Cycling Noob

[smsimpson83]

Hi everyone.... so my title is a little misleading.... ofcourse like most people i learned to ride when i was a little kid... LOVED riding bikes, but upon moving 700 miles away from home to go to school i didn't bring my bicycle with me.... even when i was still living at home i pretty much stopped riding when I started driving.... well now I'm trying to reclaim a bit of my youth.

I recently was able to get my last bike from my parents garage... I believe I got this bike about 10 years ago when i was 14. It is a Pacific Scorpio 21 speed Mountain Bike. It has Shimano Altus C-90 transmission and Braking systems... and Kalin Seat post and Handle bars.

My goal is to fix up this bike to the best of my ability (and supplement my work with some jobs from a local bike shop once i find one i like.)

My quest started out with a trip to the library to do some research.... I have read a couple books on the subject and have found a lot of information from Sheldon Brown's page very helpful.

Disclaimer. I have NEVER worked on a bike before... I didn't and still don't know what all the parts are called, but I'm a pretty handy person, and I am glutton for punishment, so I'm gonna try to do all but the really hard stuff myself.

My first task was to clean the bike, which I have done using a dilution of car was in warm water.... got off all the dust that my parents garage had deposited in the 7ish years it hasn't been ridden. Task 2 was to pump up the tires to see if the tubes would still hold air... they have been flat for several years.... surprisingly they checked out fine and I have 58 P.S.I. in them now... I want to experiment with pressure... the little I rode the bike after i pumped up the tires seemed a little rough.

I then hit the store to purchase 2 very important items.... A new Bike Helmet to protect my noggin (A red Schwinn Model which was the only one I could find to fit my huge head) and a new seat, to fit my expanded behind (possibly a partial source of the rough ride can be attributed to the hard as hell, narrow stock seat that was on this model. Total cost at Wall World: 37.something

2nd trip to the store. Went to REI (an outdoors store to check out what they have) while there purchased some Orange based biodegradable degreaser, some axel/bottom bracket/headset grease, and some chain oil. total bill 20.something

Today I did my first real task of rebuilding this bike... I disassembled the front wheel hub and repacked the bearings with some grease... this had NOT been done since I got the bike 10 years ago.the still moved and had a little bit of grease but the difference is night and day. Having felt a sense of accomplishment I look towards the future.

Plans:

I want to turn this bike into more of city cruiser toouring bike to see the sights of Nashville on. I'm not really a rough and tumble trail guy, but more of a city commuter. SO here is what I want in the end....

I would like to finish repacking the rear wheel hub, Bottom Bracket, and Headset. Oil the chain, and other basic maintenance issues that have been neglected for too long.

Take the bike to a local shop (when i find one i like and trust) and have them do a once over tune-up adjustment, as well as a truing of the wheels... they have a bit of a wobble.

Start riding and enjoying my new toy.

In the future I would like to get some less nobby tires on this thing... some more conducive to roads/sidewalks, and other paved trails. Possibly one day repaint the frame, because it to has faded quite a bit from the place it was stored in the garage next to a window. Also reduce some weight possibly. and as things brake down replace with better quality parts.

I'm really excited! pictures to come soon.

[Lazarus]

Wow Welcome to the site. Sounds like a fun adventure you're on. There's a sticky here which will help give you information on how to do just about everything to your bike. I don't think you need to pump your tires up that much but I would be looking for dry rot since they sat flat for 2 years. Good luck and welcome aboard.

[trebuchet03]

Getting some nice cushy non knobby tires will make a HUGE difference

If you want super cushy tires... Look into Schwalbe (<--brand) Big Apple's.


If you're going to repaint, give it some time to cure. Paint it, and let it sit - by itself - for a few days. Giving it some extra cure time will greatly increase it's strength. Damaging your paint the day after painting (from riding) will look terrible....

[SVOboy]

Nice intro! As Laz said, sounds like quite an adventure, looking forward to updates,

[AndrewJ]

Welcome (back) to cycling!

I'd look for some fat tires too. If you don't want knobbys then look for "urban assault" tires, they'll have smooth tread, and be fat enough to soak up some major punishment.
I have some Kenda Kiniption 2.3" tires and they're pretty nice, It's fun jumping curbs and other stuff that I couldn't do with my road bikes.


Anyway, I think the best thing that I got for my bike has been a Wald wire basket. It's a pretty handy way to carry junk around with you.

[johnpr]

sounds like you have quite the project going on, it has quite a few similarities to one of my projects. basically i am transforming my used (and heavily abused) mountain bike into a road worthy commuter. some of the best mods i have done thus far is adding all the junk on the back (rack, bags) switching tires (from a wide agressive 2.10 to a comfortable narrow 1.75 cruising tire) i did the tire swap pretty cheap for a grand total of 24 greenbacks at w-mart. they are marketed by bell as "cruising tire" also the round bag underneath my seat holds a spare tube and a multi tool with tire levers these are must have items and if you ride at night dont forget the lights.

anyhow, have fun setting up your bike so that it is comfortable for you (most important thing to consider!!) and be safe out there
-john

[smsimpson83]

Yeah I have actually seen those Bell tires and have thought about getting them.

SO I took the old bike on the first excursion to the road.... Somethings I noticed were that my chain is skipping so I need to do some research into fixing that.... also it is pretty damn hilly around here so i need to eat my Wheaties before i go on long trips. haha

[Volones]

Congratulations on taking the huge first step to getting some serious bike miles under your belt!

If your chain is skipping it could be two things:
1 - The links are "frozen" together and it doesn't bend like it should in places. You can check this by watching the chain at the rear derailleur as you turn the crank backwords by hand. The rear derailleur cage should stay pretty much in one place with a good chain, but if you see the bottom pulley moving toward the crank periodically, then frozen links are your problem. Luckily this is a pretty easy fix. First make sure your chain is clean and lubricated, then take two small screwdrivers, put them through the chain on either side of the frozen link, and carefully move them apart a little bit in opposing directions (one away from you and one towards you). What you are trying to do is to very slightly separate the plates of the chain so they can rotate on the pin again. Once you get the link so you can move it by hand put some extra lubrication on it and it should be fine for a long time.

Be careful with the screwdrivers, you are basically twisting the chain and it is possible to twist one of the plates right off, which will lead to you needing to replace the pin (not a tough fix in itself, but it takes longer to do).


2 - The chain is mis-aligned due to the shifter cables being out of adjustment. This is easier to fix and usually can be done without any tools at all. First check the alignment of the chain by spinning the crank backwards and looking from near the sead to the rear cassette (gear cluster). You should see a chain that is on one gear and equal distance from the gears on either side of it. If it is closer to one or the other, the cables have "barrel adjusters" to fix this. You should find one at the front shifter unit right were the cable enters it, same for the rear shifter unit, and a third one where the cable goes into the rear derailleur (no second adjuster for the front derailleur though). As you tighten the cable, the rear derailleur will move towards the larger gears, and loosening it will move it toward the smaller gears. Turn it a little until it looks centered and then test it on a ride. You should be able to get it adjusted so that it doesn't skip, but when your shifters 'click' to the next gear, the chain quickly follows along.

Sorry this is such a long post, I wish I had pictures as that would help a lot!

BTW, the best book you can get for working on bikes is "Zinn and the art of bike maintenance". The author is a bike builder and tech editor for VeloNews magazine and is much better at explaining things than I am.

Great Luck to you!

[smsimpson83]

sweet i will check out that book.... I'm a reading fiend

[smsimpson83]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaand I just requested the copy from the library.... gotta love that libraries have entered the 21st century, and everything can be done online now.