Putting together a bicycle

I am having a bicycle shipped to me (just an ordinary bike, nothing special) and it has to be put together. Has anyone done that? Is it difficult? I have a set of Allen wrenches and general tools, will that be adequate or are there special bicycle tools I need to get?

I would assume that would be sufficient. If it takes a special tool, I would think they would ship it with the bike. Pics of bike after it's put together.

All I can do is smile ... and hope for the best for you, Lucille.

Putting together a bike brings back a memory of a Christmas past and a tricycle that had to be assembled, very late on Christmas eve.

Then-husband began to assemble After a hour or so, and an hour of so of cursing and frustration and backward handle bars, foot pedals, etc, he gave up.

I took over and finally got the

I took over and finally got the

well, crap ... not my usual keyboard. Sorry.

I finally got the blasted thing together. From that point on, all wheeled devices where purchased fully assembled and ready to go.

Who woulda thought? So much for an edumacation

Laura what a good Mom you are! I admit I have some trepidation about putting this bike together. I was reading a review for this bike and it said that the brake pads are not good quality so I ordered better ones and am going to install those so that will be an additional adventure.
There are online videos about the various bike systems,(brake, wheel, etc) how they work, how to deal with them. I'd like to be able to do some of that.

There seems to be a whole 'bike culture'. There are those who bike daily, learn about their bikes, know their way around. I have never been a techy kind of person but I want to learn some of that stuff.
One of my sons is going down that road, he lives in the Houston inner city area right now and although he has a car, he bikes around the inner city area with his friends and is learning his way around a bike.

I may be singing a different tune in a week if the process is incomprehensible, we'll see.

If there are going to be small children with impressionable minds present while you are attempting to put it together I suggest at least one of the following items and both would not be a bad thing to have.

the first is a good pair of noise cancelling headphones for each child present

The second option is far more affordable but much more uncomfortable for you. A roll of duct tape to tape your mouth shut.

good luck

Originally Posted by Lucille

There seems to be a whole 'bike culture'. There are those who bike daily, learn about their bikes, know their way around. I have never been a techy kind of person but I want to learn some of that stuff.
One of my sons is going down that road, he lives in the Houston inner city area right now and although he has a car, he bikes around the inner city area with his friends and is learning his way around a bike.

I may be singing a different tune in a week if the process is incomprehensible, we'll see.

I saw a 5 or 6 year old kid the other day wearing a t shirt that said "friends don't let friends ride wal-mart bikes" His parents are avid cyclists. But I think wal-mart offers free assembly.

I taken apart and assembled many bikes growing up. ( I got people Junkers and used 2 or 3 bikes to make a single one)
you will need wrenches and possible screwdrivers( if you have to assemble the brake cables/shifters). you will need room to work and someone willing to test ride it to check for tighten bolts. ( I seen bolts that come loose cause they were just snugged.

Originally Posted by sschind

I saw a 5 or 6 year old kid the other day wearing a t shirt that said "friends don't let friends ride wal-mart bikes" His parents are avid cyclists. But I think wal-mart offers free assembly.

I've had 'good' bikes, will probably get another after a while, but I think this ordinary bike will be fine for now, I haven't done much riding the last few years. It is actually going to be good for getting back into riding, and to get my feet wet as far as learning to do more than just ride.

This probably sounds crazy but I don't want someone to assemble this bike for me. I want to do it myself. I want to adjust the gears and brakes myself. It is going to be a steep learning curve but it is just something I want to do right now.
If I do everything I can and something seems off, I'll go to the local bike store.
But I don't want to give up too easily on learning and understanding for myself.

Originally Posted by mechnut450

I taken apart and assembled many bikes growing up. ( I got people Junkers and used 2 or 3 bikes to make a single one)
you will need wrenches and possible screwdrivers( if you have to assemble the brake cables/shifters). you will need room to work and someone willing to test ride it to check for tighten bolts. ( I seen bolts that come loose cause they were just snugged.

Thank you for the input on what I'll need, I do have wrenches and screwdrivers. I've ordered replacement brake pads because reviews say that the brake pads on this bike aren't great, I think all I need to switch out the pads is an Allen wrench and I have a set of those..