Be careful of the staples, they can be very sharp! Remove the loose parts, the saddle, and the pedal box, and put these to one side until you need them. 

Top Tip: Take note of your frame number after you have removed the bike from the box, it is usually two letters followed by a series of numbers underneath the bike, where the pedal arms come into the centre of the frame. This number is unique to your bike so it’s a great way to identify your bike.

Carefully cut all the cable ties and remove all the packaging, remember to recycle all you can. Be careful not to scratch the paintwork or nick the tyres.

Some bikes will come with the saddle fitted to the stem. If your bike has come with the saddle and seat post separate then you will need to attach the saddle to the seat post.

There are two different fittings. The first one is a simple post that narrows at the top. The clamp will be attached to the saddle, so slide the post into the clamp and tighten with a 13mm or 14mm spanner. Tighten to the manufacturer’s recommended torque setting.

The second style of fitting is with the clamp built into the seat post. There will be a 6mm Allen key bolt which will need to be loosened almost all the way, and then the top part of the clamp can rotate. This will allow you to sit the saddle onto the seat post and then rotate the clamp so the top goes over the rails of the saddle.

The bolt should be facing the rear of the saddle. Once this is confirmed to be the correct way, tighten the saddle by using a 6mm Allen key. Tighten to the manufacturer’s recommended torque setting.

Start by greasing the seat post and slide it into place in the seat tube (Don't worry about getting the height right just yet; you can set it later).

At this stage, you just need to have it fitted as this is the best way to clamp your bike in a bike stand if you are using one to build your bike. Be sure to tighten the bolt enough to secure the seat post in place so the bike does not come away from the seat post while in the stand.

With your new bike out of its box, it’s time to align the handlebars. You’ll notice the handlebars have been rotated as this makes it easier to fit the bike into the box. You will need to rotate them, so they’re aligned with the front wheel.

How you do this will depend on the type of stem your bike has. The stem is the component that connects your handlebars to the frame of your bike. Your bike will have either a quill or a threadless stem.

A quill stem is easy to identify as it only has a single bolt at the top and a single-piece construction.
To align the handlebar with the fork:

1. Start by removing any plug covering the top bolt and loosen the bolt using the 6mm hex key – this is the largest one in the toolkit that came with your bike.
2. This will loosen the handlebars so you can rotate them and adjust how far the stem is inserted into the bike. There is a minimum insertion mark on the quill stem, so make sure you insert the stem far enough so that you can’t see this mark.
3. Once loose, rotate the handlebars 90 degrees counterclockwise until the front wheel and stem are facing forwards and are aligned.
   Top tip: Before moving on to the next step, also make sure the fork is the correct way around. For disc brake bikes, this will mean the brake is on the left-hand side of the bike as you sit on the bike, and for rim brakes, the brake should be on the front of the fork. If this isn’t the case, you will need to carefully rotate the wheel 180 degrees then align the stem with the wheel and tighten using the 6mm hex key so the stem is secure.
4. Your handlebars should now be aligned. Before moving on to the pedals, quickly check that the handlebar is correctly tightened by holding the front wheel between your legs and twisting the handlebars. If there is any movement, you’ll need to loosen the top bolt, realign the wheel and handlebars, and then retighten the bolt – and don’t forget to complete the check again and reattach the top cap.

A threadless stem has multiple parts and bolts – so it’s easy to distinguish from a quill stem. To align the handlebar for a threadless stem:

1. Start off by loosening the clamp bolts using the correct hex key. The clamp bolts are located on the side of the stem.
2. Once loose, rotate the handlebar 90 degrees counterclockwise so that the stem and front wheel is facing forwards and are aligned.
   Top tip: Make sure the rim brake is on the front of the fork or a disc brake is on the left-hand side as you sit on the bike. If not, it’s likely that your fork is the wrong way around. This can be easily resolved by rotating the fork by hand, making sure the cables remain free.
3. Once you’re happy with the alignment, tighten the top bolt until the hex key leaves a slight indentation in your hand.
4. It’s important to check that there’s no play/movement in the headset by turning the front wheel sideways with the brake on and rocking the bike. If there is play, tighten the top bolt a little more and check again.
5. Once you’re happy there’s no play, retighten the clamp bolts until firm.
6. Check the handlebar is safely tightened by placing the front wheel between your legs and trying to twist the handlebars. If there is any movement, loosen the stem’s side clamp bolts slightly and repeat the installation process again. Once you’re happy that the handlebars are safely tightened, remember to place the plug back over the top bolt.
7. If your bike has flat handlebars, you’re finished. If it has dropped handlebars (the type commonly found on road bikes), there’s one more step to go.
8. The handlebar needs to be set in the correct position. To do this, loosen the front plate bolts – there are four of these located at the centre of your handlebars.
9. You can then vertically rotate the handlebars until they’re in the correct position. They’ll also need to be comfortable, so sit on your bike and try them out before continuing.
10. Once you’re happy, tighten the front plate bolts. Make sure all the bolts are tightened equally so there is an equal distance between the bolts and the stem. It’s easiest to do this by tightening each of them, a bit at a time.
11. To test the handlebar, put some weight on top of the bar and check to make sure that there is no rotational movement.

Remove the face plate on the stem, lift the handlebars into place making sure you don’t twist the cables, and check the logos on the brakes and gears are facing up, a good sign you have them on the right way!  Reattach the face plate. Check the handlebars are nice and central. Most handlebars will come with a marking in the middle of the handlebars to help make sure your handlebars are central. Tighten to the recommended torque setting.

Tighten the brakes and the gear levers to the recommended torque setting. Make sure the bell and reflector are in place and tighten so they don’t move. 

Top Tip: be careful not to over-tighten and crack the plastic.

This is easiest with the bike upside down.

Please note: that there are three types of front wheels and they differ in the way they attach to the forks.

The first one is a solid axle that comes with two 15mm nuts to attach to the bike. Check the side wall for a tyre tread rotation. Once you have confirmed the rotation, slot the wheel onto the forks and tighten the 15mm wheel nuts to 25Nm.

The second type of wheel is a quick-release wheel. This is a thin bar that runs through the centre of the axle with a spring on either side and a lever to clamp the wheel to the forks. If the quick-release skewer is not attached to the wheel, take the quick-release skewer with a spring on the side of the lever, apply a bit of grease, and the narrowest part of the spring facing the axle, slide the quick-release through the axle.

Slide the second spring onto the quick release with the narrow part of the spring facing the axle and screw the nut on the end, then push the lever into the closed position. When closing the lever, it should leave a small imprint in the palm of your hand to indicate that it is tight enough. No imprint is too loose and too much imprint is too tight and could damage the quick-release skewer.

The third type of axle is a through axle. This is a large bar that goes through your wheel and clamps to the forks.

One type is a pressure clamp, and another is one that screws into the forks which tightens up with an Allen key. Align the wheel in the forks, apply a bit of grease to the axle, and slide the axle through the forks and wheel.

If this screws to the forks, then this will need tightening to the factory-recommended torque setting. This can be found either on the axle or in the manufacturer's manual. If this is a pressure clamp, after sliding the axle through the wheel, adjust the end of the axle on the non-lever side then lift the lever until it leaves a small imprint in the palm of your hand which indicates this is tight enough.

If you have a bike with V brakes on, then the brake will need to be open to fit the wheel and closed again once the wheel is fitted. This can be done by squeezing the brake arms together and feeding the pipe into the hold on the brake arm.

First, use the pump to inflate the tyres. Check the sidewall of the tyre for a guideline on the right air pressure. It's important not to under or over-inflate the tyres.

Pedals will often be marked with an “R” or “L”. Where there are no letters, the pedal that fits on the left will have grooves on the axle where the pedal spanner is used to tighten the pedals.

It's crucial that you carefully select the right pedal for each crank, as the threads could become damaged if you try to fit the wrong one. Once you're happy, grease the threads and use a pedal spanner to tighten the pedals.

Please note: Left-hand pedals have a reverse screw thread, to tighten, turn the pedal anti-clockwise.

There are two types of common style cranks.

1) The first type is a tapered crankset, and these are normally attached to the bike with either a 14mm bolt or an 8mm Allen key. Tighten them on both sides to ensure the pedals stay connected to the bike. Ideally, you should use a torque wrench to set these bolts to 40Nm.

2) The second type is a two-piece crankset where one side of the crank has the axle attached to the slides through the frame and the other side slides onto the axle.

There is normally a bolt that will screw in from the outside to hold the crank arm against the bearings, there are also two bolts on the side. These bolts will need checking and making sure they are at the correct torque setting. This can be found on either the crank arm itself or in the manufacturer's manual.

Front gears:

Before you start, make sure the bike chain is in gear 1 on your front gears. Then make sure the front derailleur is 3mm above the crankset on the largest gear, then check the clamp and cable are in place and tight.

Now we can get the limit screws set up. Normally indicated with an L for low and H for high. If you don't do this, the lower limit screw will cause the chain to go into the frame and the higher limit screw will cause the chain to come off.

The low-limit screw is needed to adjust the lower cog. With the chain on the small cog on the front and rear, turn the crank and adjust the low screw so the outer plate is close to the chain but not touching. Do not attempt to adjust this while the wheel is spinning as this could cause injury

To set the high limit, put the chain onto the largest cog on the front and the small cog on the rear. Then turn the crank and adjust the high screw so the chain is close to the outer plate but not touching. Again, do not attempt to adjust this while the wheel is spinning as this could cause injury.

Rear gears:

There are three adjustment screws – the B-tension adjustment, the H for high and the L for low. Adjustments on these screws should always be made in 1/4 turn increments.

B-Tension Adjustment:

The B-tension controls the derailleur bodies above the rear gears. Shift down to the largest gear and check the distance between the guide pulley and the large gear.

If the guide pulley is rubbing on the sprocket, tighten the B-tension clockwise to increase tension and move the pulley away from the gears. If there is a large gap between the pulley and the gears, loosen the B-tension until the pulley rubs the sprocket, and then tighten it until it just clears.

Different brands are set to different distances so please refer to the manufacturer's manual for the recommended gap.

The high limit screw stops the chain from coming off the highest gear and going into the frame. In order to adjust this correctly, there must be no tension on the gear cable. If you feel tension, loosen the cable adjuster until there is none. Now check from behind how the chain is riding on the smallest gear. If it looks like it wants to ride off into the axle, tighten the high limit screw clockwise until it lines up. If it looks like it is rubbing on the next gear, loosen the screw until the chain is nicely centred on the gear. Now re-adjust the cable tension until the derailleur shifts smoothly down to the next gear.

The low limit screw stops the chain from coming off the lowest gear and pushing into the wheel spokes. Shift down to the lowest gear, step behind the bike, and check how the chain rides on the gear. If it looks like it wants to ride into the spokes, tighten the low limit screw clockwise until it is central on the lowest gear. If it looks like it wants to shift down, loosen the screw until it lines up.

As an extra precaution, you can use your thumb to gently push the derailleur to make sure the chain will not run into the spokes.

Now the limit screws are set we need to check the cable tension to make sure the chain moves up and down the gears smoothly. Click through the gears up and down, they should move onto each gear fairly instantly when no rubbing on the derailleur. If they do not, the cable tension will need adjusting.

For the front gears, there will be an adjusting screw on the gear lever and for the rear, there will be an adjuster screw on the derailleur. If the cable is not moving up the gears, then the cable will need tightening a bit but unscrew the adjusting screw anti-clockwise.

If it is trying to push the chain up too far then the cable tension will need loosening a bit, this can be done by screwing the adjuster screw clockwise to loosen the cable slightly.

Now you have done all this time to go through the gears and give them one final check to make sure they are changing smoothly.

There are three main types of brakes. Caliper brakes (mainly used for road bikes), V-brakes and disc brakes.

Caliper brakes:

First, we need to make sure the brake pads are in line over the wheel with an equal gap on both sides of the wheel to the brake pads. If they are not then this can be adjusted with a screw found on the top of the brake caliper. This is normally a small hex key screw or a small Phillips screw.

Check to see if your brake pads are in line with the rim by pressing the brake lever. If they do not sit square to the rim they will need adjusting.

To adjust the brake pad, undo the bolt and then line the brake pad up with the rim, and then retighten the bolt. Hold the cartridge while retightening the bolt as the pressure can cause it to move. If it does go out of line, start again, then double-check to make sure the pads have equal spacing on both sides of the wheel.

Finally, check to see if the cable is tight enough by pulling the brake lever. If the pads are further than a few millimetres from the rims when the caliper is centred, tighten the brake cable by undoing the cable clamp and pulling the cable tight to move the brake pads closer to the rim.

V-brake:

To set up the V-brakes we first need to check to see if the brake pads are aligned so the pad face is flat against the rim. Both the front and rear of the pad should contact the rim at the same time and should not rub against the tyre or hang over the rim.

If the brakes need to be adjusted, undo the bolt holding the brake pad and hold the brake pad flush to the rim with the brake arm then tighten the brake pad bolt.

Be sure to hold the pad firmly in place as tightening the pad could cause the brake pad to move. With some V-brakes, when set up they may make a squeaking sound, If this does happen then you can adjust the brake pads, so the front of the brake pad hits the rim just before the rear of the brake pad.

This is known as towing in the brake pad.

Once you have confirmed the brake pads are set up, we need to adjust the cable tension on the brakes. Pull the brake lever to see how far the lever comes towards the handlebars. It is common to have about 25% pull on your brake lever to activate the brakes.

If there is more or less than this, then you can adjust this by undoing the cable clamp bolt and releasing or tightening the cable to get the right amount of pull on your brake lever.

The final step is to make sure the brake hits the rim at the same time on both sides.

This can be checked by slowly pulling the brake lever and watching the caliper move closer to the wheel. If the brake is not in line, then this can be adjusted by a small screw on the side of the brake. Tighten the screw to have more of a gap on that side of the brake or undo the screw to have less gap on that side of the brake.

Then spin the wheel to make sure there is no noise indicating that the brake is catching.

Mechanical /cable disc brake:

To set up mechanical brakes we need to check to see if the brake pads are in line with the rotor. This can be done by looking through the caliper to see the clearance between the brake pads and the rotor.

If they are not in line, then this can be adjusted by undoing the two bolts on the top of the caliper then pulling the brake lever and while holding the brake lever, tighten these two bolts up then release the brake lever.

Then we need to check the gap between the pads and the rotor. The back pad should have about a 1mm gap, if it has not then this can be adjusted with the nut that can be turned to move the pad in or out.

Turning it clockwise will move it toward the rotor, and counterclockwise will move it away.

We need to adjust the cable tension on the brake. Pull the brake lever to see how far the lever comes towards the handlebars. It is common to have about 25% pull on your brake lever to activate the brakes.

If there is more or less than this, then you can adjust this by undoing the cable clamp bolt and releasing or tightening the cable to get the right amount of pull on your brake lever.

Then spin the wheel to make sure there is no noise indicating that the brake is catching.

Hydraulic disc brake:

Check to see if the caliper is in line with the rotor. If they are then all you need to do is make sure all the bolts that secure the caliper are tight. If they are not in line, loosen the two bolts that are at the top of the caliper then pull the brake lever while holding the brake lever, tighten these two bolts up then release the brake lever. Now spin the wheel to make sure the pads are not catching the rotor at any point and then pull the lever to make sure the brake stops the wheel effectively.

Now we have done all the above, it’s time to give the bike one last check-over and make sure everything is tight. Take your torque wrench and check every bolt is tight to its specific torque setting. This can be found on either the component on the bike or in the manufacturer’s manual.

Also, this is now the time to set your seat height. This should be set so that when you are sitting on the saddle and the pedal is at the bottom, you can put the heel of your foot on the pedal. Your leg should be almost straight with a slight bend at the knee. Backpedal with both feet to make sure this height feels right for you.

Once the height is confirmed tighten up the seat post bolt to its recommended torque setting. Check there are no kinks in the cables and that the cables are sat in the cable guides. Ensure that the front and rear wheel turn freely by lifting off the ground and spinning.

Press and release the brake levers to check they're working, making sure to squeeze them sharply to check the cables don’t slip, if they are cable brakes.