rustystrings61 

As much fun as might be to run this bike in full bedraggler mode - that's kinda like bedazzling, but with dirt and grease and hair instead of rhinestones - as it sits there is no running, period. I don't think I've EVER picked up a bike with its running gear as sluggish-to-frozen as this one is. The 1975 Motobecane I ran in 2016, which had spent at least 30 years in a crawlspace in Greenville SC was initially smoother than this poor thing. I looked it over again this morning and took some pictures for posterity, including lots of extra dirty detail shots. Here's the full drive side view for future reference -


Drive side as received

Harry is withholding approval

Harry says he thinks this bike is a dog that rolled in something that smells bad.

Then I wheeled it into the shop and started spraying Liquid Wrench onto the pedal threads, crank bolts, seatpost and stem. Hopefully it will sufficiently penetrate the threads and free them!

At this time the brakes are inoperable, probably a combination of cables corroded into housings and gunk built up in all pivot points. The chain currently carries an incredible amount of dirt, dried grease, hair and who knows what else, while the bottom bracket feels very sluggish and dry, like the original grease has collected dirt and rust and has solidified. The rear tire appears to be useable, but the jury is out on the front one - the inner tube holds air, but that skinny 23 mm Continental Sport acts like it doesn't want to stay seated correctly when I start to inflate it. I'll examine that more closely. There is a LOT of rust on the frame under the dirt, including a sizable part of the underside of the top tube - I'll try to remember to photograph it.

My current plan is to disassemble and thoroughly clean everything that is here and try to re-use as much of the bike's current fittings as I can. I suspect I'll have to replace the brake cables and housings, and perhaps the tires. The pedals and rear rim, if not rear wheel, appear to be replacements, but everything else appears to be stock. I'm going to do my best to clean and re-use that fabulous bar tape.

Perhaps some other time I can run a bike in full filth mode, but not this time - hazetguy will likely retain his lead in that category - but (1) I would like to continue living, and (2) out of respect for what has the potential to be a cool old bike, I will do my usual full teardown and rebuild regimen.