Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Saratoga calif.
Posts: 1,049
Bikes: Miyata 610(66cm), GT Vantara Hybrid (64cm), Nishiki International (64cm), Peugeot rat rod (62 cm), Trek 800 Burning Man helicopter bike, Bob Jackson frame (to be restored?) plus a never ending stream of neglected waifs from the Bike exchange.
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An old Peugeot and a Specialized show up at the shop
A week ago Saturday I was at the bike Exchange hosting our
"work on your own bike" day. I didn't know it but a work party had been organized to clean up our huge pile of donated bikes and cull out the unsalvageable ones for recycling.
When I was getting ready to leave low and behold there were 2 bikes leaning against my truck, a very ratty UO 8 and a specialized Rock Hopper.
Back at my shop the Peugeot proved beyond hope. The cotter on the left side of the crank was welded into the crank arm and the frame was cracked at the steer tube. It had a very nice Schwinn comfort seat and 2 aluminum wheels that were o/k so they came off . the rest went into the scrap pile.
The Specialized was actually in nice shape. It had Kenda Flame tires that look new and a dark blue frame with good paint.
In checking it out, the bottom bracket, wheel bearings and steer tube bearings all looked good and were adjusted correctly.
The next day my wife's niece came to visit and she mentioned that she was looking for a mountain bike to ride around South Lake Tahoe where she just moved to. So now I am building it up for her.
She said she doesn't like shifting much so I deleted the front derailleur and twist grip shifters and put a Shimano 7 speed index thumb shifter on. For my money that is just about the easiest thing there is to shift and it is pretty foolproof.
I left the large chain ring on and will give her the front Der if she later decides she needs more gears . I put the cushy Schwinn comfort seat on which she saw and lusted after . I couldn't ride with it but she likes it at least for now. Completing the build I swapped the straight bars for ones with a 4 inch rise so she can sit upright. Lastly I put on some old Huffy grips I had laying around in the shop.
It should work out well . It is a nice frame and the original components were good quality. The changes I made should make it a comfortable cruiser for the paved and improved trails in and around South Lake Tahoe.