johnspack

Haven't biked in 30 years. I'm 56, and someone gave me an old 12 speed mountain bike. Now, I did smoke for 40 years, and am now smoke free for 4 years, so I am much more active now than I have been in years.
But this bike made me a bit nuts. It had sat for 10 years before I got it, and had hard use before that. Well, several hundred dollars later, I have a nearly shiny bike ready to ride. Took solvents, buying a lot of tools,
including 2 cone wrenches and a spoke wrench and a set of flat wrenches and a metric socket set. Still have to take it in to fix a bit of slack in the pedal axle, and replace 3 spokes that I'm not sure of the size of.
Just put brand new tires and tubes on it, and replaced both brake lines, so I think it's safe enough to ride to town to a bike shop. What is this craziness I seem to be suddenly addicted to?

big john

It can be a good craziness. Have fun!

Wildwood 

Standby.
The vintage thing is fun.

OldTryGuy

Living a healthier life**********?

Maelochs

Big congratulations on quitting smoking.

Condolences on starting cycling. It is a much more absorbing addition.

JanMM

There are worse varieties of OCD than bicycling.

70sSanO

sevenmag

Good on yer for getting back on the bike and off cigarettes. Now repeat after me, I have a hobby, not an addiction, I have a hobby, not an addiction.

BobbyG

Enjoy the ride, both literally and figuratively.

johnspack

Thanks guys! Today I did the maiden voyage running it to town and back, about 5 miles each way. I was almost keeping up with the cars on the highway, so much faster than walking! Our rainy season is coming so I'm going to be installing fenders tomorrow, and a rear rack to pack stuff. I'm also looking at tire chains or possibly studded tires for winter use. Oh god... will this end?

johnspack

Well, my pedal bearings are shot... 80 bucks can to service. If I do it, I will increase the value of this classic bike. Also 20 can to service the drive side bearings on the rear wheel, and replace one spoke. This will pretty much get me a fully restored
classic 12 speed mtb, I think it's worth it right? Have the 2 missing spokes for the front wheel, will be installing tomorrow and finish trueing that wheel. I've decided to completely restore this old bike. Waste of money, probably... do I care... nope!

Classtime 

Keep us posted and get us some pictures. (80 bucks to service pedals seems excessive.)

johnspack

Heh, still getting my terminology right... not pedal bearings, bottom bracket. I'm assuming since it's a single piece crank there will be 2 bearing rings and 2 cups. He tightened it up for free, which got rid of the slack. I've hit it with light machine oil and
now it's quiet as well. But he showed me how to get into it, so now I'll just be buying the proper wrench and doing my own full servicing. Decided I'll do my own freewheel servicing as well, and replacing my 6 speed with a 7 speed cartridge. Also thinking
about a v-brake conversion. So I guess nope, it doesn't end! I'll post pics once I get my 10 post limit in I guess....

johnspack

Okay, here's Ugly Betty! Anyone have any idea who made this? It's all Shimano gear.

Classtime 

fietsbob

Frame brand logo, partially visible under the orange paint,
if it matters you can find out
then spray over it again..

johnspack

I'm going to strip it bare to the metal, prime it, and paint it properly this time. Not sure what the former owner though when spraying orange all over it... I could kick his butt. Made it more quiet today by pulling the right pedal and cleaning and repacking bearings.
I couldn't get the left pedal off, annoying. I'll have to go see my local bike shop for a tool for that. Just going to replace both pedals in the end, but wanted to see if I could do it anyways. Heh, loose bearings on both sides, surprise! Have to pull the chainring guard
off as it's a pain, and I think I may have slightly bent chainrings as well. Fortunately there is a tool for that as well. God, 30 years I haven't touched a bike, and it's like I never left!

jon c. 

Welcome back to the saddle. I started again in my mid 50s after a similar break. I'm not one of the faster guys out there, but I'm still enjoying the heck out of it.

Jon T

Remember, the left pedal is left-hand threaded so it loosens/tightens "backwards".
Jon

Bahnzo

Not a 50+ (I'm almost there) but this caught my eye.

I'm a 20+ year heavy smoker. 9+ free for me now. 8 now on a bike. Love every minute of it. I grew up in out in the country, so a bike was the only way to get here and there. It's now one of the best parts of my life. Glad to see you here.

Ride what you have, but I can say if you like it, you won't have that orange thing for long. I started off with something pretty much the same. Learned to fix it and change things, and then bought a better one when I could afford it. Learned to fix that, and etc etc etc. There's a lot of good resources out there, and YouTube almost always has something related to what you need. Watch and learn and ask questions.

johnspack

Heh, yeah, knew about the left pedal, still can't get the dam thing off. Right pedal was easy. Still want to replace my chainring and both derailleurs. Was going to replace my freewheel, but it turns out it's an early sis model, got my hands on a Falcon thumb index shifter and put it on. Indexes through all 6 gears as sweet as you please! I'm going to fully mechanically restore this thing as the parts will run me about 100 bucks, so why not? It's going to be my winter bike as it's steel frame and wheels have the heft to stick to snowy roads. I put bigger 2.125" tires on it which I'll reduce psi to maybe 20 for winter.

johnspack

Well just put a Z72 chain on it, and what a huge difference! Apparently my old sis mf-z012 freewheel likes 7.1mm pin spacing. Drivetrain is smooth as silk now... well for a vintage bike. Old chain was 7.8mm and was crosschaining on me... and this is a 6 speed!
Next, new chainring, and rear derailleur.

BlazingPedals

That'll be great for a learner bike, both learning to wrench on a bike and getting back into cycling. Fix it up for your own enjoyment but don't spend a ton on upgrades. It's a department store bike and will never be worth a lot as a 'classic.'

BlazingPedals

Trick for removing pedal:
Put the crank arm at 6:00. Now put your wrench on the pedal flats, at the 10:30 position. Squeeze the two together. (You'll be trying to turn the pedal axle clockwise to loosen it.) Squeezing with both hands is a lot easier than one hand on the wrench and the other on the crank arm. And you won't gouge your knuckles when it finally loosens. I think pedals for an ashtabula crank take a 9/16" wrench?

bruce19

Big kudos for quitting smoking. This is not easy. Replacing that addiction with the cycling addiction is a good thing. Good luck. Have fun.