Hey all! I picked up a (as close as I can tell) mid nineties mountain bike off Craigslist and plan to take it to the local bike co-op to learn maintenance and spruce it up.
For folks that do this kinda thing on the regular, do you have any advice for a first timer? Anything I should be aware of when working on an old bike like this?
The bike will be used to get around town, grab groceries for now. Maybe low stakes bike packing as my skill/stamina improves. 😆
by yeti_exe
7 Comments
watch rj the bike guy.
That is early 90s (‘91-92 maybe) but bang on for the era of practical all purpose MTB conversions. Assuming everything is functioning well, get slick tires, fenders, and rack. Looks like your rear dropouts have eyelets for only one or the other but you can make it work.
r/xbiking is your go to for this
One I would check is the rims. Make sure they are double wall and not single. If they are single I would upgrade wheelset. Make a BB service and hub service. Check cassette and chainrings if they are chipped, change them. Upgrade tyres as they are most likely super old, slicks or whatever the terrain your at asks for. Happy riding.
My advice would be to replace the chain, adjust the brakes, lube it up, and start riding. You’ll notice over time what you like and don’t. You’ll want smoother tires for commuting. You may want new handlebars with accessories clamped to it.
It looks like someone replaced the original brake/shift levers with ones that are designed for V-brakes, but left the bike’s original cantilever brakes. Using V-brake levers with cantilever brakes will result in a very firm feel with much less stopping power than intended. The reason is that V-brake levers pull about twice as much cable, but with half the leverage. So I’d upgrade that with some Shimano V-Brakes to get the braking on par.
Looks really clean! I’d say measure the chain for wear and replace if worn. Check your bearings (wheel hubs, headset and bottom bracket) for wear and clean and re-grease. Check to see if the shifting is accurate and learn how to adjust it if it’s off. Adjust your seat angle and height along with the height of the stem so that it’s comfortable. All in, that’s like 15 bucks and a good amount of elbow grease.
Once you’ve ridden it a bit you’ll probably want to decide if you need new tires, a new saddle and fenders/racks for your commuting.