RustyJames 

A few years ago I was flipping through FB Marketplace and saw an ad that stated, as you may have guessed, a "crummy old bike" for $10. The pics were terrible but showed a generic looking hybrid and almost everything had been rattle-canned black. It wasn't far from my place so I went to check it out. The young lady selling it didn't know anything about it except it was "crummy" and her family was moving out of state and stuff needed to go so she was charged with selling it. The brake levers barely moved and same with the cheap thumb shifters but it was complete. I thought, "Eh, whatever. Maybe I can get a few parts and scrap it." I parked it on my back deck and ignored it.

Fast forward to last weekend and I wondered how difficult it would be to get the black paint off since I saw a nice garnet color underneath. I was wasting time earlier this week on the forums and I saw a post that someone used acetone and a rag to take old paint off so I thought I would give that a go.

Today I decided to experiment and see what I could find. Context - I had zero interest other than cleaning it up and selling a functional bike that looked a bit more presentable. An acetone soaked rag didn't do much but a soaked gray scotchbrite pad was working well. I was cleaning the seat tube and some letters appeared. Wait, is that for real? (People, don't expect a Pinarello to suddenly appear). I kept scrubbing and it was a pleasant surprise. I didn't hit the jackpot but better than a department store brand I was expecting to find...

RustyJames 

juvela

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luv that reuse of a reflector mounting bracket

will have to make a mental note...

viva feline visual perceptor


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unworthy1

did it have those Gatorskins mounted when you paid your $10?
they don't look too bad FWIW, you got your money's worth for sure!

slow rollin

Those gatorskins were made reasonably recently. My older ones had the siping going along the tread alternating. Just those were worth the 10..... let alone the nice oury grips, thumbies,etc.
Nice find.

RustyJames 

If nothing else, I can say I have Bridgestone from the Grant era. (Not popular around here but I respect the guy).

juvela I thought the rack mounting was interesting too. The bracket seems robust enough to work so I am going to keep it as-is.

brooklyn_bike

RustyJames i had the exact same experience - bought a rattle can bike on facebook market place in PDX a few years ago for cheaps. guy was a school teacher and spray painted it black in his college days. i figured i'd just harvest parts if i couldn't get the frame cleaned well enough. luckily the black spray paint mostly just wiped off with acetone and a rag. gamble paid off since it's once of my most favorite bikes and my daily rider. you can see here the photo from the ad as when i purchased and after i got it cleaned up :

RustyJames 

brooklyn_bike Apparently the Bridgestone preservation society in the Portland area is a thing but yours is MUCH higher up the pecking order than mine. Nice job!

I’m going to service the wheels, cable it, new nuts for the rear wheel, some different colored grips and take it for a spin. I’m sure it will ride fine for a 32 lb bike.

No pics but when I tore it down almost everything was loose including the fixed cup! Catastrophe waiting to happen.

brooklyn_bike

i've always been curious how those CB series ride. i've seen them pop up occasionally for good deals. 32 lbs is still pretty close to my freinds rivendell platypus and susie longbolts complete build weights

madpogue 

Wow that wheelbase, spans two ZIP codes....

The Thin Man 

That's Grant Petersen for ya! The current Rivendell lineup is lousy with ridiculously long space at the wheelbase. I'm talking, silly amounts of space. You could literally fit another water bottle in there!

I think Grant has serious money invested in stock for companies producing chainstays.