Freecycle do-er upper

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Plax

Guru
Location
Wales
Well I went to pick up a bike from freecycle. It was advertised as a mans bike which needed some TLC so I thought it would do for my fat hairy lazy better half (I luvs him really!). It turned out to be a girls mountain bike in quite good nick, and the right frame size for me so I took it as a knock about for myself.

The things wrong with it;
It's an apollo charm
It has missing brake bad at the back
Back wheels need "trueing"
Chain extremely rusty
tyres were flat

Other than that is is in really good nick. It has 21 gears, front suspension and an aluminium frame and saddle with suspension.

I've cleaned and lubed the chain, so that is looking good.
Pumped up the tyres (no punctures they'd just deflated after being stood for so long).
I've replaced the back brake pads.

It rides fairly good - indexing on gears seems ok. Only thing is that the wheels rub on the brakes slightly, but I think that is because the wheels are ever so slightly "buckled". It's barely noticable unless you spin the back wheel and look carefully.

I'd really like to replace the gear and brake cables as they are rusty and "true" the wheels. I've never done any of this before. Would this be something I could do (I've only ever adjusted the gears which was a nightmare, plus this was the first time I've ever replaced brake pads).

I don't find my Haynes manual all that brilliant to follow. Any one got some good video sites I could watch for example, or should I LBS it?

Ta
 

RedBike

New Member
Location
Beside the road
It's definitely worth playing around with but I wouldn't spend any money on it. By the time you've paid for this that and the other you could probably have brought a similar bike new.

Keep it for the 'pub hack'; but please don't be fooled into thinking this bike rides well. It doesn't!

Park tools and Sheldon brown are probably the best places to look for that free Hayes manual type info.
 

andygates

New Member
Get a spoke key from your bike shop. Fit it to the nipple (at the rim end) and turn it - one way is tighter, the other way is looser. When it's tighter, it pulls the rim toward the spoke. Looser is vice versa. Play around: it's a pub hack, so don't be afraid! And it's a great skill to have.
 
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