WcuCat

I just received two “old” road bikes, a Raleigh Sportif and a Pinnacle. Both are rusty and both need new tires, cables, break pads and who knows what else. Ever the optimist, I figured that I could clean them up some (remove the rust), then take them to the bike shop to get all fancy new parts. Well, I took them in today and they told me that it would be about $200 apiece to fix. My spirits were crushed! They told me that I should buy new bikes, which I do not want to do. So, I have three options…well, four actually. First- could we (meaning me and my husband) buy a repair book and do the work ourselves? He is an enginemen in the Navy, and he loves to tinker around with things like this. My second option would be to take the Pinnacle and make it a fixed gear bike. The guy at the bike shop told me that he might not be able to find a rear derailleur to fit the bike…so that could be an option...right?? On my way out of the shop a fellow asked if I wanted to sell the Raleigh, so there is my third choice. My last option would be to junk the bikes. I would talk this over with my hubby, but he is out to sea right now and these bikes were supposed to be a surprise.

Anyone have any input**********
Thanks in advance!!!!!!

SoreFeet

They arent the best bicycles on the market. In fact you could probably flip them on craigslist for 100$ a pop! At best they are department store or better bikes. Don't let that discourage you. I think they are perfect candidates to turn into single speed grocery getter bikes.

When you take off the bulky freewheel, chainrings/shifters/kickstand you'll drop some weight. Its possible to make those bikes a wee bit lighter and a joy to ride. Some would say change the cables, etc...I think they are asking to be converted to a single speed.

Most bike shops should be able to do the conversion for about 65$ or less if they are nice. If you strip all the parts and leave the smallest chainring I think they could do it cheaper.

Your husband can easily service the hub bearings if they are not already shot. Just have him buy the proper cone wrench. Google sheldon brown bicycles and you will find one of the greatest down to earth bicycle advisors on the planet. If we had one Sheldon at every bike shop we would have more bicycles on the road that didn't need to be taken to the dump.

Kinetikx

Don't listen to those people at that bike shop. Of course they thought you should buy a new bike, being a bike shop and all. Find a new bike shop- hopefully one that knows that you certainly CAN find a derailler for that bike (ebay).

Of course you can do any repair work that the bikes would most likely require. The only caveat to this is that some tools are bike-specific and that can be an added cost. As far as know-how, https://www.sheldonbrown.com is an indispensable resource. The only warning is that if some of the parts really are especially rusty you may run into a stuck seatpost/stem. There are remedies for that as well.

I still consider myself a complete newb when it comes to bikes but so far I haven't run into anything I couldn't fix myself with the correct tool.

Good luck

Edit: I see that SoreFeet and I both posted near the same time. See what I mean about Sheldon being indispensable

bikemeister

Ditto! Bikes like these are just begging to go on a diet (i.e. become single speeds). Single speeds are all the rage now - the local college kids would snap them up. As long as the frames are not damaged, the bikes are savable.
You could probably find decent tires on ebay, and most of the work could be done by someone with minimal mechanical experience. Anything requiring special tools could be done by the local bike shop for a few bucks. Like freewheel removal tools. I don't have them all - some older ones aren't even made anymore. But my local shop has them all (he is a self-professed dinosaur!), and he charges me like $2 to remove a freewheel. Then I install one that I have the tool for. Eh? Cleaning paint and chrome and greasing bearings isn't rocket science. Give it a shot.

Pompiere

https://www.parktool.com/repair/bikemap.asp is another good resource. Both bikes can be made ridable for maybe $100 if you can change the tires and cables yourself and make some minor adjustments. If you don't feel confident enough to do the bearings, you could let that wait for your husband as long as they aren't making any grinding noises. The rear deraileur isn't hard to find, just look for one with a hanger claw. That is the piece that clamps to the rear axle. Later bikes have the hanger as part of the frame. You could find a whole bike at a yard sale to steal parts from for less than a bike shop would charge for the deraileur.

I wasn't married when I was in the Navy, but I saw how the wives held everything together at home while the men were at sea. My hat is off to you.

Blue Order

If you like them, keep them. The bike shop is probably being somewhat honest with you by advising you that the repairs will cost more than the bikes are worth. On the other hand, $200 apiece sounds on the high side to me, and additionally, bike shops do like to steer owners of older bikes to a new bike purchase, sometimes with outrageous lies about the older bike.

So...If you like the bikes, keep them and fix them-- but first, make sure they fit you and your husband. No sense putting your effort into bikes that don't fit, unless you just want to learn how to repair a bike. If you're not particularly attached to them, you can get some really nice older bikes for the cost of that $200 apiece repair bill.

First option: Buy a repair book and tinker with them yourselves. This will be the cheapest route, although, depending on what needs to be done, you may need to buy some special bike tools for the job. One job that should be done is swapping out those steel wheels on the Pinnacle for some aluminum wheels. That will give you a set of wheels that can be stopped when wet (it looks like the Raleigh already has aluminum wheels). Swapping out the wheels will also give you a new freewheel, which means you won't have to worry about finding a new freewheel for the Pinnacle. You can find older wheelsets on eBay-- just know what you've got first-- 27" or 700c (I'm guessing 27"), and whether you've got a 5, 6, or 7 speed freewheel on there now. For tires (assuming you need 27"), you can get them from Bike Nashbar. Grease is cheap, your labor will be free. Same with cables. Elbow grease will polish them up, assuming that the rust is only surface rust, and has not eaten into the metal yet.

Second option: No way. It would cost you more to convert to fixed gear than it would to just have the bike shop repair it. Furthermore, while riding single speed won't require any new skills, riding fixed gear will not be easy until you've learned how to do it. And unless you live in a flat area, fixed gear or single speed is not as useful as multi-speed (yeah, yeah, people ride them in hilly areas, but I started out on single speed as a kid, and switched to 10 speed as a teen, and I know which was easier to ride). Converting to single speed will make maintenance easier, but as somebody mentioned, it's all the rage now (i.e., a fad), and once the fad is over, the practicality of multi-speed will re-assert itself. There's a reason multi-speed bike technology was developed early on, and took off once developed, despite Velocio's opinions on the subject.

Third option: Sell the Raleigh? Then you'd still have the Pinnacle, which is probably not as good as the Raleigh...And you probably wouldn't get much for the Raleigh. This option would only be a good one if you plan to buy two good bikes for $200 apiece, or if you decide you --GASP!-- don't want bikes after all.

Fourth option: Bikes do not belong junked! But if you do take this option, just let the regulars here know when and where. It's how they make a lot of their great scores.

Good luck!