The Front "suspension" is the fork assembly that holds your front wheel and goes up and down. The shock absorber or suspension.
The part in the middle of the bike that the chain changes between 1,2 and 3 gears is the crankset and relates to the front shifting. The shiftlever on the left of the handlebars would be the part that indicates the 1, 2 or 3 numbers.
To get the front derailleur (changer) to shift into the proper gears the cable must be under the correct tension and limit stops adjusted correctly. Shift the lever into the #1 position and check the cable tension. is it very loose? can you wiggle it easily side to side or up and down? if yes, then you need to tighten the cable by loosening the bolt at cables attachment of the derailleur and then pulling out the slack, tighten the bolt again and check your shifting . If that does not work then take the bike into a bike shop and have them look at it, something too difficult to explain may be happening.
I hate to tell you this, but the forks on the bike you have do not have any adjustment available. Forks with Adjustments and the ability to disassemble to be able to "tune" the ride start in around $250- for the fork. As you ride, the mechanism inside your fork should break-in and give you more shock absorbtion and become easier to engage.
Other than replacement, there is no direct solution for your fork.
Here is a quick video that does a decent enough job of explaining how to install the chain on a bike similar to yours.
Note: you need to have the special bicycle tool that installs and removes links from your chain. If you do not have one, and this is something you don't plan on doing again, it will be less expensive to have your local bike shop fit your chain than buying the tool.
It could be one of several sizes. To determine the size you can measure the bike from the center of the bottom bracket (where the cranks install into the frame) up the seat tube to the top of the frame. This will give you the size of your bicycle.
there should be an allen wrench bolt on top of the handle bar shaft. loosen that but not to much because you dont want the tightening nut to fall off. now put the front tire between your legs and try to wiggle the handle bars back and forth while pulling up if it does not move try loosening it a little more and take off the first bolt on the shaft and that should work. i hope this helped you SabiousOne
Once you fill the tube with the proper amount of air pressure the tire will will press against the rim. the proper pressure should be on the side of the tire. Good Luck!
Shift your rear derail down to the smallest cog on the cassette. Loosen the nut that holds the cable onto the derail. If you are reusing the outer cables back the inner cable out to the shifter. If your replacing the outers also, note where they are installed. There should be an allen screw on the bottom of the shifter that will free up the shifter and expose the knob on the end of the cable. Pull out the old cable and install new in reverse. Insert the cable into the clamp on the derail. Pull the cable taught with pliers while tightening nut on clamp. Run through the gears while on middle ring on front. Turn barrel adjuster on derail in and out to dial in shifting. That should do it. Good luck and let me know if you have any problems.
With the wheel off remove the two pins which locate the guide wheels on the deraileur. Take off the guide wheels and the guide plate. Now straighten the chain and unwind the snarled area. Locate the chain around the smallest cog wheel on the back wheel and mount the wheel to the bike. The chain will hang slack. Now mount the upper guide wheel and guide plate to the deraileur making sure that the chain feeds off the rear cog and passes around the guide wheel towards the front of the bike. Push the deraileur forwards relative to the chain and slip the lower guide wheel in between the guide plates and pushing the chain back in the guides & fasten with the pin. As you reassemble the plates and wheels on the deraileur be sure to observe carefully which way the chain is running. It is quite logical and this should prevent mistakes being made
You have a 21 spd and you have two derailleurs, one front and one rear. To shift you must always be pedalling forward, not backwards or you can chip teeth on your chainrings and cog. To shift, remember left hand controls front, brake and derailleur, the front derailleur is what gives you the ranges, gears closest to the bike are the easiest, so, small ring it the front are your easiest range, middle, mid range, large hardest but fastest. It is best to remember that it is the number of teeth that are hitting the chain to give you the speed you want. Rear Derailleur is your fine tuner the largest is the easiest, same as above. NOW DO NOT KITTY CORNER YOUR CHAIN, SUCH AS LARGE COG IN REAR TO LARGE IN FRONT CHAIN WHEEL, AND DO NOT USE SMALL IN REAR TO SMALL IN FRONT CHAINWHEEL. The reason you do not do that is: you can stretch your chain, yes you can stretch your chain and it serves no purpose, if you are pedalling to easy change your range(front). I hope this helps you understand how to shift now. You may contact me for any further questions, I have been in business for 38+ years
Since you've let the air out of the shock you need to go to a Bike Shop for a refill anyway because a normal pump doesn't reach the pressures supplied by a shock pump. While you're there, have them set the bike up for your preferences and instruct you in shock operation.
Hi
very often you need to replace the rear cluster at the same time as the chain, as it wears to the shape of the old chain and when a new chain is fitted to an old cluster it can sometimes jump, which is not fun if you are standing and pedalling up a hill ( not quite as bad for the ladies)
anyhow remove the old chain by punching a pin out of a link, and lay it on the ground next to the new chain, punch a pin out of the new chain at the same lenght.
Thread the new chain around the cogs and derailleur and fit the joiner, there are some really neat joiners that will just slot together. or you can use the link from when you sized the new chain, just press the pin back through with multy grips, make sure the joiner link is not sticky at all, or it will jump when it goes around the cluster
