I only recently started getting more interested in cycling and received my father’s old (90s, early 2000s?) mountain bike. It’s an Atala Ranger, but I wasn’t able to find much information about it. Atala itself never replied to an inquiry. The bike was a gift for his 30th birthday (which was over 30 years ago) from my mother. He rode it for a while, then moved on to other bikes that suited his riding style more, and it went into storage for a long time, with pretty much all of its original parts just gathering dust and grime.
I took it for an outside ride straight from storage, then moved to an indoor trainer setup. Over the last few months, I removed decades of grime, cleared off the old, half-flaked bright yellow-red stickers, and tried my best to adjust it to make it more comfortable. When trying to adjust the front stem, I realized the quill stem was rusted in. Thanks to an LBS mechanic (who ended up guiding and helping me a lot in the refurbishment), I was able to get it out. The more we looked at the bike, the more we (he 😉) started realizing that a lot of the parts were quite worn down, but also that everything had special dimensions (the quill stem being 21.1mm in diameter, the bottom bracket being Italian-style, the rear freehub having a very specific dimension, etc.).
I went back and forth a lot on whether it was worth refurbishing this old (probably not very good) bicycle or just getting a newer used bike and moving on. Eventually, I settled on a budget and decided to give this project a try—also to learn more about bicycles in general (enter the very active r/bicycling lurking). As long as this bike keeps me going for the coming years, I’ll have time to figure out what I actually want down the line.
I spent the last few months slowly researching and sourcing parts that were within my budget and looked like they would fit my riding style. I also used the cheap second-hand indoor trainer and started getting my legs in shape for spring (and as a non-impact balance to my trail running).
# In the end, this is what was changed:
* Replaced the tubes and tires
* Upgraded the brakes from cantilevers to mini V-brakes
* New saddle and seatpost
* Replaced the rear wheel (which my mechanic luckily still had from a previous job, since replacing the worn-out cassette on the old wheel would have cost around 90 euros for another used cassette)
* New rear freewheel
* A quill-to-ahead adapter and an AliExpress H-loop bar to replace the old semi-rusted flat handlebar
* New brake/shift levers
* New shifter and brake cables
* New pedals (as the old ones were partially broken)
* New chain (and wax… I’m pretty done with cleaning black goo)
* New rear derailleur (the front was still fine after getting a thorough clean)
I also ended up getting a proper helmet, a bottle holder/bottle, and a saddlebag for day trips.
Today, I finally went for my first ride out after what feels like waiting for so long! It was a bit rainy, but I had such a great time! Even though a lot of the components are entry-level, it feels like such a massive upgrade compared to the last time I rode this bike a few months ago. The shifting felt smooth, the brakes worked well even in wet conditions, and the pedalling was so smooth and quiet.
Really happy with how everything turned out, and I thought I’d share it with you guys since I ended up learning a lot from this sub!
1 Comment
Hey everyone,
I only recently started getting more interested in cycling and received my father’s old (90s, early 2000s?) mountain bike. It’s an Atala Ranger, but I wasn’t able to find much information about it. Atala itself never replied to an inquiry. The bike was a gift for his 30th birthday (which was over 30 years ago) from my mother. He rode it for a while, then moved on to other bikes that suited his riding style more, and it went into storage for a long time, with pretty much all of its original parts just gathering dust and grime.
I took it for an outside ride straight from storage, then moved to an indoor trainer setup. Over the last few months, I removed decades of grime, cleared off the old, half-flaked bright yellow-red stickers, and tried my best to adjust it to make it more comfortable. When trying to adjust the front stem, I realized the quill stem was rusted in. Thanks to an LBS mechanic (who ended up guiding and helping me a lot in the refurbishment), I was able to get it out. The more we looked at the bike, the more we (he 😉) started realizing that a lot of the parts were quite worn down, but also that everything had special dimensions (the quill stem being 21.1mm in diameter, the bottom bracket being Italian-style, the rear freehub having a very specific dimension, etc.).
I went back and forth a lot on whether it was worth refurbishing this old (probably not very good) bicycle or just getting a newer used bike and moving on. Eventually, I settled on a budget and decided to give this project a try—also to learn more about bicycles in general (enter the very active r/bicycling lurking). As long as this bike keeps me going for the coming years, I’ll have time to figure out what I actually want down the line.
I spent the last few months slowly researching and sourcing parts that were within my budget and looked like they would fit my riding style. I also used the cheap second-hand indoor trainer and started getting my legs in shape for spring (and as a non-impact balance to my trail running).
# In the end, this is what was changed:
* Replaced the tubes and tires
* Upgraded the brakes from cantilevers to mini V-brakes
* New saddle and seatpost
* Replaced the rear wheel (which my mechanic luckily still had from a previous job, since replacing the worn-out cassette on the old wheel would have cost around 90 euros for another used cassette)
* New rear freewheel
* A quill-to-ahead adapter and an AliExpress H-loop bar to replace the old semi-rusted flat handlebar
* New brake/shift levers
* New shifter and brake cables
* New pedals (as the old ones were partially broken)
* New chain (and wax… I’m pretty done with cleaning black goo)
* New rear derailleur (the front was still fine after getting a thorough clean)
I also ended up getting a proper helmet, a bottle holder/bottle, and a saddlebag for day trips.
Today, I finally went for my first ride out after what feels like waiting for so long! It was a bit rainy, but I had such a great time! Even though a lot of the components are entry-level, it feels like such a massive upgrade compared to the last time I rode this bike a few months ago. The shifting felt smooth, the brakes worked well even in wet conditions, and the pedalling was so smooth and quiet.
Really happy with how everything turned out, and I thought I’d share it with you guys since I ended up learning a lot from this sub!
edit: spelling