I have a 2005 mongoose amasa elite which I got a good deal on brand new. I only picked it up 2 weeks ago and have only ridden about 70km on it and I hve noticed that the headset has become loose and there is a noticeable amount of play. Is this normal in a new bike and simply needs adjusting or is it likely to turn out to be something worse.
Either way I intend on taking it back to the shop, also should the spokes on the rear wheel creak when I ride it. They creak even on flat smooth roads, I am not really big, only around 80KG.
One more thing, I 2 places where the paint has been scratched completley off so you can see the aluminium, this is a result of my pump rubbing on the frame, what is the best way to treat/cover these scratches?
for the headset try and loosen the stem and crank the top bolt down until it seems tight again, then tighten the rest of the bolts. as for the spokes, check them to see if they are loose then if they are just tighten them with a spoke tool. and for the paint just get touchup paint of somesort and put electrician tape over places where the cables hit the frame so it will rub the tape, not the frame.
For touch-up paint try finger nail polish (cheap, comes in every color and even has a handy applicator). Cheap finger nail polish wont work. Try to find something is the $3+ range.
