My little bike project(s)

[onimity]

In August someone broke into our garage and stole my sister & my mountain/commuter bikes (we are roommates) and since she was just at the point of quitting her job and going back to school we had no spare $ for replacements. Amazingly, friends and co-workers offered us some great free bikes that, though being in need of some love and repairs, kept us pedaling. I purchased a new MTB a while later & decided to fix up one of the bikes for my mom. It's an old Giant MTB (we named her Gayle) which I thought would be good for my mom at least in the gearing, since she has bad knees.

When we got Gayle she hadn't been ridden in ages. She was covered in dirt and dust and had a huge cushy seat with a lock attached, the key having long since gone missing. She had quasi-functional grip shifters and hand grips that had been cut to pieces, slippery platform pedals, super-narrow handlebars and she creaked and squealed even being pushed down the hallway.

I've been talking to the guys at the LBS about her, and yesterday went in and fixed her up. They have a stand with tools for customers and were kind enough to answer all of my stupid questions. [there were lots]

I gave the bike a new seat, new pedals, a new stem and handlebars that make the riding position more cruiser-like (my mom isn't keen on low bars) new shifters, new grips, new cables & housing for the brakes and derailers and of course de-squeaked the drive train. I figured it would be a big project, but it was all really easy.

My sister had another of the free bikes in the shop for a new Bottom Bracket and the LBS guy said it needed new cables/housing as well, so we got that plus some new shifters, grips and pedals, which I put on last night. We put the stock saddle from my MTB on it. So for less than $250 and a little elbow grease, my sis and mom now have great little bikes that are in good repair.

I'm pretty proud about it, since my previous mechanical experience was limited to flat changing and minor adjustments.

I'm headed out to take some pictures to post.

Anne

[sandra]

Congratulations on your accomplishment. I'd love to have a bike shop that offered that. Can't wait to see the pictures!

[onimity]

Thanks, Sandra.

Here are the bikes.

Anne

[sandra]

WOW! They look great!!! Aren't you proud of yourself!!!

[sgtiger]

Anne, those bikes look great! I'm impressed! Plus now you've gained some valuable experience that'll help you maintain your bikes and those of your family members.

[jusdooit]

They look great. Wanta fix up my MTB? Wish I had a shop that offered that service. A stand is on my X-Mas wish list this year.
Great job.

[snowtulip]

Great Job! And those are great mechanics skills that should really help you on your South America trip! I'm drooling about your trip!

[sandra]

hijack, please tell me about your south america trip!

[KnottedYet]

Great job!

[Tri Girl]

The bikes look fantastic!!! I just restored an old beater myself, and it's quite an accomplishment to take something that once was unloved and turn it into something of beauty! I'm so proud of you!!! Enjoy the riding!

[onimity]

Thanks, ladies. It feels really great to turn them into happy bikes again. My sis and I took a little ride on them this evening and they are working great, they really fly!

The stand at my LBS is great because it would be a big investment in tools and having the LBS undo all of my 'work' to do this sort of thing otherwise. A little bit of beer goes along way in getting help from the LBS guys.

It feels amazingly good to know that I put so much of the bikes together and yes the mechanic skills are going to help on my trip. That's part of why I wanted to do this now was to get prepared. I am so unbelievably excited.

Sandra, I am going touring (solo & self-supported!) in Patagonia, from San Martin (Argentina) down the Carretera Austral to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. I leave in 25 days.

Anne

[sandra]

How exciting! I can't wait to hear about the trip when you get back!

[onimity]

To update this... I ended up putting a new chain on the bike for my mom (the purple bike) & gave it a new cassette, then my sis & I brought the bike down to her yesterday. The hardest part of the whole thing was getting her bike and mine onto the train that goes to my parents house...the stairs to board are steep!

My mom was a little skeptical about riding a bike, she hadn't ridden one in decades, but she loved it. She was grinning ear to ear and got really good at shifting properly to get up hills. We rode a couple of miles with her and when we got back my dad said 'I want to try it!' He was racing around like a kid. After lunch, my mom said: "are we going to go ride our bikes again?" so she and I went out and visited some neighbors. She rode a little over 5 miles on her first day!

I love bikes.

Anne