front wheel change
- Thread starter defjack
- Start date
trplay
Zen MBB Master
Come on pilgrims. Changing a cruzbike front tire is no harder than changing a rear on a df. It's merely a learned skill that doesn't take much time to acquire. No straps, extra hands, crew, fancy lock derailleurs, geniuses needed. Try this. Lay the bike on its side. Sit down beside it. Remove the skewer, bump the tire with hand until tire separates from fork. Now gently move chain from around cassette. Notice chain sits right there like a good boy until you reunite his friend, the cassette again. Slide the wheel off. Fix the flat. Slide the wheel back to chain. Reunite the buddies. Slide the wheel back onto the fork. Insert and lock the skewer. Get up , stand bike up, loosen skewer, and re-tighten checking for proper fit. It's time for more fun and adventure. It really is as simple as this.
Faux pas of fixing flats: Calling significant other to come pick you up. Having your wife do it for you. Even worse, a Df'er giving advice or pray tell, doing it! I think there should be a test before one becomes an official member of the Cruzzie Nation. One of the key requirements should be changing the front tire. We already have enough challenges trying to convince people these bikes are ridable by the masses. Standing by the roadside with the chain off, derailleur in the mud while the owner is mumbling "Igot no idea" isn't going to help the cause. Learn to fix it or------ go tubeless.
Faux pas of fixing flats: Calling significant other to come pick you up. Having your wife do it for you. Even worse, a Df'er giving advice or pray tell, doing it! I think there should be a test before one becomes an official member of the Cruzzie Nation. One of the key requirements should be changing the front tire. We already have enough challenges trying to convince people these bikes are ridable by the masses. Standing by the roadside with the chain off, derailleur in the mud while the owner is mumbling "Igot no idea" isn't going to help the cause. Learn to fix it or------ go tubeless.
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super slim
Zen MBB Master
Unbelievable skills!!!
bladderhead
Zen MBB Master
I do not complain about changing the tube on the Silvio because I am too busy complaining about changing the tube on the Grasshopper. Small wheels. So hard to get the tyre off. The tyre lever pinged off and hit me on the head. I narrowly missed losing an eye. Getting the tyre back on is a thumb-breaker. And it is hard to get the pump on and off. Then I have to get the wheel back on. The Rohloff has an axle-plate that rotates into the wrong position. And there is a chain-tensioner which pops out of its socket. Silvio is a doddle.
The bloke in that video is incredible. Big shoulder and arm muscles. Do his feet get cold?
The bloke in that video is incredible. Big shoulder and arm muscles. Do his feet get cold?
Zzzorse
Zen MBB Master
I love that video. Looks like a Crank Brothers Speed Lever he's using. Just got one, they work like magic.
Can't tell you how po'ed I am at your condescending post, the company's lack of forewarning and the amount of time I had to spend learning the hard way. I have been riding bikes of all sorts for over 50 years and changing tires just as long. This kind of messaging does nothing but prevent new owners from learning and enjoying an very expensive, poorly engineered frame and bike. It would cost the company nothing to put a simple piece of paper in an owners manual or the shipping box with some of your (abbreviated) steps included.
if you've been riding bikes for over 50 years, it really shouldn't have been the hard for you, just takes a little looking at the front triangle to realise its a rear triangle rotated by about 45 degrees.
the spring force between fork and chainstay should keep everything in place, or if you are really worried zip ties
the spring force between fork and chainstay should keep everything in place, or if you are really worried zip ties
benphyr
Guru-me-not
Hi @psmatrix and Welcome!
Agreed, there is (always) room for more instructions and easily found instructions for a new owner is especially important.
It would be ideal to provide basic technical information and suggest forum resources as another source of technical info and personal assistance. I believe this is currently adequately done. Any one of the product pages on the official website has manuals and step by step instructional videos at the very bottom of every page under Resources (eg. https://cruzbike.com/products/t50). I can attest that the availability of manuals and video instructions on the official website is continually increasing. I can also attest to the amazing willingness of Cruzbike Tribe members (owners of Cruzbikes or similar, present, past, or future) to jump in and help other members with instructions, pictures, parts, etc. What is also impressive is the responsiveness of the company to improvements suggested in this forum. There have been many things incorporated in new models that can be directly traced back to member requests and discussions.
I strongly encourage you to read more of @trplay’s posts. He is a very encouraging and gentle man. I have read enough of his many posts to be certain that he is a very encouraging and gentle man. If you were to provide your model and year of Cruzbike and all the specifics, wheel, tire, brakes, and any details of the challenges that arose when changing the wheel, then I would be very surprised if he or another member of this forum doesn't provide exactly the type of instruction or clarification to improve the ease of changing the wheel.
I can't help you with any wheel removal and reinstallation particulars that are specific to the S, V, or new Q models as I have a QX100 and conversion kit. However, I can clarify that the T and historical Q and Sofrider and conversion kit all have similar front wheel swaps to my other bike rear wheels (Marinoni, Gary Fisher, Norco, Rocky Mountain, Catrike, etc.) - things come apart relatively easily without anything falling apart and getting the wheel back in is a more fiddly process but doable - same as . The T50 / QX100 / Quest / Sofrider / Conversion platforms do not have anything to come apart when the front wheel is removed (same as any other bike - the chain, derailleur, cassette, brakes, and axle/skewer kind of get in the way of each other the same as any other bike.
Happy Trails.
Agreed, there is (always) room for more instructions and easily found instructions for a new owner is especially important.
It would be ideal to provide basic technical information and suggest forum resources as another source of technical info and personal assistance. I believe this is currently adequately done. Any one of the product pages on the official website has manuals and step by step instructional videos at the very bottom of every page under Resources (eg. https://cruzbike.com/products/t50). I can attest that the availability of manuals and video instructions on the official website is continually increasing. I can also attest to the amazing willingness of Cruzbike Tribe members (owners of Cruzbikes or similar, present, past, or future) to jump in and help other members with instructions, pictures, parts, etc. What is also impressive is the responsiveness of the company to improvements suggested in this forum. There have been many things incorporated in new models that can be directly traced back to member requests and discussions.
I strongly encourage you to read more of @trplay’s posts. He is a very encouraging and gentle man. I have read enough of his many posts to be certain that he is a very encouraging and gentle man. If you were to provide your model and year of Cruzbike and all the specifics, wheel, tire, brakes, and any details of the challenges that arose when changing the wheel, then I would be very surprised if he or another member of this forum doesn't provide exactly the type of instruction or clarification to improve the ease of changing the wheel.
I can't help you with any wheel removal and reinstallation particulars that are specific to the S, V, or new Q models as I have a QX100 and conversion kit. However, I can clarify that the T and historical Q and Sofrider and conversion kit all have similar front wheel swaps to my other bike rear wheels (Marinoni, Gary Fisher, Norco, Rocky Mountain, Catrike, etc.) - things come apart relatively easily without anything falling apart and getting the wheel back in is a more fiddly process but doable - same as . The T50 / QX100 / Quest / Sofrider / Conversion platforms do not have anything to come apart when the front wheel is removed (same as any other bike - the chain, derailleur, cassette, brakes, and axle/skewer kind of get in the way of each other the same as any other bike.
Happy Trails.
bladderhead
Zen MBB Master
I agree with ElyDave. My forks and stays always stay together. They are hard to pull apart. I start by shifting onto the smallest cog. I have XX1 so I use the chain-tensioner-lock. With the bike still standing up I lean over it and completely remove the spindle. Then I lay the bike down. The wheel slides out and slides in again. Then I stand it up and lean over it and put the spindle back in. Easier to get hold of both ends of the spindle with the bike standing up. Why do people's forks and stays come apart?
the numerous replies, tricks people have listed and mishaps described all make my point. And yes I have been riding for fifty years and built bikes so quit shooting the messenger. I have the new T50, there are no instructional videos on changing the front tire or even a warning that it is as tricky as everyone is saying. To get out on the road not knowing that is disastrous.
I repeat, did any of your other bikes come with instructional videos on how to change a rear wheel? Surely with that experience you could either have figured it out, or should have thought that it was out of your comfort zone befroe riding, and asked a question?
Perhaps, if you'd come here asking "any tips on how to easily change a front wheel?", rather than telling us we all own a dangerous badly designed POS, you'd have had a better response. I've only been riding one of these a little over a year and I've found that these guys are very open with their accumulated knowledge.
Perhaps, if you'd come here asking "any tips on how to easily change a front wheel?", rather than telling us we all own a dangerous badly designed POS, you'd have had a better response. I've only been riding one of these a little over a year and I've found that these guys are very open with their accumulated knowledge.
I am in the process now putting together a front flat/tire change tutorial vid - and will go over the worst case scenarios such as the DR coming out of the chainstay, etc. The hub freewheel coming off is definitely a hassle, and this is what happens when things come to market and are sold as "convertible hubs for QR and also through axle with different end caps" and the next batch of S40's will not have these same "convertible" hubs.
That said, the S40 assembly vid I believe does have a brief instruction on putting the hub back together.
That said, the S40 assembly vid I believe does have a brief instruction on putting the hub back together.
No through axles on the S40 - yet. That will be a big change as it requires significant changes to the front end and how all those items interface, new derraileur hanger design, etc etc. Also an entirely new rear dropout design will be needed. It also means all new chainstays and NO retrofitting for the existing ones onto the new bikes. It also means everyones wheel sets they already have are basically useless... so we will approach that change carefully. I imagine it will come eventually though.
The "convertible" hubs will not be back however - that I can guarantee. Once again things that are designed to be all utilitarian typically are more hassle than not.
The "convertible" hubs will not be back however - that I can guarantee. Once again things that are designed to be all utilitarian typically are more hassle than not.
Oh I guess I don't know what a convertible hub is then. My Velocity hubs work fine, and that's good enough for me.
