jeepinlife10

Good evening from NC, Ive been lurking around here for a little while now and wanted to introduce myself for the first post. My wife and I live with our two boys in NC and just received two Giant Innovas from my parents. Back in the day they were pretty involved in cycling and I remember hitting the trails with them every weekend. My brother became pretty involved as well and worked as a local shop as a tech for a short time. My wife and I are wanting to start riding with our sons and was hoping to get these two bikes operational again unless it'll be worth it to just get new ones. I wanted to see if anyone had any advice on fairly cheap parts to get them going.

The mens bike will need:
shifters
Brakes
tires

the woman bike will need
shifters
brakes
wheels and tires

If we were to go out and buy new middle of the road bikes we figure wed be around 800-1000 bucks (for 2).. or is this way off base?

davester

Welcome to the forum! My wife had a Giant Innova that was sadly stolen. That was a very nice hybrid that is probably worth fixing up if in decent shape. Tires are a wear item and should be a no-brainer to replace. I'm puzzled as to why you think you need shifters and brakes. Is it that they are trigger shifters (e.g. Shimano Rapidfire) that are not engaging? If so, they are probably jammed with congealed grease and there are ways of fixing those easily using spray solvent and lubricant. What's wrong with the brakes and the wheels on the woman's bike? Unless the brakes are missing it would be highly unlikely that they couldn't be easily revived with some new pads and possibly cables/housings. Pictures would be very helpful You're not allowed to post photos until 10 posts in, but if you upload them to flickr or a similar site and post the address, someone here will help you post them on the thread.

jeepinlife10

thanks for the response! the frames are in great shape. They just haven't been ridden in probably 20 years. The shifters were goo'ed up with the old grease and flushed them out really well. still not engaging, took them apart and the shift paw with the coiled spring doesn't want to engage on any of them. the cables are also pretty rusty. As for the brakes.. they work.. the pads are rock hard and the cables are also rusty. Need new wheels on the womans bike because the rear is bent (brother just barely hit the wheel with his boat motor while backing up the boat into the garage). and the front is missing several spokes. I also was handed down a toolbox full of bike tools. So if these things are worth saving what are some decent fairly priced parts to start with? Ill get some pictures up for sure.

Dylansbob 

That would be if you could find any $400-600 bikes in stock anywhere. I had to visit a couple lbs this wek to find a box to ship, I'd never seen a shop with the inventory I saw. A handfull of top-end road and mtbs, probably a dozen $3k+ e-bikes and a lot of empty slots in the stands.

Johno59

First thing is replace all the cables, tires and tubes = $150 (two bikes). Spray WD40 everywhere and see what happens. Buy two new chains regardless and we'll see you on the road.

jdawginsc 

I’d add that perhaps dumping those shifters and getting a set of thumb shifters might be something as well!

Tires, tubes cables, wheel brake pads, maybe new shifters for both and a good cleaning will cost less than $150 and you’ll have fun doing the cleaning!

This forum has tons of how to threads as well!

Several folks live near there and there is a bike coop where you can get a cheap wheel.

chainreaction cycles in England always has the best deals on tires. If you buy $100 it is free shipping usually.

jeepinlife10

so what do you recommend for cables tires and tubes?? I was hoping someone would be able to give me some brands that are reasonable to go with for these items. This is all new to me and don't want to go dirt cheap or get caught up spending to much on something. Ive had the LBS tell me the wheels for the womans bike will be 500$...

Charliekeet

Hi- you weren’t asking me, but I’d say:
- you can’t go wrong with Jagwire or Shimano for cables & housing
- tube manufacturer doesn’t matter, but tires I’ve had good results from Continental, Schwalbe, Specialized, Panaracer Pasela, WTB. If it’s all that’s available, Kenda may work out all right. (I’ve had decent ones and many other people have too, but they have their detractors.)

-re: wheels, well normally I’d say that sounds crazy unless they’re building them for you, but there are fewer options right now. What I’d do is (I’m assuming 700c 9-speed hubs?) but these, from Velomine, but they’re out of stock: https://www.velomine.com/index.php?m...oducts_id=5884

Or look at things like this from Universal at $310 for the set- https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...&category=6812

So maybe you need for more details (or we would).