BirdsBikeBinocs

Why is it a bicycle doesn't come with an operating/parts manual.??

Did your new bike come with a manual.?? Mine didn't. Why.?? After all, many refer to a bicycle as a Machine.

NomarsGirl

Mine did. They also included different springs for the future shock. But the manual is available online. Yours probably is too.

Cyclist0108

General Geoff

Of the two bikes I've purchased brand new, the Cannondale came with several manuals including one that was basically 30 pages of warnings about the dangers of bike riding and disclaiming any liability for personal injury.

My Lynskey came with component OEM manuals but no overall bicycle manual. I imagine anyone dropping $2,000+ on a bicycle, is presumed to know how to ride.

Phil_gretz

You can pull up all of the spec sheets individually by component on the web. All .pdf files. Those are the only thing that came in the box anyway.

MoAlpha

Bikes should come with instructions on how to ride the darn things. It looks all easy and natural-like, but boy, is it hard to get the hang of!

BirdsBikeBinocs

I don't understand your comment.?? People who buy a bike at $250 know how to ride too. The manual should give a lot of information about parts and adjustments. It should be a manual that provides info about the things that are "good to know."

General Geoff

The adjustments for installed components are covered in the OEM component manuals. Brakes, shifters, dérailleur, etc.

Marcus_Ti

The people that actually read that kind of material...probably know how to find it.

As for the other 99.9999% of humanity that has never even opened the operator's manual of even their car, and wouldn't know the difference between a left-handed-monkey-wrench and a right-handed-monkey-wrench if you hit them it--it is a waste of paper.

hillyman

The mechanics that assembled your bike threw the manual away. They'll be seeing you soon that way.

pdlamb

I've bought two bikes that came with a "manual." For all the adjustments @BirdsBikeBinocsmention, they say, roughly, "Take it to your bike shop for adjustment." I suspect that's for two reasons. First, as noted, the OEM manuals have all the details on how to adjust the parts. Second, it's a legal defense mechanism; if you mis-adjust something and get hurt as a result, well, you were told to have it professionally adjusted.

If you want to know how to fix your own bike, either buy a good book or look at the Park Tools website.

2manybikes

Did you ask for the manual when you bought the bike?

The manuals that I have seen and read are not in detail about adjusting things. When I built a bike the new parts I bought as I built it
all had detailed instructions with them.

prj71

Nothing on a bike is rocket science. You should be able to figure the stuff out on your own without even looking at a manual.

I have yet to look at bike manual and if for some reason there was something that seemed confusing...YouTube has hundreds of videos on bike repair.

Sapperc

indyfabz

^^^This^^^

/thread

fietsbob

its not all from 1 factory like a car..

A Bike is a frame with a name on it , and every other part is collected from various other companies,
in large numbers ..
to an assembly facility.

Your bike shop may have a collection of all the various product sheets for the various components ,
factory often packs a copy of those for several components in the shipping box
but they would be too much to pack into the hang tag with the price statement,

So, you have to ask for them , when you buy the bike , it it matters ...(most of the customers don't care)
PDF downloads found online has been mentioned..



you could also buy a few books on bicycle repair & service , to have on your bookshelf @ home..





..

BirdsBikeBinocs

Bottom line is.... You got a manual. What else was in it.?? Or was it a one line manual.?? Seems more legally risky to not provide a manual at all. No.??

prj71

Oil your chain after every few rides is going to be your biggest maintence you need to worry about. Everything else is a wear item and is replaced as needed...bearings, brake pads, worn out chainring/cassette teeth etc. You're bike will let you know when these things need to be replaced/repaired...making funny noises or not operating smoothly.

Again...this isn't rocket science folks.

blakcloud

Try this link, it has all the manuals for your bike. If it doesn't work, could be region specific, go to the site yourself and download what you feel you need.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/me...=239512-154247

indyfabz

No, for the reason he tried to explain to you.

If I give you instructions and you screw it up, you can always argue that my instructions were faulty or not thorough enough. If I don't give you instructions and instead tell you take it to a professional and you don't and screw things up, it's easier to pin things on you. Comprende?

prj71

Oil your chain after every few rides is going to be your biggest maintence you need to worry about. Everything else is a wear item and is replaced as needed...bearings, brake pads, worn out chainring/cassette teeth etc. You're bike will let you know when these things need to be replaced/repaired...making funny noises or not operating smoothly.

Again...this isn't rocket science folks. Maintenance schedules are reserved for machines with engines.

pdlamb

Nothing useful, that's for sure. Plenty of legal disclaimers, a couple pages of warranty (mostly limitations on the warranty). IIRC one of them said don't take off the reflectors if you're going to ride in low light conditions (didn't say anything about adding lights!). Nothing on how to shift, steer, or pedal. And not just a one-liner, they had real paragraphs on potential problems and adjustment, all of which ended the same way. Don't ride the bike if the tires are worn out, "Take it to the professional mechanic at your bike shop." If the gears don't shift easily or cleanly, "Take it to the professional mechanic at your bike shop." If you notice some unusual noise, "Take it to the professional mechanic at your bike shop."

The last time our kitchen mixer wore out, it took me 5-10 minutes to read through the new mixer manual to figure out what the graphics meant on which beater went where. That was an informative and useful manual compared to any bicycle manual I've seen. Bike manual: 20 pages of wasted paper, saved because the dated receipt was stapled on to the last page, and the serial number noted.

livedarklions

This is the Specialized Owner's Manual. It comes with all of their bikes. There is no attempt to cover different makes and models of components. It hasn't been updated since 2007.

https://media.specialized.com/suppor..._AS_NZ_Web.pdf

In my experience, owner's manuals for most machines don't tell you how to service the machines but tell you to take it to a professional. This does describe some simple maintenance issues and solutions, but you won't be able to do much new after reading this.

Sapperc

Razorrock

I purchased my first drop bar bike with 105 group set last year. I have ridden bikes all my life and understand shifting. Wondered why I had to click twice to drop down to the small chainring. After owning and riding a couple thousand miles I recently found out that that is "trim" and you can use it when cross chaining to the large gears on rear. Wish I would have known sooner. An Owners manual would have been nice.