Your online bike arrived in a box: how to get it assembled in Madrid

Buying a bike online makes sense: more models, more sizes and often better prices than in a shop. The trouble arrives with the courier. The bike comes in a box the size of a small wardrobe, wrapped in cardboard and zip ties, with an instruction sheet that assumes you own tools and patience.

This guide helps you decide quickly whether to build it yourself or have a workshop do it.

What comes assembled and what does not

Almost every brand ships the bike “85% assembled”. Typically:

• Done: frame with fork, drivetrain, brakes mounted on the frame, rear wheel fitted.
• Left to you: fit and align the handlebar, fit the front wheel, pedals and saddle and, depending on the model, mudguards, lights, rack or kickstand.

On paper that is twenty minutes. In practice the time goes not into bolting parts on but into getting the bike properly adjusted.

What usually goes wrong

These are the problems we see most on bikes assembled at home:

• Cross threaded pedals. The left pedal tightens anticlockwise. Forced the wrong way, it ruins the crank thread.
• Loose or misaligned handlebar. If the stem is not straight with the wheel or not tightened correctly, the steering moves on the first pothole.
• Brakes that rub or barely brake. Callipers and cables shift in transport. With disc brakes, constant rubbing is almost guaranteed if they are not centred.
• Skipping gears. The rear derailleur often arrives slightly bent or out of adjustment. The bike “works”, but the chain jumps between sprockets.
• Wheels not seated or not inflated. The quick release or thru axle on the front wheel must be properly tight. That is a safety issue, not a comfort one.

If you hear rubbing, the chain is noisy or the brake lever goes all the way to the bar, do not take it into traffic like that. Madrid has enough hills to find out the hard way.

Tools you will need

If you decide to do it yourself:

• Allen keys in 4, 5 and 6 mm (usually included in the box, but of poor quality).
• A 15 mm pedal wrench or an 8 mm Allen key, depending on the pedals.
• A pump with a pressure gauge.
• Ideally a torque wrench, so you neither over nor under tighten the handlebar and stem, especially on carbon parts.

The alternative: ship it straight to the workshop

The easiest option is not to receive it at home at all. This is how delivery and assembly works with MadridBikes:

1. Message us before you order and we give you the shipping address of the partner workshop.
2. The bike arrives at the workshop in its box. No waiting at home for the courier, no carrying a box up the stairs.
3. The workshop assembles it and checks that everything is in order.
4. You pick it up ready to ride.

It costs 89 € and works with any online shop. All the details are on the bike assembly page.

What if it is already at home?

That can be sorted too. Message us on WhatsApp and we tell you how to get it to the nearest workshop. If you cannot bring it, we pick it up for 90 €.

In short

• With tools, some experience and a free afternoon, you can build it yourself. Take your time over brakes, gears, pedals and handlebar.
• If not, ship it straight to the workshop and collect it assembled and checked.
• Either way, have someone experienced check the brakes before you ride it in Madrid traffic.