Partial Rebuild advice

[Cheule]

Hi all

I'm starting this thread because I'd like your wisdom on upgrading my 2008 CBR Timberline. Although the bike's not old, it's used every working day on a 3 mile uphill trek to work, and back again. It's suffered typical British weather most days and as a result usually jams up quickly with road dirt/rain/sludge etc.

It's fitted with Sunrace M30 front pods, Alhonga Disc Brakes on the front, V-Brakes on the back. Sunrace M50 rear mech, and not entirely sure what's supposed to be on the front!

I'm looking to defy what many do on here and go from pods to RevoShift. I've had nothing but trouble with pods, these M30's have locked up, the right one's lower shifter sheared off. The left pod seems to work but the cable has seized. I think the front mech has also seized. Rear was starting to lose gears until right pod exploded in a subway one night, now I'm stuck in 24th gear. Getting uphill is a bugger and not good on my knees and arm joints.

The most immediate problem is my bottom bracket appears to be about to combust, the pedal arms wobble left and right while cycling.

I know this bike isn't "up there" with the likes of Cannondale, Scott, Campagnola etc but I'd like to breathe life into the little sod rather than having to fork out for a new bike again (plus tight budget says no!) Plus hopefully as a side bonus, I'd learn something about maintenance to prevent this from happening again.

I'm going to have to jump into bed soon as I work nights, but I plan to take pictures of the bike, and hopefully you good-natured wizened types can offer some sagely advice to prevent me buying mismatched parts ;-)

 

[RedBike]

I don't want to put a dampner your plans but you could well find out that repairing your existing bike is anything but cheap and in the long run it might not work out cost effective. Before you get too carried away it might be worth having a look around whats going second-hand.

Commuting in bad weather kills bikes and you will probably find if you look a little deeper that 101 other parts need changing.


From what I can tell most of your problems seem to stem from having got dirt in your cables. You can pick a gear/brake cable up from Halfords for about £4each or a complete Shimano gear set from you LBS for about £25. Although it will cost you more it might be worth looking at fitting full length outer cables as typically found on some MTBs.

For gear levers I wouldn't fit revoshifters. It sounds as though you've just had a bad experiance of the Suntour M30 units. I would look at the Alivo units from Shimano circa £35.

The bottom bracket will all depend upon which cranket you currently have but you're looking at ~£15.


As you can see the cost soon mounts up.
Two cables sets ~£20-£50
Shifters £35
BB £15
Thats £70 before you've started. Add in a new chain, cassette, front or rear mech, tools and you'll soon be well over the £100 mark.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Before saying anything I think RedBike's suggestions are all very wise.

A potential dilemma is that buying secondhand is not necessarily a sure thing unless you know what you are doing, or you can buy one you want from a trustworthy LBS at an acceptable price to you.

It is worth taking a good look at all the key components of the bike and make a condition assessment of what are worn out and what are still serviceable for some time. This I think is necessary to ensure you do not throw good money after bad, so to speak, unless you do enjoy fiddling with mechanical things and as you said want to learn to maintain and repair this or any other bike in the future.

For example, the pedal arms wobbling left and right could be a problem with the crank or the bottom bracket. If you are lucky it might just be the bolts holding them together need tightening. If the bottom bracket is worn, then changing it involves special tools and some care, and the selection of the right part requires specific information on what you have already got. If the crankset is the problem, it is more expensive than a bottom bracket to replace.

Replacing cables/housings requires a good quality cable cutter if you are doing it yourself.

Replacing gear shifters does not require special tools (but it would be wise to replace the cables/housings, which can be cheap yet serviceable, at the same time). If you have 24 speeds at present and if you have no plan/need to change your crankset at the front or your cassette at the back then any Shimano MTB triple left shifter and 8 speed right shifter will be compatible with your bike's original setup.

If you have not seen them already, this and this are both excellent guides on repair and maintenance.

If you have any further question do ask - there are indeed many "good-natured wizened types" on this forum. Good luck!

 

[OLDSHUNTER]

Your paying the price for no maintaining it. Full service you will likely need new cable's and a good clean and adjustment of derailer's  all bearing point's and replace chain and cassette, check the right crank for any distorted teeth, if no then you should have yourself a bike again.Get a haynes  maintinance book and enjoy .Stay clear of the revoshift they do give problem's and the problem you have encountered is due to neglected cable  adjustment with your original shifter's .You are better getting the knowledge on how to adjust cable's and derailer's afore attempting to do the job and maybe let the lbs fit the b/b and cassette n chain, save you on the new tool price until you further your knowledge and are confident and yes the same replacement part's and labour price sometime's has to be considered.Had a quick look at bike price is around £200 you might get your parts for around £50-£80 although that's not adding bearing's .If you get the part's cheap enough and fit yourself then that's ideal although i think you should get a new bike appropiate to your use and use the knacked one for your experience in maintinance .

 

[Cheule]

Your paying the price for no maintaining it. Full service you will likely need new cable's and a good clean and adjustment of derailer's all bearing point's and replace chain and cassette, check the right crank for any distorted teeth, if no then you should have yourself a bike again.Get a haynes maintinance book and enjoy .Stay clear of the revoshift they do give problem's and the problem you have encountered is due to neglected cable adjustment with your original shifter's .You are better getting the knowledge on how to adjust cable's and derailer's afore attempting to do the job and maybe let the lbs fit the b/b and cassette n chain, save you on the new tool price until you further your knowledge and are confident and yes the same replacement part's and labour price sometime's has to be considered.Had a quick look at bike price is around £200 you might get your parts for around £50-£80 although that's not adding bearing's .If you get the part's cheap enough and fit yourself then that's ideal although i think you should get a new bike appropiate to your use and use the knacked one for your experience in maintinance .

Valid points from all, thank you

Strangely the bike price is around the 200 mark although when I bought it, it cost 155. Go figure :-0

I'll rephrase what I said about being in a budget, as I think I've unnecessarily confused people with poor wording. I don't have a couple of hundred lying around to buy a new bike (debts etc), however I do have 50-100 here and there every month or so that I can throw into an ongoing restoration project. In truth (and although it may sound strange) I don't mind the total of the project exceeding the cost of a new bike. There's nothing wrong with the frame, rather my lack of maintenance. In fact before it all started going wrong with the bike, I'd stripped it down and cleaned it thoroughly, it was working beautifully. But after a month of harsh commuting weather and road grit, it starts to jam up again. Maybe I should look at doing a bit of maintenance weekly just to keep on top of it?

Plus, I'd rather not add to the landfill. There's already my previous bike in the shed, rusting away. I hanker for the days when I had my Raleigh Amazon Mk1. Beautiful paintwork

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

In fact before it all started going wrong with the bike, I'd stripped it down and cleaned it thoroughly, it was working beautifully.

I can see you becoming one of the "good-natured wizened types" yourself on this forum in no time!

 

[Cheule]

I can see you becoming one of the "good-natured wizened types" yourself on this forum in no time!

Thanks, that's very kind of you to say

My area of expertise is computers and hardware, I consider cycling and all the know how that goes with it just as challenging, it's just my knowledge is years behind what it should be....long cage, short cage...etc...what?

I'm sure I'll soon get the hang of it

Meanwhile, we've just had some nice weather here so I can finally take some pics of the bike in it's current mess for you all to see.

 

[Cheule]

Here are the pictures as promised .... brace yourselves ....


http://www.flickr.co...57624745707970/

 

[RedBike]

To be honest that bike doesn't look like its done a high mileage. It looks like its been left stood out in the garden all winter.

Normally when a sprocket is worn the teeth become very sharp/ pointy looking. The teeth on that cassette don't look worn.

I would start off by putting a jet-wash on it (avoiding all your bearings).

To get the bottom bracket out you will need a socket set to remove the bolt.
A crank puller to get the crank arms off the bottom bracket.
A splined Shimano (I know its suntour) bottom bracket remover.

You will also need a cassette locking remover to get that cassette off to clean it and a chain splitter to remove and clean that chain.

It might be worth having a look at a toolkit like this:
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...6-b2c0-dc36b54a327e&istItemId=lixxxw&istBid=t

or this

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLqrymode.a4p?f_ProductID=6721&f_SortOrderID=1



When fitting new parts with steel bolts I heavily grease the thread and stick a bit of clear varnish over the bolts head. The varnish helps prevent the bolts head from rusting.

 

[Cheule]

Thanks for the varnish tip, I'll do that next time I change out the parts (should be in two weeks).

The bike's done about 2-3000 miles. You're right in the fact that it is locked up outside but it does have it's own cover. It used to stay in the kitchen but the missus quite rightly got fed up of falling over it.

The only other disturbing thing today (apart from the chain guard shearing off) is when I turned it upside down to clean it, seven rusty ball bearings fell out and were littered about the seat post area. I didn't see where they came from but I should conclude either the bottom bracket or the rear wheel?

I've had to force the gears down to the mid range as I'm putting too much pressure on the drivetrain going everywhere in 24th gear.

 

[battered]

The bike's done about 2-3000 miles. You're right in the fact that it is locked up outside

seven rusty ball bearings fell out... I should conclude either the bottom bracket or the rear wheel?

I've had to force the gears down to the mid range as I'm putting too much pressure on the drivetrain going everywhere in 24th gear.

That bike doesn't look worn out to me. Rusty and half buggered, yes. Worn out, no. A decent service will see it right, I recently picked up a Spesh RockHopper in a similar state with a buggered rear wheel for loose change. It all needs cleaning, lubing, and making work. 3000 miles is nowt, I have a bike that's done 15,000 miles. It's true though that it's done 4000 miles since a rebuild and in that time it's binned a chain, cassette, rear wheel, freewheel hub...

The bearings are bad news. It sounds like the BB, if you waggle the pedal crank side to side does it rattle? If you can move the wheels from side to side then they are unsafe and need adjustment or possibly replacement.

If you are spooling around in top gear then you must live in a flat area, how about turning it into a single speeder? No gear shift issues and you can ride it until the wheels fall off.

 

[Cheule]

Hi,

No not in a flat area, I'm in a dip and work is 3 miles uphill

The crank does rattle when moved side to side, a new BB is on the cards when I'm on holiday in two weeks. I dare not take it out now for fear it won't go back.

I gave the bike a thorough clean this afternoon, its looking much better for it and I gave it a lube. I really can't wait to start with the modifications!