(upbeat music)
- This is a 24-inch kids bike
that was part of a larger bulk purchase that I made,
about 45 bucks.
And I'd say that's a fair price for this bike.
It has definitely seen its better days.
It was left outside for a long time, and it was neglected.
But before that, it was loved.
You can tell by all the stickers and the wear,
and the parts that were changed out,
that somebody wanted to keep this bike running at one point,
but like all kids' bikes, somebody grew out of it
and it got sold, left in the backyard.
Now, while this bike didn't cost me very much money,
I do think it's gonna be difficult to turn a profit on it.
Just replacing the worn tires in this bike
could quickly exceed what I paid for it.
So, this is gonna be sort of a passion project
to put a good kid's bike back on the trail,
and hopefully change somebody's life.
Now, aside from the rust and the neglect
and desperate need for service,
there's not a whole lot wrong with this bike.
The bottom bracket seems okay,
there are no dents or bent parts.
And in fact, with a little cleaning it looks like this frame
is in pretty good condition.
I think once we fix it up we can make the color scheme
a little bit more fun for a kid.
And so if we do the right thing by this bike,
it could be put back on the trail and loved again.
So, let's break it down and see what we can do.
(upbeat music)
(spanner cranking)
(upbeat music)
This is a square taper crank set which is really common
in bikes at this price point.
And you really need a crank puller to get it out.
So, this outer piece threads into the crank arm,
and then as you turn this, it pushes against the spindle
and pulls the crank arm out.
(upbeat music)
So we've got everything laid out here on the bench.
Some of these parts I'm gonna replace,
some I'm gonna restore.
But one of the cheapest things you can get replacements for
are bolts, and new, shiny bolts always look good.
And we can go to the hardware store prepared,
because I now have a thread checker.
So they actually have one of these at every hardware store,
and I ordered the same one that they have
at my local hardware store.
So this bolt is an M8-1.25.
M is metric, eight is the size,
and then 1.25 is the thread pitch.
Then if you wanna measure the length of it,
you can just use a ruler.
(upbeat music)
This Derailleur would be pretty tough to clean up.
It's been really, really neglected.
Luckily, I nabbed this one off another flip bike.
It's identical.
And I don't know when else
I would use a six-speed Tourney derailleur,
and so it's going on this bike.
(upbeat music)
SunTour coil forks don't need that much maintenance
as long as you keep them clean,
but this one has spent quite a bit of time in the elements.
(soft music)
(air dryer blowing)
(upbeat music)
This is a kid's bike, and so I wanna make it fun.
And so we're gonna take a little chance this time.
I think if it comes out shiny and nice,
and it doesn't look like a DIY job,
it's gonna be pretty cool.
(aerosol can spraying)
(upbeat music)
So we painted the lowers of the fork a fun color,
we touched up the crown with a glossy black,
and we even painted the crank set and bashring flat black,
along with the seat
which had that outdated white stripe on it.
There are a few parts that we haven't cleaned up yet,
the frame and the wheels.
Before you start scraping and peeling and using Goo Gone
to get stickers off, try adding some heat to it,
just a little bit sometimes is enough
where the sticker will just peel off.
It also doesn't work sometimes,
like with the sticker on this head tube,
and then you gotta get it off the hard way.
(upbeat music)
They're dirty, but the wheels are in good condition.
The hubs are also in good condition.
They spin really smoothly, but they're kind of dry,
so we are going to rebuild them.
Just means take it completely apart,
replace all the cheap stuff, and put it back together.
In this case, we're just gonna clean it out
and put new grease in it,
put it back together, and we're good to go.
(upbeat music)
That's a nice, smooth hub.
The tires that were on the bike were cooked,
and they're 1.95 width.
I found fatter ones that are gonna fit, on walmart.com.
They're 2.0, so they're gonna be a little wider.
They're not like high end or anything,
but they're Blackburn, to say the name brand.
(soft music)
I admit this is a pretty wild-looking fork,
but we'll see what it looks like on the bike.
(upbeat music)
So we've totally broken this bike down
to the nuts and bolts, cleaned everything up,
and I've made a choice parts bin selection
to improve some of the parts that were on there.
And I'm hoping, because it's small, I can test it.
(upbeat music)
I don't have long enough bolts in stock for the bashrings,
so we're gonna have to do without it.
But on the bright side, it is steel
and it'll save a little bit of weight.
(funk music)
(upbeat music)
So the original handlebars were these rusty steel ones,
which even for a kid's bike are kind of narrow.
I redid that Trek, which was for a full grown man.
These bars were narrow for a full grown man,
but for a little kid they're pretty wide,
and they're aluminum so they're lightweight.
(upbeat music)
(hammer pounds)
So because this side gets the grip shifter,
we have to measure and cut it down.
(soft music)
And because they're fun and functional,
both sides are gonna get Sticky Fingers break lever grips.
And to lubricate them, we're gonna spray alcohol inside,
and then it should dry up by the time we're done
with this bike, nice and grippy.
(soft music)
This bike is all but done, and I am pretty excited about it
because you can get a big bike and try to adjust it
for a little kid, but it's not the same.
And if you do what most parents do
and get a really cheap kid's bike,
it's gonna be really heavy.
So having a really good, affordable used bike like this
on the market, is gonna be really, really good
for some lucky eight year old.
So with that, I think it's time we stared at it.
(upbeat music)
So this bike would feel
like kind of a small dirt jumper to me.
And so I'm just gonna take it to snake pit
and see if she goes.
(soft music)
It doesn't feel like a little dirt jumper.
It feels like a miniature bike.
Oh.
(exhales) All right. One more run up.
(bicycle crashes) (grunts)
Trying to make sure I have enough speed.
(upbeat music)
The crazy thing is how good the suspension fork feels.
I'm gonna get this thing listed.
So I have this listed at $300,
and I'm willing to go down on the price.
However, there's not as big of a demand
for nice kids bikes as there is for nice adult bikes,
because parents know their kids
are gonna grow out of it quickly.
They don't know whether they're gonna be in love with it.
And so they spend $70 on a department store bike,
and they can pedal it around just fine.
It's only a small subset of parents
that are looking for something, a step up.
And so, I hope somebody sees the value in this.
So it's Sunday morning,
I've gotten no inquiries on this bike.
I haven't gotten a low ball offer, not a question, nothing.
Yeah, if it was listed for three or four weeks,
maybe we'd get somebody
and maybe we'd have to drop the price.
I'd rather just make sure it goes to somebody
who really wants it.
So we came up with a little post and we found a mom
who wants the mountain bike for her kid.
And he would really like something quieter, lighter,
more mechanically sound.
And so hopefully this bike
is gonna find a really good home today.
(soft music)
- The old bike situation was too small
and worked really well when we were going straight.
Even just like on the streets, it's been hard to keep up
'cause it's been heavy.
Ed has been frustrated.
And I started getting worried
that he was gonna stop liking riding.
- And I cannot handle my brakes at all.
'Cause these breaks didn't work.
- So he's been trying to keep up with mom on a BMX bike.
And she says, even in the gravel
he's just skidding everywhere.
And it looks like in the next year or so,
he's gonna need to step up to a big one,
and they've promised to pass it on
to the next owner for free, and I think that's really cool.
Let's go back to the shop for the breakdown.
So obviously in this episode of "Flip Bike"
we didn't make any money.
In fact, we lost money.
We bought the bike, we paid money for parts.
How much did we lose?
Well, the bike itself costed us about $45.
It was part of a big group of bikes
that didn't really have much value
in the condition they were in.
Paint was about $5. Used pedals, $20.
New brake pads were actually $20.
New 24-inch tires, $45. Cables and housing, $5.
Handlebars came off that Trek.
I'm glad we were able to use them for something, $5.
Derailleur, $10, bottle cage, $4, chain $13,
Chainring $10, Sticky Fingers, $12.
And one bolt on skewer for $5.
And so we lost $203, probably went a little overboard,
but was it really a loss?
Well, yes, financially, but by now, you know "Flip Bike"
is just an excuse for us to put old clunkers
back on the trail.
Parents want what's best for their kids,
and sometimes what's best is saving money
so they can feed them, clothe them,
and take them to the doctor.
Bikes tend to get pushed down the list a little ways.
But it's nice to know that if you find the right kids bike,
you can put a little bit of time and effort into it,
and turn it into something like this.
So I hope you enjoyed today's video.
I hope you learned something.
And if you wanna see other "Flip Bike" episodes,
check the playlist below.
Thanks for riding with me today, and I'll see you next time.
(soft music)