Got this one for $40 on Facebook Marketplace and weighs in at a solid 34lbs. No idea the year, make, or model. I want to tune up then modernize but can't find many resources/ YouTube videos for really old bikes. Anything you can recommend would be great, thanks!
by littlerunnerboy
5 Comments
https://old.reddit.com/r/Vintage_bicycles/ That’s from the 70s. Steel rims, cottered cranks lotsa work involved.
I don’t want to scare you, but I would highly recommend finding a different era of bike to try to modernize. This has the following that make it difficult to modernize:
Cottered cranks
120mm rear hub width (otherwise known as over locknut dimension)
Stamped dropouts w/o integrated derailleur hanger
What I assume are 27″ wheels with already long reach brakes, requiring potentially even longer brakes.
However, what I *would* recommend doing is still playing around with this bike to learn. Don’t get rid of it, a lot of what is on there is still more or less the same in terms of learning how to work on a bike. Just don’t throw money at this. It’s a perfect choice for your first bit of bike wrenching.
RJ the Bike guy is a good resource on youtube. The Classic and Vintage section on http://www.bikeforums.net has a lot of dispersed information in old threads. Sheldon brown’s website (www.sheldonbrown.com) is another great resource for working on old bikes. And, surprise surprise, but the good ol’ Park Tool Big Blue Book of bicycle repair is actually a fantastic resource. Their channel (Park Tool) on youtube is also great.
Modernizing – not sure what you are looking for. First, the wheels gotta go. Steel rims are heavy. New chain, cotter crank to cotter less axle, new square taper cranks, chainring, free wheel or cassette wheels, new drive trains and shifters. New bar?
It’s possible but it’s probably cheaper and quicker to buy a used modern bike.
You should ride it as a beater bike. Minor tunes like maybe new chain and tires, brake pads.
Hi, you can join us over at /r/Vintage_bicycles .
This bike is not worth modernizing. Frankly, it is barely worth fixing up in a basic way. It was very low end, bottom of the barrel even for the time it was made. It could be an OK bike for learning basic mechanics before moving on to a nicer one.
You could find a much higher quality bike from this era, or a different one, that would certainly be worth fixing up and might be a good option for modernization, if that’s what you still want to do.
If you give us an idea of what your goals for the bike are, we might be able to give you more specific advice.
Barnett’s