So it’s a pretty basic children’s bike I assembled myself from flat pack.
My kids finding it really hard to pedal, like there’s resistance or something.
Any ideas what I can do to make it better? I was thinking of loosening some of the nuts. Appreciate it’s not a proper bike, but he loves batman!
Delli-paper on
Did you apply any grease to anything?
Feralest_Baby on
Likely the rear wheel is too far back in the dropout, making the chain too tight. I could be literally millimeters.
Glittering_Till_9791 on
This is known as a BSO.
Sadly it’s best to head to a bike shop or browse local Facebook groups for a second hand kids bike.
tamhenk on
Chain might be too tight. Can you loosen the back wheel and bring it forward slightly to make a bit of slack in the chain?
lostalaska on
Could the chain be too tight? Those single speed kids bikes usually have an elongated slot for the back wheel, if the chain is super tight it can make it hard to pedal, you want it to have a little sag in the chain, like loosen the rear bolts for the tire pull it back so the chain is tight then slide it forward a half inch or so so the chain has a little slack to it. Too much slack and it can throw the chain, but too little slack where the chain is tight and it’s a PiTA to pedal.
This may not be the solution, but this is a common mistake for a lot of people putting together their bike for their kid. Good luck troubleshooting the issue.
captainunlimitd on
When I assembled kids bikes at REI, almost all of them had super tight chain lines. Combined with less than optimal bearings made it a super tense system. Undo the rear axle nuts slightly and move the rear wheel just a touch forward and see if that helps. They also had too little of grease in the bottom bracket. If you can’t do it yourself take it to a shop. Loosing bolts and threads that you don’t fully understand could have disastrous results for the kid.
albertogonzalex on
There are a million reasons why that could be happening. And it’s totally possible it’s just a feature of this being a bike shaped -toy and not a bicycle.
8 Comments
So it’s a pretty basic children’s bike I assembled myself from flat pack.
My kids finding it really hard to pedal, like there’s resistance or something.
Any ideas what I can do to make it better? I was thinking of loosening some of the nuts. Appreciate it’s not a proper bike, but he loves batman!
Did you apply any grease to anything?
Likely the rear wheel is too far back in the dropout, making the chain too tight. I could be literally millimeters.
This is known as a BSO.
Sadly it’s best to head to a bike shop or browse local Facebook groups for a second hand kids bike.
Chain might be too tight. Can you loosen the back wheel and bring it forward slightly to make a bit of slack in the chain?
Could the chain be too tight? Those single speed kids bikes usually have an elongated slot for the back wheel, if the chain is super tight it can make it hard to pedal, you want it to have a little sag in the chain, like loosen the rear bolts for the tire pull it back so the chain is tight then slide it forward a half inch or so so the chain has a little slack to it. Too much slack and it can throw the chain, but too little slack where the chain is tight and it’s a PiTA to pedal.
This may not be the solution, but this is a common mistake for a lot of people putting together their bike for their kid. Good luck troubleshooting the issue.
When I assembled kids bikes at REI, almost all of them had super tight chain lines. Combined with less than optimal bearings made it a super tense system. Undo the rear axle nuts slightly and move the rear wheel just a touch forward and see if that helps. They also had too little of grease in the bottom bracket. If you can’t do it yourself take it to a shop. Loosing bolts and threads that you don’t fully understand could have disastrous results for the kid.
There are a million reasons why that could be happening. And it’s totally possible it’s just a feature of this being a bike shaped -toy and not a bicycle.