14+ year old mountain bike, coming back outta the shed, what to check?

Random

so the bikes 14+ years old. its been sat in a shed for about 10 years now too.

it's a standard enough mountain bike. its got 2 flat tyres so i suppose the first thing to do will be to fix those punctures. i suppose at this point i might be better to get 2 new tubes for the bike? what sorta price am i looking at if i pop down my local bike shop?

what else should i be checking? quick squeeze of the brakes should tell me if they work or not?

le la rat

Your head. only messing. Happy cycling.

John_Rambo

Make sur Moon Safari isn't scratched before putting it in to your portable CD player, pump the tyres and hit the road dude.

(legend)

Raam

Make sure your bum bag is stocked with pop tarts.

Random

ive missed a joke here somewhere?

John_Rambo

Random wrote: »

ive missed a joke here somewhere?

No, sorry, it's just unusual to see someone dusting off an old bike. Everyone seems to be buying new steel and Kevlar because of the bike to work scheme. Fair play to you. Personally, I'd bring it to a bike shop to get it checked out, but that's me, I'm not a complete expert. Best of luck with the bike and happy peddling.

AltAccount

Inflate the tyres, check the sidewalls for cracks. Replace as necessary.

Check the chain for being stiff, and the freewheel for being non-freewheely.

Check the brakes work well with a couple of test brakes.

Lube the hell out of the cables and make sure all the bolts and wheel skewers are tight.

You're off!

Random

sorta put this on the back burner for a while. took the bike out at the weekend. here it is ..
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4035496/old_bike/2012-09-06%2017.35.25.jpg

the chain definitely needs some oiling, should the chain be replaced?
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4035496/old_bike/2012-09-06%2017.35.33.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4035496/old_bike/2012-09-06%2017.35.38.jpg

lot of rust around the joints for the handlebars, this is bad or can be ignored?
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4035496/old_bike/2012-09-06%2017.35.49.jpg

these tyres need replacing? the rubber is cracked?
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4035496/old_bike/2012-09-06%2017.36.54.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4035496/old_bike/2012-09-06%2017.36.47.jpg

thanks for any comments

Raam

Get yourself a nice pretty new one. After all, you deserve it.

John_Rambo

Sure if it's for commuting around a town or city I'm sure it's fine, but I'd get it sorted out by someone who knows what they are doing.

Random

im considering a new one but not for a while. im trying to get this one up and running for now anyway and suppose im sorta wondering where i stand with it. looking at the bike i think its obviously that it was battered around a lot before and its been sat in a shed for years.

are new tyres standard enough if i just copy down the numbers on the current ones?
is there much to changing the tubes too? assume theres gonna be a number on them?

im not planning on doing mad amounts on it. just a couple of flat cycles around the area just to try and get back into things a bit.

Axolotl

Ah, that's not in too bad nick; I've recently revived my da's old racer that's been sitting around since the 70s, so you'll be grand

The tyres should be no bother, if you go down with the make and model you'll be fine. Equally, tubes are easy to get a hold of, and the whole lot's easy to change- once you've changed one inner tube, you've changed em all. Just be sure not to pinch them when putting the tyres back over them!

Regarding the rust, it's only red rust, so if it comes off easily and isn't deep, you'll be fine. Black rust is the real bugger. Use a bit of WD 40 to get rid of the rust, and it should hopefully be grand. The only real problem you're likely to encounter is brakes being a bit iffy, but you can read up on how to tune them; it's not hard. You may want new brake blocks is all, but again, standard enough.

(edit: your tyres don't even look too bad! I'd still get them replaced, but I'd guess they have a few weeks' safe cycling in them yet )

The only thing I'd say is to get someone who's used to this kind of work to give you the all clear before you hit the mean streets, but as a fellow bike necromancer, I wish you all the best!

endacl

Check any two bits that contact each other.

If it moves and it shouldn't: Gaffa tape.
If it doesn't move and it should: WD40.

biketard

Good for you, Random. That bike's perfectly good for what you want to use it for.

My advice is to take it easy for the first few rides (I'm sure you will anyway), and come back and tell us what doesn't feel right about it. Does look like you need new tyres, though. What you need to tell the bike shop is the size, not the brand. Yours are 26x1.95, although you do not have to replace them with the same width (additionally, you can get non-knobbly ones if you are only ever going to use the bike on the road).

As for the chain, I'd just oil it and see how it goes (don't use WD-40 on the chain). Good way to check for stiff links is to get off the bike and use you hand to pedal slowly backwards and see if any links don't return to straight after going through the rear derailleur. If you find any of these, give them a bit of extra oil and a wiggle to try and free them up. I'd recommend a bit of oil on any other moving parts too, but make sure you don't get any on the brake pads or the wheel rims.

Indricotherium

Random wrote: »

so the bikes 14+ years old. its been sat in a shed for about 10 years now too.

it's a standard enough mountain bike. its got 2 flat tyres so i suppose the first thing to do will be to fix those punctures. i suppose at this point i might be better to get 2 new tubes for the bike? what sorta price am i looking at if i pop down my local bike shop?

what else should i be checking? quick squeeze of the brakes should tell me if they work or not?

Check wiggle, chain reaction, merkin and the balance on your credit card.

Seve OB

Did something similar myself recently as I dusted off my almost 20 year old Raleigh Ascendeur mountain bike. Must post a couple of pics later on.

First things first, a savage clean, loads of dirt and grime had built up as it sat there, lonely in the shed. I didn't have as much rust on mine as yours appears to have, but with some good de-greaser, I got most of it off.

After cleaning, lube everything up. Chain, brakes etc. One or two spins and a brake cable snapped on me, so might be worth replacing them, I got the inner cables for something stupid like €2

I also notice I have a few dodgy spokes, so I need to replace them, although I am contemplating replacing the entire wheels, but maybe not worth it. The rims seem fine, but no quick release, so I might just see can I pick something up on hte cheap, even if it was just a set of hubs.

I do have a slow puncture in her, but so far I have been to lazy to go to the bother of checking it out, hence my desire for quick release wheels!

Thing is not to spend a fortune as it would be clearly cheaper to buy a new machine, but advantage of a decent old bike is that it is ideal for spinning round town, in and out of work and less appealing to scumbag biike thiefs!

Happy cycling, I'm off now to look at cycling adverts for some spare parts!

Random

thanks for the advice. ill try out a few of the ideas and see how it goes.

Seve OB

Few pics of my old bike looking fresh as a daisy.

Unfortunately though I made a dogs dinner of the back wheel by tightening a few spokes that were loose! Off now to find out how to fix!

bikerdude69

There must be something in the air I dusted dow the old mountain bike at the weekend and took it to work this morning, great morning for a fist time on abike in years almost turned back after about the first mile my legs were burning but I am glad I did it now and looking forward to the spin home.... the rear wheel is slightly buckled not sure if its worth fixing was looking to get a racing bike soon anyway, There is one in halfords for €409.00 would that be any good or should I go for something more expensive ?

Seve OB

bikerdude69 wrote: »

There must be something in the air I dusted dow the old mountain bike at the weekend and took it to work this morning, great morning for a fist time on abike in years almost turned back after about the first mile my legs were burning but I am glad I did it now and looking forward to the spin home.... the rear wheel is slightly buckled not sure if its worth fixing was looking to get a racing bike soon anyway, There is one in halfords for €409.00 would that be any good or should I go for something more expensive ?

I got my rear wheel buckle sorted for a mere €8 in city cycles blackhall place.

As for getting a racer for €409. I think definately I'd buy this one instead

bikerdude69

stevieob wrote: »

I got my rear wheel buckle sorted for a mere €8 in city cycles blackhall place.

As for getting a racer for €409. I think definately I'd buy this one instead

Thanks for that its one great looking bike for the money, just have to break it to my wife now ....€8 is very good for sorting the wheel I must look into that anyway even it I buy the other as I will have the mountain bike for the rough stuff