AverageJoe

Hello, first of all new to the forum and looking for some free advice.

I recently aquired a “Capri Sport – Made in Italy” via an old apartment building. The bike had been locked to a bike rack in the basement for god knows how long. The tires had flattened and cracked to the floor, I think they were starting to mold into the floor. The seat had a pile of dust on it about two inches high; it was forming a stalagmite (stalactite?) towards the ceiling. Needless to say, no one had touched this bike in at least 5-10 years. The building maintenance people took a bolt cutter to the lock and it then became mine!



First thing I did with it was lift it off the ground and run the pedals, everything worked fine and I even shifted a gear and after a bit it changed gears. The brakes work but it takes a bit of time for to engage them after squeezing the brake handles, I’d say half way through the full squeeze is where they begin to make contact with the wheels.

I took a damp cloth to the entire bike for a half-decent wipe down. There is rust spots starting pretty much everywhere there is metal. I then took a metal brush and a hard bristle brush to all the rust spots and tried to clean them up a bit with little success.

I walked the bike over to a local shop (Calhoun Cycle) and asked what it would take to get it running and what it would take to get it running fairly well. They said obviously it needs new tires and possibly new tire tubes. But to get it running “fairly well” it would take about $200 for an overhaul. I opted to start with the new tires and if needed new tubes. 20 minutes later and sixty seven bucks less I had a bike with new wheels and the original tubes were holding air pressure. I asked the shop mechanic what he thought and or what he knew about the bike, he said he didn’t know anything and guessed it was about 30-35 years old… Not too much help there.

So I took it to my friend’s house where we laughed at it for about a half hour and then I gave it the first test drive. The back wheel wobbles a bit but other and the chain and gears make some tinkering sounds but so far so good. I went to switch a gear and the chain got caught/snagged in the gears so I re-set the shifter and put the chain back on. My hand was covered in black slick dirt. So I lifted the bike up and my friend sprayed it with WD-40 as I ran the pedals…. Now reading I guess that wasn’t the best thing to do but it might have cleaned some black stuff off.

Here’s a quick walk through of some of the features it came with:

• Rack on the back which I added a milk crate to
• Water bottle holder
• Flashing red light that is battery powered and works!
• Some kind of old school bell
• Rear fender
• Just picked up a combo bike lock for it

Here’s what I plan on using it for:

• Grocery getter (hence the crate on back)
• Local rides around lakes (aprox 3- 5 miles)
• Riding with my special lady friend
• Possibly commuting to work, haven’t decided yet as I have to dress business professional/casual

I’d like general feedback and input from everyone and I’m listing a few specific questions:

• What else should I do to it to get it running correctly?
• What should I do about the rust?
• Anyone know anything about this bike? The brand? Is it worth anything?
• Can and would it make sense to convert it to a single speed?
• What kind of touch up paint would make sense? Any prep work? (I’ll search the rest of the form for hints)

I’m on a budget and I really don’t want this to become a money pit. I’d like to do all the work myself but I have no bicycle knowledge.

Thanks for any help you might have!

late

If you don't get the wheel trued it will die. Assuming it can be saved...
Find an old bike shop. Ask about a tune up there.

Wanderer

I'd start with about 3 more cans of WD-40, and a stiff brush. Clean all the crud off everything.Then some soap and water. New Brake Blocks, and fresh oil on each chain pin, and the deraileur pivots. Next up would be to clean and grease all bearings - wheels, headtube, bottom bracket. Then tighten those brakes up a tad, so they will stop you.

wrk101

Simple Green on the outside of the bike. WD40 and white scotch brite pad on chrome parts only (not on painted parts).

Replace all old ball bearings in wheels, bottom bracket and fork and lubricate.

Replace all cables. Walmart sells a $5 set of cables (all four for $5).

Clean and lube chain.

+1 gap on brake pads = poor to no stopping.

What you have is an old bike boom bike, bottom end but should provide you years of service (I still have my old boomer bike, with very similar components).

RockyMtnMerlin

"I’m on a budget and I really don’t want this to become a money pit. I’d like to do all the work myself but I have no bicycle knowledge."

Unless you have, or can barrow, the necessary tools, the two statements above may be mutually exclusive given the apparent state of repairs of the bike and some of the suggestions above.

AverageJoe

Thanks for the replies. I went to target and a hardware store neither had bicycle oil and the guy behind the counter at the hardware store recommended WD-40 for lubrication but from the other thread I decided not to go that route. I have a half empty quart of 5W-20 motor oil in my car I might use to add some lubrication to the chain... just not sure how to apply it without causing an environmental disaster.

I also looked at helmets at Target, $10 for something that looked pretty cheap so I thought I'd wait on that. I'm going to sand down some of the rust spots and apply some touch up paint to stop the spread of the rust disease... probably not the correct solution but who's keep score?

wrk101, I'll definatly look into new break cables, I'm assuming I should apply some sort of lube to them before feeding them through? Also, can you expand on "Boom Bike". I googled a bit and I'm guessing there is a 1970's generation of bikes that were released due to the lack of auto gas in the 70s?

Anyway, thanks againf or all the replies.

fetad

I salvaged my Bridgestone that looked about as good as your bike when I bought it. Without any real bike tools other than a chain tool, I disassembled everything on the bike that I could with traditional wrenches, screwdrivers, etc. I took off the wheels, the chain, the deraileurs, the brakes, the shifters and replaced all cables. I disassembled the chainrings, derailerus, brakes, and shifters as well as well as cleaned everything with WD-40 and re-lubed with oil/grease. Took half a day but well worth it.

Some very fine steel wool was helpful for things like the chainrings, stem, brake levers, spokes, rims. Make sure to remove the metallic dust before reassembly.

A thorough cleaning will tell you what's really wrong with the bike, if anything at all. What performs clunky now may very well disappear.

ericthered

I have heard you need to neutralize the rust before painting with something like naval jelly. Otherwise it might come back through the touch up.
Eric

goldcoastjon

Your bike looks a lot like thousands of entry-level cottered-crankset bikes with Simplex derailleurs that were made up through the mid-1970s, something like my Peugeot UO-8 in 1971.

Find a used book store or two and buy a copy of Anybody's Bike Book by Tom Cuthbertson, published by Ten-Speed press (Berkeley, CA). Look for other bike repair books of the early 1970s vintage.

Read, learn, buy tools only as slowly as you can learn how to master them. Find a local bike shop that will respect your limited budget and help you with the work you cannot do (or want to learn). Look for bike repair co-ops, tool lending libraries, friends, and/or local bike clubs/organizations with whom/which you can learn bike repairs and maintenance, etc., and with whom you can share your various skills in other areas.

Bike repair can be learned, if you are willing to take the time and be patient. Finding the right human and educational resources (friends, bike shop, bike group, etc.) will make it possible.

Jon

griftereck

pour some oil on a cloth or scrunched up newspaper and wrap it round the chain and pedal

maybe have newspaper of plastic bags on floor to stop drips

Jon Lewis

sadle seems low??

AverageJoe

Update::

Took the bike out for a 11pm ride last night, went half way around the lake and the rear tube went flat... and then it started to rain. Walked it home A-OK but a little let down.

So today I replaced the rear tube myself (can you tell I'm proud?) and did some major cleaning with a torn up t-shirt as rags and WD40 to get all the crap off the gears/chain.

Reassembled everything added some "Finish Line Wax" to the chain that the bike shop sold me and took it around the lake. The ride felt pretty much like it did previously but i was brave enough to try the gear shifters which worked much to my suprise. The back tire and gear sprocket (are these the right terms?) wobble when i run them but what can I do on a budget? I asked the bike shop about a used wheel but they said they didn't have anything better used.

Mini can of WD-40 $1.99
Bike Pump $9.99
Kenda 27" tube $5.00
Krytech Finish Line Wax Lubricant $5.00

$22 bucks later and the bike is running, cleaner and lubricated.


My ultimate goal would be to:

Take everything off the frame, paint it.

Replace the brake lines and pads (and whatever else I'd need to do to get them up to spec)

Convert the 10 speed to a single speed, remove all the shifting cables etc.

BCRider

Converting to single speed is doable since it has the nice semi horizontal dropouts.

If you've into bicycles, don't have much money and are interested in learning how to fix your own stuff then this bike could be a great project. Mostly you won't need many parts or tools but you WILL need a few. At some point you'll want to open up all the bearings and clean and re-lube those. For this you'll need a couple of bicycle specialty tools and some grease. I recomend boat trailer grease since it is more resistant to water than most others.

In addition to a set of metric wrenches from 8 to 17 mm and a set of metric allen keys you'll want a few bicycle specific tools. First will be some cone wrenches. These are very thin and if you get the Park multi size version the one wrench will do multiple sizes of cone flats. Next up would be the big flat wrenches for doing the bottom bracket and headset nuts. The BB's on thise older bikes use a G wrench that is the same as the lock rings on track bikes The headsets typically use a 32mm and I think the other common size is 28mm. Use a ruler to measure what you've got and get those sizes. A freewheel tool will be nice to get at some point. From the general hardware store a burly set of side cutters will do a nice job on brake and shifter cables. A medium size needle nose plier comes in very handy from time to time. And a #2 Phillips screwdriver, you'll need one of those for sure.

And bookmark www.sheldonbrown.com . Spend many hours wandering through his website. It's like an online how to book for bicycling. Most of the stuff you need to learn is on there. Another great place is https://www.parktool.com/repair/ . Just point at the bike zone you're working on and click. The fact that they have such a great resource online makes me happy I supported them by buying mostly Park tools over the years.

On your chain there's no major issue with some extenal rust but if the links are at all sticky due to internal rusting then toss it and get a new cheap chain. KMC sells one that is around $10. Oh, that also means you'll want a chain breaking tool. Nothing fancy is needed for occasional use. Just get a basic one.

If you're doing this in an apartment setting you'll certainly want a drop sheet. It's impossible to avoid SOME dirt and oil falling. A 10x8 tarp would be nice. And a rug under it to save on the knees since I gather a workstand isn't in the picture any time soon. Perhaps make one from wood?

dabac

There are any number of bicycle specific lubes out there, but IMO regularity in maintenance is more important than the brand of products used. The WD in WD-40 actually stands for water displacer, so it's a bit too thing to be a good lube. Better than nothing, but not as good as your motor oil.
How to apply? Well, pretty much anything goes as long as you're not pouring straight out of the bottle.
A newspaper underneath and a slow pour would be enough to satisfy your environmental conscience by catching any dribble.
One oil applicator I'm quite pleased with is a re-used plastic bottle that initially held saline for contact lenses. It's easily squeezeable and the nozzle gives a controlled output. A small paintbrush in an old jam jar also works OK.
Remove as much grit and dirt as you can, oil, then wipe off excess lube and you should be good.
Yes, no, maybe. New cable sheaths usually comes with a plastic liner, so a lube isn't strictly required(particularly if cable is stainless).
If any, new cables should only have a very thin sheeting of lube, as too much lube will only act as a dirt magnet, and go thick in cold.