Assembling Your New Bike
1) Remove all packaging, cardboard, cable ties, plastic bags etc, please recycle what you can.
2) Put the front wheel into the bike if this has come separate. Tighten either the quick release or wheel nuts, make sure the wheel is vertical with the bike on top. This way the wheel always sits perfectly central.
Tighten the quick release lever.
DO NOT simply turn the lever against the nut.
DO twist the lever against the nut until you can turn the lever 180 degrees and it feels reasonably tight. This should always be done by hand without the use of tools.
(top tip: the industry standard is to have the lever on the left hand side of the bike from the riders point of view. Purely aesthetics)
3) (V-brakes only) Hook the brakes up .This is done by simply putting the end of the guide pipe into the metal bracket on the arm that doesn't have the cable bolted into it.
4) Put the pedals on. THE PEDALS ARE CLEARLY MARKED 'L' AND 'R'.
Meaning left or right hand side of the bike from the riders perspective. Wind them on by pressing the thread gently against the thread in the crank arm and gently, without great force, get them hand tight in the crank. Using a pedal spanner (or if it fits a 15mm spanner) and tighten them up fully.
5) Fit the seatpost & saddle. Do this by pacing the seatpost into the seat tube and tightening the clamp with either the quick release, a 4/5mm allen key or a 13mm spanner (whichever applies to your model of bike).
6) Fitting the bars. Remove any black plastic packaging from both the bottom of the bars or the top of the headset.
If it is a quill type, (just 1 bolt on top of the stem) then loosen the bolt off two turns and make sure the bolt is at its lowest point before placing in the frame and tightening. Once it is in the frame and the 'minimum insertion point' is no longer showing on the stem, tighten up the bolt, making sure that the stem is in line with the frame & front wheel.
If it is a threadless type, the stem will be already on the bike. Turn the stem in line with the wheels and tighten the two bolts on the side of the stem evenly until secure. Then, take the front part (faceplate) off the stem (usually held on by 2 or 4 bolts) and put the bars in position. Then tighten the bolts up evenly, making sure the gap at the bottom is the same as the gap at the bottom.
7) Make sure the tyres are pumped up. It will always say what pressure to pump them up to on the side of the tyre and this is a very good guide of how hard to pump them up. See our site if you need a pump with a gauge.
8) Run through the gears while not sat on the bike, just make sure they are running OK.
9) Go out and have fun! This is by far the most important part of your new bike.