bicycle pedaling problems

OSUtool said:

I recently (two weeks ago) bought a new mountain bike (huffy mission).
Completely new to bicycles, I have no idea what is required as far as
maintanence goes, but my bike has been doing some weird things when I
pedal it. After a week of riding the pedals began to loudly "skip" as
I'm riding. I hear a loud clank and it seems as if they jump/skip half
a pedal or so before catching again, which has almost caused several
accidents. It doesn't seem like this is something that should happen so
soon with a new bike, and I havent wrecked it or anything that should
cause problems like this. Any idea what is wrong with it, and should I
take it back to the store or take it to a repair shop?

You should have gone to a real bike shop and gotten a bike. Buying at a
discount store leaves you with no option for taking it back for a check up.

On 21 Jul 2005 03:47:54 -0700, "OSUtool" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I recently (two weeks ago) bought a new mountain bike (huffy mission).
Completely new to bicycles, I have no idea what is required as far as
maintanence goes, but my bike has been doing some weird things when I
pedal it. After a week of riding the pedals began to loudly "skip" as
I'm riding. I hear a loud clank and it seems as if they jump/skip half
a pedal or so before catching again, which has almost caused several
accidents. It doesn't seem like this is something that should happen so
soon with a new bike, and I havent wrecked it or anything that should
cause problems like this. Any idea what is wrong with it, and should I
take it back to the store or take it to a repair shop?

If you bought it at Walmart, take it back immediately and get a refund.
They will usually take it back no questions asked.

Then go to a real bike shop and get an actual bike.

jj

OSUtool said:

I recently (two weeks ago) bought a new mountain bike (huffy
mission). Completely new to bicycles, I have no idea what is required
as far as maintanence goes, but my bike has been doing some weird
things when I pedal it. After a week of riding the pedals began to
loudly "skip" as I'm riding. I hear a loud clank and it seems as if
they jump/skip half a pedal or so before catching again, which has
almost caused several accidents. It doesn't seem like this is
something that should happen so soon with a new bike, and I havent
wrecked it or anything that should cause problems like this. Any idea
what is wrong with it, and should I take it back to the store or take
it to a repair shop?

It's almost definitely the cable tension to your rear derailleur; it needs
to be tightened a tad.

HOWEVER, like others have said, your best course of action is to RETURN IT
while you can and go to an honest-to-goodness bike shop and buy something
entry level but well-assembled. They almost always include free tune-ups
for a set amount of time, ranging from a month to a year or even lifetime.

I'm sure the Huffy is shiny and fancy-looking, but it's really a total boat
anchor with cheap components and put together by who-knows-the-hell-who...

Go get yourself a decent bike. You deserve one.

Bill

"OSUtool" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I recently (two weeks ago) bought a new mountain bike (huffy

mission).

Quoted message said:

Completely new to bicycles, I have no idea what is required

as far as

Quoted message said:

maintanence goes, but my bike has been doing some weird

things when I

Quoted message said:

pedal it. After a week of riding the pedals began to loudly

"skip" as

Quoted message said:

I'm riding. I hear a loud clank and it seems as if they

jump/skip half

Quoted message said:

a pedal or so before catching again, which has almost caused

several

Quoted message said:

accidents. It doesn't seem like this is something that

should happen so

Quoted message said:

soon with a new bike, and I havent wrecked it or anything

that should

Quoted message said:

cause problems like this. Any idea what is wrong with it,

and should I

Quoted message said:

take it back to the store or take it to a repair shop?

You CAN get good mileage out of these cheap Huffies, BUT you
have to face facts here:
(1) Your bike may have been assembled by somebody given almost
no instruction, paid barely above minimum wage, who's never
put together anything together more complicated than a
Pringles can and who's supervisor is mostly absent but
occasionally chimes in with helpful comments like "Are you
STILL working on that bike? Get a move on!". (I did this as
one point during my brief career working in a discount store,
so I know whereof I speak.)
(2) When I've bought cheap bikes, I've done the assembly
myself from the assembly manual that came with the bike. It
wasn't hard if you didn't have time pressure and had a fair
tool set (neither probably the case for the poor chump who put
your bike together) and was actually pretty fascinating. If
you have this manual, it may have a troubleshooting section
which may help. As another poster noted, it sounds like a
cable/rear derailleur adjustment, but that sort of assumes the
bike was put together right in the first place. It's actually
pretty normal for any new bike to "settle in" a bit and need a
bit of adjustment after some riding. It sounds like you are
being caught "in between gears".

For some perspective, you might read Carl Fogel's amusing
history of his Roadmaster Fury, a somewhat similar bike bought
as a somewhat similar place.
<http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.bicycles.tech/browse_
frm/thread/2328b59daa016545/1b002094658f6e77?q=fogel+huffy&rnu
m=5&hl=en#1b002094658f6e77>

In terms of bike maintenance books, Leonard Zinn's "Zinn and
the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance" would probably be a good
place to look if you want to diagnose it yourself.

(3) I'd take it back to the store. If they can't fix it, and
this may be likely, then I'd return it. A bike shop would be
able to fix it more easily, but frankly unless it's something
simple you may not want to keep the bike at all.