£3.00 bike to fix up

[Mick F]

A friend has asked me to fix up a bike he bought for £3. He dropped it off yesterday, and said to send him the bill if it costs anything. I agreed and promised to meet up with him in a few days. It's a fully suspended MTB with chunky tyres, a 5sp freewheel and a triple c/s controlled by twist-grips. Gears and transmission, though VERY manky, seem to work ok. Tyres are good and hard.

The main problem, as he saw it, was that he couldn't get the brakes to work properly.

I've just spent an hour with the bike down in the workshop, and the V brakes are hopelessly out of adjustment. But the main problem, initially, is that the back wheel is buckled to quite a degree - perhaps a half inch throw from side to side. Until that is sorted, the back brakes will never work properly. Front wheel seems fine.

So off came the back wheel, and I set about loosening all the spokes right off. Trouble is, the rim with all the spokes loose, was still buckled! After some TLC it's now "ok" with perhaps a couple of mm's throw, but some spokes are mega-tight, and some fairly slack. I'm not happy that the wheel will last for very long. I wonder if he wants to go to the expense of a new rim. £25 ish? The spokes seem fine.

I do have a question about V brakes, having never used them. What is the best way of adjusting them? Is there a fine balance between the cable adjustment and the block adjustment? Which should be done first? Should the brakes be adjusted so that the arms are wide apart with the blocks right in?

Off out shortly, and I'll carry on with the rest of the bike later, and keep you all posted.

[Si]

I generally start them off with the block spacers set so tht the arms stand straight up with the blocks close to the rims but far enough off not to drag (assume there will be a bit of twistage in such a bike on the hills). then do the wire up and check that the lever movement is correct. then centre the brakes - ideally with the little screws at the bases but if they are cheapo then it might not have them, or they might be knackered, so just unhook the springs and bend them until you achive centrage. Alternatively I'm sure that sheldon has a page on it

[chrisw]

As Si has said, set up the arms first so that they are parrallel, then faff with the brake blocks. I've always found the park tool website really helpful:
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=21

There's also bike tutor at:
http://bicycletutor.com/adjust-v-brakes/

and then theres always Sheldon brown!

Good luck.

[neilob]

I can't trump the £3 bike but I did buy one last week at an auction for £4.50 so my daughter could have a 'cheap' bike at university. It didn't need much doing at all other than taking apart and using my vast spares box for bits and pieces. Except the brakes...I took a conscious decision to fit decent brakes and bought some new off ebay for £14 (Tektro) including levers. I'm happy she has good brakes, adjustment is/was simple and the bike still only cost £20. Not bad for a steel frame and quality components.....
Neil

[Si]

I can't trump the £3 bike

My best was the approx -£10 bike. Got an old bike free - swopped some components for ol stuff in the spares box and sold the unwanted components: ended up with a new bike and a profit

[CJ]

Upon finding the rim was still buckled with totally slack spokes, I'd take it off altogether and bend it flat(ish) before re-building.

I've done this with a few rims, using a large window as a reference flat surface, marking the low spots and high spots with chalk, supporting the low spots off the floor with bits of wood and pressing down on the high spots in a trial and error process. Once they're flat to within a couple of mm it doesn't require much difference in spoke tension to get it within ½mm.

[Mick F]

Thanks CJ,
I must say that I thought there might be a possibility of "straightening" it. I think that's the least of the problems though.

The brakes, with a bit of fiddling, are adjusted well enough, though the rear rubs just a bit. They are Alonga V brakes with a small allen screw on each arm to adjust the centralisation. They works well and are very powerful, and I've learnt all about V brakes! Thanks for the advice guys.

All the cables are rusty and brittle, so they'll all need renewing.
The chainset is buckled, so the front mech rubs the chain on the big ring. It could be bent straight.
The Ahead bearings are rocking, and no matter how tight I make the tensioning bolt (with the stem loose!), I can't take out the slack. With perseverance, I could sort it.
The front suspension seems to rock back and forth too. Not fixable, I would think.

The worst thing:
The seat post has been "borrowed" from another bike. I took it out to check on the security and adjustability, to find it bound with black PVC tape. The post clamp was over-tightened and took some releasing. The post has been sawn off too - you can see the roughness of the hacksaw blade. I've just measured up - post is 28.5mm and the frame takes a 30mm. Someone had taken up the slack with tape!

£3 may seem like a bargain, but if you take a full set of four cables, a new rim (possibly) and a new seat post, there may not be much change from £50 (this includes a few pints as payment!)

I'd like to bet my mate could buy a secondhand bike that works and is complete for less than that.

He and I need a chat, as maybe a silk purse CAN be made from a sow's ear ..........

[DaveP]

My first thought was "I bet you could buy a shim for the seatpost." And so you can - for £9.99
But it shouldnt be beyond the bounds of ingenuity to find a piece of metal and make one to suit, assuming the post is still long enough. I know its not the Mercian Way, but us lesser mortals get away with stuff like that allatime!
I should have a look inside that headset though. Sounds like there could be one or two little round bits missing. Or worse...

[cycleruk]

My first thought was "I bet you could buy a shim for the seatpost." And so you can - for £9.99
...

Coke can?

[frank9755]

I've done up two old bikes in the last year and it can be a rewarding experience.

- My wife got a Raleigh Wisp - an 80's mixte-frame drop-handlebar bike for about £13. The only thing wrong with it was the saddle was done. She put her saddle on it, from her old bike, and I spent about £7 each on a stem raiser and a longer seat post to get the position right for her.

- I bought an old Super Galaxy for £35. I put a recycled freewheel on it, bought some second hand STIs for £13. Replaced the midde chainring, new cables, tubes and tyres, chain and bar tape - and I've got a great second bike that I'd be happy to tour on, for not much over £100.

However it depends what you start from (silk purse / sows' ear!). Both my projects had most of the bits there and were bought from the original 20+ year owners. You might find it costs your friend less to write off his £3 and choose an alternative starting point that needs less work!

[Mick F]

You might find it costs your friend less to write off his £3 and choose an alternative starting point that needs less work!

Exactly!

Still, it's a challenge to get it right. I'll speak to him this weekend.

[PBA]

Silly point - You do know that the seat post was just fine until you undid the clamp?

[Mick F]

Yes, it was solid and firm. But my mate bought this bike from an auction, hoping to give it to a chap he works with to commute. I don't know how tall he is, so I pulled the seat post out to make sure it would adjust. That opened a can of worms!

[downfader]

I always thought that when people find bikes for so little money that the consensus was to strip it all down and sell it as parts on ebay?

I've been stripping off parts from my knackered Marin. Got the seat post and saddle off, knackered front wheel, tyres, etc. Removed brake bits from stays and forks... got stuck trying to get the grips off the handlebars though. They will not budge. I just thought that since the frame is bent and the carbon forks split, plus the knackered front wheel.. it would just be easier to sell off the stuff that still works.

Good luck with your project MickF!

[Mick F]

Update:

My mate spoke to his mate, and they've decided that they'd like me to just make it ride-able by securing the seatpost by any method I think fit! They'll take the risk with the wheel.

Meanwhile, they'll look for another bike .......