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SECTION: III Fit / SECTION: IV Tech
D. Control Position Adjustments
The angle of the controls and their position on the handlebars can be
changed. Ask your dealer to make the adjustments for you.
E. Brake Reach
Many bikes have brake levers which can be adjusted for reach. If you have
small hands or find it difficult to squeeze the brake levers, your dealer can
either adjust the reach or fit shorter reach brake levers.
WARNING:
The shorter the brake lever reach, the more critical it is to have
correctly adjusted brakes, so that full braking power can be applied within
available brake lever travel. Brake lever travel insufficient to apply full braking
power can result in loss of control, which may result in serious injury or death.
IV. Tech
It’s important to your safety, performance and enjoyment to understand
how things work on your bicycle. If you have even the slightest doubt as
to whether you understand something in this section of the Manual, talk to
your dealer.
A. Wheels
1. Wheel Quick Release
WARNING:
Riding with an improperly adjusted wheel quick release can
allow the wheel to wobble or disengage from the bicycle, causing serious
injury or death to the rider. Therefore, it is essential that you:
a. Ask your dealer to help you make sure you know how to install and
remove your wheels safely.
b. Understand and apply the correct technique for clamping your wheel in
place with a quick release.
c. Each time, before you ride the bike, check that the wheel is securely
clamped.
The wheel quick release uses a cam action to clamp the bike’s wheel in place
(see Fig. 10). Because of its adjustable nature, it is critical that you under-
stand how it works, how to use it properly, and how much force you need
to apply to secure the wheel.
WARNING:
The full force of the cam action is needed to clamp the wheel
securely. Holding the nut with one hand and turning the lever like a wing nut
with the other hand until everything is as tight as you can get it will not clamp
the wheel safely in the dropouts.
a.
Adjusting the Quick Release Mechanism.
The wheel hub is
clamped in place by the force of the quick release cam pushing
against one dropout and pulling the tension adjusting nut, by
way of the skewer, against the other dropout. The amount of
clamping force is controlled by the tension adjusting nut.
SECTION: IV Tech
19
4.
Lift the rear wheel off the ground a few inches and, with
the derailleur still pulled back, push the wheel forward
and down until it comes out of the rear dropouts.
d. Installing a Bolt-On Rear Wheel
1.
Shift the rear derailleur to its outermost position and pull
the derailleur body back with your right hand.
2.
Put the chain on to the smallest sprocket. Then, insert the
wheel into the frame dropouts and pull it all the way in to
the dropouts.The axle nut washers should be on the out-
side, between the frame and the axle nut.
3.
Using the correct size wrench,
tighten the axle nuts as tightly as
you can.
4.
Push the rear derailleur back into
position.
5.
Re-engage the brake quick-release
mechanism to restore correct brake
pad-to-rim clearance; spin the
wheel to make sure that it is cen-
tered in the frame and clears the
brake pads; then squeeze the brake lever and make sure
that the brakes are operating correctly.
B. Seatpost Quick Release
Some bikes are equipped with a quick-release seat post binder. The
seatpost quick-release binder works exactly like the wheel quick-release
(Section IV.A.1.) While a quick release looks like a long bolt with a lever on
one end and a nut on the other, the quick release uses a cam action to firmly
clamp the seat post (see Fig. 6).
WARNING:
Riding with an improperly tightened seat post can allow the
saddle to turn or move and cause you to lose control and fall. Therefore:
1. Ask your dealer to help you make sure you know how to correctly clamp
your seat post.
2. Understand and apply the correct technique for clamping your seat post
quick release.
3. Before you ride the bike, first check that the seatpost is securely
clamped.
a. Adjusting the seatpost quick release mechanism
The action of the quick release cam squeezes the seat collar around
the seat post to hold the seat post securely in place. The amount of
clamping force is controlled by the tension adjusting nut. Turning
the tension adjusting nut clockwise while keeping the cam lever
from rotating increases clamping force; turning it counterclock-
wise while keeping the cam lever from rotating reduces clamping
force. Less than half a turn of the tension adjusting nut can make
the difference between safe and unsafe clamping force.
Fig 9
