- Now it's not often that you can get lucky with something
pretty special just hanging around at the side of the street
but I did
'cause a couple of months back on my way into work
I stumbled across this very bike with this very sign
just laying there
ripe for my picking, let's face it.
And what's so special about it then?
Well, for a start it's a touring bike,
which you don't commonly see that much these days
we've got Reynolds tubing, Mavic wheels, a Suntour groupset
and best of all, it's free of charge.
Today we're gonna look at how to restore a bike
from basically what could have gone straight into the trash.
To the workshop!
(jazz music)
First up, then, we're gonna check out the frame and forks
to make sure they are in tip-top condition
or, well, as close as you can get to that
for a bike which is free or left outside of someone's house
with a note saying on, please take.
Now, in all seriousness, unless it is a bike such as a
Colnago Master Olympic made out of super steel,
then if it is bent or twisted or cracked or crushed,
then you're probably not going to want to spend the money,
the time or the effort in actually restoring it,
unless of course you have a real, I don't know,
kind of attraction towards it or something like that.
So, what are we actually gonna check for?
Well, make sure that the lugs or the wells
are actually a-okay,
so they're not cracked or coming apart at all
and make sure that the frame tubes are nice and round
or certainly in the shape they're meant to be,
so they're not pitted or dented, anything like that.
Also, if there are any signs of rust
make sure they're not actually going through the tubeset,
a little bit of surface rust
that's okay 'cause we can get rid of that,
but essentially you wanna make sure that the frame
is up to the job of holding
and supporting your weight as you ride.
Now, a very basic type of measurement that you could do
to check how in line the frame is, is with some string
as you can see here
with the wheel now removed from the bike.
So with that piece of string
you want to wrap it around the head tube,
bypass the actual seat tube itself here,
so it's going either side
and then join it onto your dropouts
and you want that string to be as tight as you can get it,
I'm not very good at tying knots
but I've got it pretty much spot on for my needs,
but what exactly is this gonna tell us?
It's gonna tell us how in line the rear of the bike is
with the front.
So if you've got yourself a carbon frame
or an aluminum frame and it's out of line,
then it's probably best to walk away from this right now,
because you're not gonna be able to get that
put back into place very cheaply at all.
With a steel frame, however, there are various methods
of actually cold-setting a frame back into place,
but now I've got this structure setup,
I'm actually really keen to find out if it is in line or not
because I haven't had a look so far.
So, with it there and in place
I've got myself a handy tape measure,
I'm gonna measure how far away the string is
from the actual seat tube on either side.
It's an inch and a half, just check on this side,
an inch and a half as well, I'm in luck.
Obviously if the frame is all well and good,
we are gonna need to check out the rest of the components,
because without them you're not gonna get
anywhere very fast are you?
So, let's start off with the wheels,
because generally they're one of the most expensive
components to replace, so give them a spin
and actually check to make sure there's nothing unusual
or vibrations, anything like that coming from them
they shouldn't have
and also they run nice and true and straight,
whilst checking to the side walls of the rims
to make sure they're nice and flat and not worn away,
which could be dangerous,
as well as those spokes, make sure none of those are bent
or twisted at all
and then lastly the tires,
'cause that's obviously a very important part of the bike.
Now handlebar and stem,
normally you can see instantly
if the handlebar has become bent,
because well it's out of shape, let's face it.
Now, as for that handlebar tape,
I would actually advise totally removing it,
therefore you can inspect for any corrosion on handlebars,
because some people out there
they do have a tendency to sweat a lot
and it works its way through the handlebar tape
onto the bars
and can have quite horrible consequences
including handlebars snapping, believe it or not,
so make sure you don't fall foul to that.
Have a good look and then give it a good old clean up too,
to remove any residue.
Next up, let's check two of the most problematic areas
on older style bikes such as this one
and by that I mean the bottom bracket and the headset.
First up then, with the cranks
just try and rock them from side to side
as you can see here
there's play in that which spells trouble,
or potential trouble at least or at least an adjustment job
and then with the headset at the front,
you want to do the same really,
try and rock that forward.
Now, the easiest way to try and check out that headset
is with the bike down here on the ground
lock up both brakes, this is my preferred method,
and try and move the bike backwards and forwards.
Now, if there is any movements at all
in the headset area here,
which you would feel, believe me,
then that's gonna need a little bit of adjustment
later on down the line.
Next up is checking out the brakes,
so give the levers a pull,
make sure that the actual calipers
or the cantilevers in this case
are doing their jobs correctly,
which they appear to be doing all pretty well.
Quite retro and old-school aren't they these cantilevers,
I like them.
Also, check out the cables too
for any signs of obvious fraying or splits, such like,
it's not the end of the world if you have to replace them
'cause they do come pretty cheap,
then we'll move onto the actual gearing systems.
So, in my case, nice and easy here
with a pair of downtube shifters.
I can see if the mechs are working okay,
which, well they appear to be doing their job
and as for the back one,
let's check out if that index gears are still working.
Oh, like a dream.
Quality components - they wear in, they don't wear out
or that's the old saying anyway.
Of course, if your cables have in fact snapped
or stretched or anything like that,
there is a way of doing this manually
and that's by grabbing,
this is certainly for a cabled rear derailleur,
grabbing it and just pedaling and pushing it across
and then making sure that spring
actually returns the derailleur to the correct place.
Finally, check out the chain for any wear,
so if you've got yourself a chain checking tool
then please do use it,
luckily this one is on 0.5 on the wear indicator,
so it is good for certainly
a few thousand kilometers more I reckon
judging by the state of it so far,
it looks to have had a good innings.
Let's get onto the real fun part, though, fixing it up.
(upbeat music)
But what needs my attention then on this eighties classic?
Well, I've given the wheels a spin
and do you know what? They're all okay.
There is a very slight little kink, though, in the rim
so I am gonna adjust it here with a spoke key,
just to get it a little bit straighter,
but fortunately these cup and cone bearings are okay
and that's a real relief,
because sometimes these jobs can turn into something
longer than a five minute job
because a cup and cone bearing,
maybe the actual race of the inner shell of the hub
could be pitted away, likewise with the cone,
therefore rendering them, well, useless,
but I'm so lucky with this bike, I can't believe it,
but I am gonna just give it a quick turn with the spoke key.
Now an area which certainly does need looking at
is this front derailleur cable.
Just look at it, horrible isn't it.
Frayed, nasty, it's just screaming out to you
I want to puncture the end of your finger.
When that happens to you it's like standing on a plug
or a piece of Lego, it hurts, a lot
and for the cost of a couple of dollars,
a couple of euros, a couple of pounds,
just simply replace any inner cables that are like that.
It is gonna give you either better shifting
or better braking and it's gonna be safer too,
so that's exactly what I'm gonna do.
Now, other than that slightly frayed or
quite frankly dangerous inner cable there,
all the other cables are in pretty good nick,
which I'm quite surprised at really,
they'll certainly last a few months longer,
but now I'm gonna give you a little bit of a tip here
to try and get a little bit smoother braking
as well as gear shifting
and it's the only time I ever advise
working on a bike upside down
or certainly not in an upright position.
The reason is, you're gonna apply a few drops
of your lubricant,
such as chain lubricant something like that,
onto the inner cable
and allow it to work downwards into the outer cable,
basically gravity's gonna do the work for you here,
so allow it to soak in for a few minutes
and you should feel slightly smoother braking,
I love smooth braking and gear shifting for that matter.
Now, I think I'm almost blessed by finding this bike
and especially the fact that this headset
doesn't require any attention.
These older style headsets are renowned for becoming pitted,
loose, horrible, juddery, everything like that,
or certainly ones that haven't been taken care of.
It makes me wonder why the previous owner of this bike
was just giving it away
when it's in pretty good condition, to be honest.
Now anyway, if you found yourself with one of these
and it's not in good condition,
first of all take it apart
of course using your headset spanners
and inspect the inside of the races here,
so when I say inspect, make sure they're not pitted,
they're not damaged, those are the most common things.
If it is, I wouldn't bother putting in some new bearings
or some new grease.
Instead, I'd buy a complete new headset and have that fitted
because you don't want to risk having unpredictable
or dodgy steering,
after all it's probably important isn't it,
your steering of your bike.
Now time for the dreaded bottom bracket,
I say dreaded because this was the thing
which I noticed instantly as soon as I picked up the bike,
I could just feel the cranks weren't quite perfect
and I like perfection on a bicycle,
so I'm gonna take off the crank arm,
I'm gonna also check out that bottom bracket
just to see if there's any way at all
I can get it working good again,
otherwise I'm gonna have to put a fresh unit in there.
Let's check it out.
Now, it's time to tackle this bottom bracket using some
old school tools,
although, believe me, these are actually brand new
and I think they're probably the first time
they've been used, in fact, in the GCN tech workshop,
because we don't tend to have many bikes that come in
with this style of bottom bracket on.
So let's first tackle that lock ring, to remove it,
so we can get into the nitty gritty of the bottom bracket.
What I am gonna do is actually
just take up the slack of that
and feel if the bearings are rough or smooth,
maybe it's something which has just happened,
'cause as you can see that lock ring was mega loose,
so it makes me think that the previous owner
was maybe in the middle of a job and just gave up.
Anyway, let's have a look and see how smooth it can be,
using the peg spanner here, turn that,
just trying to take up a bit of that slack.
It's quite stiff in there,
but bottom bracket, there's no movement
and it's nice and smooth.
So we're in luck, I'm just gonna refit that lock ring
and put the crank on, we're pretty much good to go,
but don't worry there's a couple of things
I am gonna do on it.
Now you didn't think that I was gonna be able to get
this bike up and running for only a couple of quid
like I spent on this cable here, did you?
No, in fact, I am gonna put on some new tires on this bike
because these are certainly past their best
and, well, I want to have the best puncture protection,
if ever I do go touring cycling on this bike.
So, a little bit of investment there is more than worth it.
Now I'm sure you'll agree that by putting some new tires
on this bike it is gonna make sure that my riding
is gonna be slightly better protected against punctures,
as well as safer when cornering,
not to mention that those tires I just removed were
quite frankly terrifying
as when I was popping them off the rim,
they were cracking and the smell,
well that didn't leave much to the imagination.
Now, there is one final thing I'm gonna do
and that is wrap the handlebars,
however I'm not gonna put you through all of that
because I'm pretty particular when it comes to it,
instead there is a video for that.
Now, a little bit of advice,
if ever you're walking along and you see a sign like this,
don't carry on walking.
Stop, take that bike, because it could well be
an absolute gem like I've found here with this.
I'm amazed with it to be perfectly honest.
Now remember as well to let me know
what you would check on a bike
if you found it at the side of the road,
let me know down there in the comments section
and, as ever, give this video a big old thumbs up
and share it with your mates,
especially if one of your mates has got a
almost dumpster find like this.
Don't forget, too, to check out the GCN shop at
shop.globalcyclingnetwork.com
and now for two more great videos,
how about down here for how to service cup and cone bearings
and here for how to put on new bar tape.
Go on, give it a watch.