Details of the work put into the Huffy "Bluegrass Hardware" road bike I put a thousand or more miles on last year while recovering from heart surgery, and today I got it out and rode it some more with only air needed.
Bottom-bracket bearings were loose enough to rattle in the shell, so I JB welded them in place so they would not beat out the shell anymore. All major components were taken apart, cleaned and put back together with appropriate lubricant and maintenance.
Custom washers were fabricated for the stem-bolt so it would not gall the aluminum when tightened.
This is an unusually tall frame for a Huffy road-bike, or any department-store grade USA-made ten-speed. It is 24-inches from center of BB to top of seat-tube, which I think is 61cm. And that is why I bought it for the $3 as I am tall and need every inch of it, but it helped me see that it is a great size frame for me as it helps me get very "aero" when I want to with the bars set low.
Both brakes have to be adjusted as well as possible as both are required to stop the 34-pound bike plus 215 pound rider, and even at that they are marginal. When I was a teen in the 70s I had a very similar ten-speed and I rode it with only a back brake, and only lived because my young body was able to bounce back from hitting the ground or whatever when I crashed.
Cleaned rims with a wire wheel on a drill-motor and they look great, most of the brown came off. Rear wheel was out of round and out of true, and it took a lot to get it straight enough to ride, had to replace some rusty spokes that broke during truing, another that broke while riding, thus the photo of the rear of the bike with a warped wheel.
Tires are sketchy, age-cracked and worn in the middle, but they never let me down in all those miles, and I think I can get another year and another thousand miles out of them.
I remember doing similar work as a teen 45 years ago on my Columbia ten-speed to get another year out of it, so this brought back a lot of memories, and it brings more every time I ride it.
