodating).

I really enjoy riding it as it is loads of fun. But I have been back and forth to Halfords almost every other week since I got it – details available on request as I won’t bore everybody by listing them here.

Currently, both wheels have very noticable wobbles in them. Nothing major, just annoying at present and I know they will have to be sorted. The front wheel I’ve already had straightened by Halfords once, about two weeks after I got the bike.

My question is, is this normal or a result of buying a cheapish bike with budget wheels? I’m not exactly testing the tolerances of the engineering IMO as I’m only back and forth on roads to work in the week and on tarmac (but rough) roads on the weekend. I’ve gone on gravel or MTB type tracks literally twice since I had the bike. I don’t think the wheels have had any bangs other than what you might expect from rough roads.

Are regular wheel wobbles something to be expected or have I got bit of a dud of a bike? Or am I maybe riding it too much like the 100kg oaf that I am? 

Topic

[don simon fbpe]

A badly built wheel is a

A badly built wheel is a badly built, whatever the cost. As for repairing it, I believe that the wheel would have to be stripped back and rebuilt from scratch, rather than just replacing/retightening the damaged spokes.

I would be having a look at the weight limits too, but I wouldn’t have thought that it’s come with a 16 spoke flyweight wheel, so shouldn’t be a problem.

Buying a cheapish set of new wheels might be a way forward, it worked for me. And you can always take them with you when you buy a new bike.

As for other stuff, some wears out, some needs maintenance and some will just be cheap shit on  a budget bike.

[chrisbird616]

David9694 – No, the 100kg is

David9694 – No, the 100kg is just me in my cycling socks! I’m not ashamed of it, I’ve shed loads of weight since I started cycling and I am now just a slimline lump of a man. I still recognise that I might be on the heavy side for things built for humans and I’m possibly stressing things out more than I relise on every bump. Especially on a budget bike.

I’ve had lots of issues tbh, mainly some teething problems and with the gears, including just having them reindexed after a bit of riding in. But having that done multiple times, four times so far by my count. Also had a gear cable replaced. A new set of pedals as one started seizing after about four weeks. Also it was picked up from the store with the handlebars on skewif, about an inch longer on one side and pointing downwards with the brake hoods parallel to the ground… (I sorted that myself…).

Also – to me – the big chain ring looks worn as the teeth are irregular and no two looks quite alike. I know that they aren’t all going to be identical and the bike chappie in Halfords told me that ‘they are supposed to be like that for the indexing’, but these just look like they have work irregularly.

No loose bolts yet, to be fair.

I really like the bike and it seems a lot better quality than I was expecting in terms of build and finishing. I’m sure it will last me quite a few years but the number of issues, the chain ring and the frequency with how often I’m getting wheel wobbles for basically riding it on main roads is a bit worrying.

I used to tackle wobbles in my wheel rims on my old Apollo bike after a bit of practice with a spoke key. I was using the rim brake pads as a reference point on that, which I can’t do on my current bike.

I guess the best next step is to take it to my LBS for him to sort my wheels / spokes out and look at my chain ring. 

[mtbtomo]

I agree with Cyclefaster, no
I agree with Cyclefaster, no reason why a bike at the cheaper end of the scale can’t give months and years of good service if set up well in the first place and then well maintained.

If the wheel wasn’t built very well to begin with, and that is quite possible with factory built wheels, then the spokes might not have been the correct tension to start with or been de-stressed (can’t remember if that’s the exact correct term). If that’s the case then it’s likely they will continually go out of true as spokes loosen. This assumes you mean the wheel rim moves side to side like the first response queries – rather than it being loose bearings.

A shop that can build wheels should be able to tension the wheel properly rather than just tweak some of the nipples around the out of true section to bring it back straight. Or buy yourself a spoke key and read how to true the rim yourself. It’s not difficult if you take it slowly.

If you’re on tarmac and avoiding big potholes, even at 100kg they shouldn’t be going out of true that often but I think it would be hard to argue the wheels are a warranty issue, without the opinion of someone who knows what a well built wheel is.

[kil0ran]

Depends if you’re talking

Depends if you’re talking about buckles in the wheel or a bearing issue. Buckles are just an occupational hazard and factory-built wheels can/do go out of tension and true pretty easily. I had a brand new Raleigh wheel from Halfords fail within 15 miles (I was also well north of 100kgs then). I’d take the wheels to a proper bike shop and have them true them for you and check spoke tension. Both these things are an acquired skill and best left to professionals IMO when you’re just starting. 

Wheels are often an area where corners are cut to make a price point – Decathlon wheels had a reputation for crap bearing life a few years back for example. You can tell if there’s play in the bearings by grasping the wheel firmly at the top and pushing it from side to side. There should be no play and if they’ve gone in two months then that’s a defect, particularly as the weather hasn’t been particularly bad yet. 

You should also expect brakes and gears to go out of adjustment in the first couple of months as cable housing settle down into their stops. Usually resolved by a quarter turn on a barrel adjuster at the rear derailleur. Sora is a good quality groupset these days so it should be reliable, but gears do need occasional tweaks to get them running smoothly. 

I’m guessing you’ve got disc brakes and they’ll also need fettling regularly.

Bike maintenance is actually pretty easy to learn yourself these days with Youtube and your bike is on the simple side with big tolerances in terms of shifting setup. The disc brakes will probably be a constant faff as cable-actuated discs just go out of whack really easily. The trickiest thing to learn is probably indexing gears – the key to that is having good eyes and ears and to make small adjustments only (we’re talking a quarter of a turn at a time on an adjuster. Rear gears are easier to index than the front. 

[David9694]

I daren’t step on the scales

I daren’t step on the scales either – that is a fair bit to put on your wheels – do you carry much cargo too? I can see this model at £550 – is that correct? That’s on the modest side, tbh.
 

What other issues have you had? cables always stretch a bit from new which can play havoc with indexed gears; random bolts come undone in the first 200 miles. 

It’s possible the wheels haven’t been put together very well – spokes should generally go “ping” at around the same pitch when plucked  – it may be “pong” on the drive side of the rear. They should all feel pretty tight – but it’s a dark art how tight – and there shouldn’t be any loose ones. 

You can true them yourself, if they are a bit out,  with a spoke key. 
 

[cyclefaster]

My first road bike was a £300

My first road bike was a £300 from Decathlon which was an all year round commuter for a number of years. I have plenty of faith that cheap bikes that are reasonably well maintained can be solid performers and up to the job and I wouldn’t expect to have problems with it, especially after 2 months.

[Author]

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