Lessons Were Learned

I’ve installed most of the parts onto the bike now, but there were a few hiccups along the way.

Firstly it turns out that Hollowtech 2 cranks are fairly snug fits for the bearing sleeves. As a result didn’t realise that I hadn’t pushed the crank all the way through to the other side.It was only when I was about to put the pedals on that I realised the chain ring seemed to be a long way out from the side of the bottom bracket.

On top of all that I should have known something was wrong as the front dérailleur was clearly misaligned. It was popping back and forth around the innermost front cog which would make it impossible to shift gears, and a quick test told me that there was no way it could shift the chain to either of the outer rings.  To test my worries by hopping into the saddle and dangling my feet roughly where the pedals should be. The positioning definitely didn’t feel very natural, and my right leg was perfectly position to get slashed to hell by the chain ring with every turn of the pedals.

As an experiment I gave the crank a quick, and thoroughly unscientific, dunt with my foot to see if it was properly installed and lo and behold it popped through about an inch and a half and settled into a far more sensible looking position.

Second thing I found was that my fancy new Shimano rear cassette had a set of bolts which emerged from the back of it to help secure the various cogs together. These bolts were rubbing against the plastic freehub protector which prevents the chain leaping off the  largest rear cog and wrapping itself around the spokes of the rear wheel. So long as the rear dérailleur is properly aligned and adjusted there shouldn’t be a problem, but I’m still a bit wary.

The only thing left to do is try it out.