2014-01-20 - Poking Around Park on Mt Bike and Bike Mechanics 101

Miles 3.5
Start Time: 11:00
Moving Time:
Elevation(Ft):
Avg Speed(MPH):
Max Speed(MPH):
Avg Cadence:
Avg HR:
Max HR:
Temp Out: 73
Temp In: 73

Such a beautiful day I had to go out and play around. I did a few laps around the park once in the morning and again in the late afternoon.

I have been giving one of my neighbors a bit of help getting situated after he suffed a stroke. He gave me two old bikes which had been given to him and have been sitting in the sun here for several years. I wanted them to refurbish for my 2 grandsons who live in the LA area. I purchased tires, tubes, chains, grips and seats and set out to fix them up last Saturday. This photo was taken near the beginning of the project:

The seats were ruined as were the tires, tubes, grips and chains. The tires did not look too bad but crumbled if touched. I replaced the seats, tires and tubes along with new rim tape, and the grips. I put street tires on both bikes a I think most if not all of the use will be on pavement:

After removing the completely rusted chains I discovered the bottom brackets on both bikes are shot. I removed all the cables on the mountain bike and the shift cables from the road bike. I brought the mt bike in the house to begin re-cabling it. I did the brakes without to much problem after figuring out how this type of brake which I had not worked on before works.

Today I put on the shift cables and found that the shifters were not working at all (they seemed to be the other day when I first started). I found a Youtube video on cleaning them and took them apart this evening. I also pulled the cranks and removed the cup and cone type bottom bracket. As I was taking out the left side cup loose balls started falling on the floor which is a bad sign since it is a caged bearing. I think I will order a modern cartridge BB for this bike. They are not so expensive and one will make a huge improvement in pedaling and maintenance. In the meantime the shifter mechanisms and the BB components are soaking in degreaser. If the shifters will not come around a new set is $50. They are combined with the brake levers. So far I am under $200 in parts for both bikes. New shifters will blow that budget but may be necessary.

Front brake:

Rear brake:

Disassembled shifter/brake bodies:

Cranks off:

In the drink next to dinner:

The mountain bike appears to have been a rental in Oregon in a former life. It was obviously near the ocean based on the amount of rust. I have to use copious Liquid Wrench to get many of the bolts and nuts and levers to move. The road bike is much older. It has no cable guides as do more modern bikes and a one piece crank. I may have a bit of trouble getting parts to repair the bottom bracket on this bike. A modern cartridge BB is no an option as far as I know at this point although I will research the subject on the web. It might be worth it to buy a modern BB and crankset if such is available.