JonF
Well-Known Member
A few things first:
I am/have/the
1. Original owner since 1983.
B. No idea what i'm doing.
???. Measure once, weld twice.
IV. Can't believe i still have this.
That said, yes, this is technically my first MTB and, also yes, it was bought in the summer of '83 by my father along with a shiny chrome Schwinn BMX so we both could go on rides. If you're familiar with the Mercer county area, we lived in Hamilton and the bike was bought at Bernies_Bicycles which impressively seems to still exist. We used to ride over to veterans park where they had the longest wooden platform feature through the swamp and a big grassy knoll to play on but the entrance. Though a tad too big for my adolescent self, i used to snag it and ride around the hood generally needing a curb to hop up on the tall 21" frame. Fast forward to later in life, i dusted it off and brought it to college to zip around campus. However, its been a good 20 years since anyone spun the pedals and so feeling a bit nostalgic with my rekindled interest in cycling, i though it'd be fun to dust her off one more time and give her a thorough going-over and at least make it casually ride-able.
While i recall having had a shop perform some maintenance over the years back in school (cables, saddle, wallowed out bottom bracket), its largely original but far from good. Some things i can see needing immediate addressing are:
1. Tires/tubes dryrotted. Tires were original tanwalls, alas they were so far gone, i peeled them off and tossed them already. I picked up a set of 26" smooth tread tires, but i think i would rather have a period correct looking set of tanwall knobbies.
2. Cables rusted and frozen. Brakes are operational, but front shifter wont budge.
3. Chain grimy and rusty.
4. Freehwheel cassette grimy, maybe salvageable. Not sure if sprockets are worn but the rear der shifts. Are bearings serviceable in old freewheels?
5. Minor corrosion all over. While some of the parts can be buffed out (chrome and aluminum), the frame is showing some superficial corrosion, especially on the chainstays and BB area. At this point i'm not looking to do a frame off resto in phase 1, but maybe in phase 2 if i take it that far. I'll buff and scotchbrite where needed and touch up to seal.
6. Foam grips moldy and dryrotted.
7. Seat post all scarred up.
8. Seat not original, it shredded long ago and replaced with a cheapie back in the day.
9. Wheels, specifically the rims. Ugh, here's where i'm really out of my wheelhouse *groan*. Front is fairly true, needs some tweaking to make really nice. Rear has a bad side wobble and a big radial dip. I'm going to try to learn twisting the spokes but i dont have much confidence.
10. Bearing service. Might as well clean, grease and maybe replace any of the wheel, crank or head bearings. Wheels feel crusty but crank and steering seem smooth. I suspect hte crank bearings were addressed when the BB issue was taken care of 20 years back.
Enough of the bad, Enjoy the picture show and the journey. Please halp!
UP on the operating table!
I am/have/the
1. Original owner since 1983.
B. No idea what i'm doing.
???. Measure once, weld twice.
IV. Can't believe i still have this.
That said, yes, this is technically my first MTB and, also yes, it was bought in the summer of '83 by my father along with a shiny chrome Schwinn BMX so we both could go on rides. If you're familiar with the Mercer county area, we lived in Hamilton and the bike was bought at Bernies_Bicycles which impressively seems to still exist. We used to ride over to veterans park where they had the longest wooden platform feature through the swamp and a big grassy knoll to play on but the entrance. Though a tad too big for my adolescent self, i used to snag it and ride around the hood generally needing a curb to hop up on the tall 21" frame. Fast forward to later in life, i dusted it off and brought it to college to zip around campus. However, its been a good 20 years since anyone spun the pedals and so feeling a bit nostalgic with my rekindled interest in cycling, i though it'd be fun to dust her off one more time and give her a thorough going-over and at least make it casually ride-able.
While i recall having had a shop perform some maintenance over the years back in school (cables, saddle, wallowed out bottom bracket), its largely original but far from good. Some things i can see needing immediate addressing are:
1. Tires/tubes dryrotted. Tires were original tanwalls, alas they were so far gone, i peeled them off and tossed them already. I picked up a set of 26" smooth tread tires, but i think i would rather have a period correct looking set of tanwall knobbies.
2. Cables rusted and frozen. Brakes are operational, but front shifter wont budge.
3. Chain grimy and rusty.
4. Freehwheel cassette grimy, maybe salvageable. Not sure if sprockets are worn but the rear der shifts. Are bearings serviceable in old freewheels?
5. Minor corrosion all over. While some of the parts can be buffed out (chrome and aluminum), the frame is showing some superficial corrosion, especially on the chainstays and BB area. At this point i'm not looking to do a frame off resto in phase 1, but maybe in phase 2 if i take it that far. I'll buff and scotchbrite where needed and touch up to seal.
6. Foam grips moldy and dryrotted.
7. Seat post all scarred up.
8. Seat not original, it shredded long ago and replaced with a cheapie back in the day.
9. Wheels, specifically the rims. Ugh, here's where i'm really out of my wheelhouse *groan*. Front is fairly true, needs some tweaking to make really nice. Rear has a bad side wobble and a big radial dip. I'm going to try to learn twisting the spokes but i dont have much confidence.
10. Bearing service. Might as well clean, grease and maybe replace any of the wheel, crank or head bearings. Wheels feel crusty but crank and steering seem smooth. I suspect hte crank bearings were addressed when the BB issue was taken care of 20 years back.
Enough of the bad, Enjoy the picture show and the journey. Please halp!
UP on the operating table!
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