Self maintenance?

[madscot13]

I was thinking that if I was too scared to mess with my trek 520 that I could take an old internal three speed that has been rusting away and try and fix that up. Nothing to the extent that you have been doing Deb, but it would get my hands wet, I mean greasy. What do you think Deb?

[DebW]

I was thinking that if I was too scared to mess with my trek 520 that I could take an old internal three speed that has been rusting away and try and fix that up. Nothing to the extent that you have been doing Deb, but it would get my hands wet, I mean greasy. What do you think Deb?

The advantage of the Trek 520 is that your LBS has parts and can give you advice and it's NOT rusty. How rusty is the 3-speed? How many parts need to be replaced? Chances are you could clean the chain, oil the hubs, headset, and bb and be able to ride it. And you could learn by dismantling hubs, bb, etc if you want. It would be a fun project.

[madscot13]

Yeah that sounds good, I am not into replacing parts hardcore. But I think it wuld be fun to replace the brakes and all of the cables of the bike, change the tires, and that easy stuff that I should learn how to do. I don't know how I feel about replacing bearings and taking apart the hub and oiling it however.


yeah the more I think about it, the more fun it sounds.

I actually get the trek 520 back from rei tomorrow. woot! woot!

[madscot13]

I am not so sure what to do about the rust. Right now it just seems cosmetic.

replacing super worn out parts may be a job for next next summer.

[smilingcat]

But brake cables, brake pad should not be so old... Last thing you want to happen is brake cable snapping at the brake handle side or the rubber on the pad so old that it just slide on the wheel (no stopping power).

If the brake cable has any sign of rust, REPLACE it!! or if it seems not very pliable replace it.

[DebW]

Yeah that sounds good, I am not into replacing parts hardcore. But I think it wuld be fun to replace the brakes and all of the cables of the bike, change the tires, and that easy stuff that I should learn how to do. I don't know how I feel about replacing bearings and taking apart the hub and oiling it however.

If the hubs are designed for oil, there will be an oil port and you won't have to take them apart. But it's still worth doing sometime just to learn and to get the cones adjusted properly.

[madscot13]

I got my bike back from the REI bike shop yesterday. I got some new cables and a new headset, cleaned out pedals, my drive train was scrubbed and shiny ( I didn;t know that it was silver, honestly), and most importantly my brakes work! It was a great job better than I could do on my own.

That said cleaning and lubing should be up to me from now on. I will work on it.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Kit,
So how are the new stem and handlebars working out for you? Is it solving the reach issue? Are you getting used to having a "tall & tippy" bike yet?

[Kitsune06]

I'm finally feeling like I can really stretch out (but not too much!) still working on placement a little, might tip things up or down a little, but not too much. Spent this morning's ride in on my little hill and racing cars on the little straightaway (woulda caught the one SUV, but the road took a little uphill there for awhile...)



I'm loving it!