jonwvara 

December in Vermont! Time to get down the winter bike and air up the ol' studded tires!

This was a new chain last fall. It would seem that I forgot to oil it after my last April ride, and before I hung it on its hook for the summer. (The frame is fine--that discoloration on the chainstay is non-matching touch-up paint, not rust.) I'm going to see if I can revive it with a soak in mineral spirits and a longer soak in Evaporust, but I'm not optimistic.

Who else has a photo of the bitter fruit of neglect? Your own work, though--no fair posting shots of bikes that were left out in the rain for years by a previous owner.

grant40

Someone donated a vintage Falcon road bike to the local co op that had a bent fork and multiple dents in the frame. Everything just had a really thick layer of rust over it and the chain ought to be removed using bolt cutters because a chain tool broke trying to remove the pin. Both wheels on the bike were rusted so badly that the rims just disintegrated and it was just spokes that the bike was sitting on. I don't have a picture of the whole bike but I do remember taking a picture of the seat which was an old leather one that was severely dried.

grant40

clubman 

I thought we were going to see an abused Gios Torino...so I should be content that it's a Univega.

This Eatons Commander (Hercules) saw the mother of all winters back in around '99. The upright position, trygg stand and studded tires made it a fab winter bike






This Humber is my most neglected 'saved from the wild' bike. Don't know where to start.

scarlson 

Does this count?

Brakes felt a little funny after I pumped up the tire.

Schweinhund

My dad's bike, I left it in the back yard for a few years.

grant40

Here is something that is really painful to look at. I saw this posted online a while ago and here's the description.

I meet with the owner from time to time at the coop, he's a middle aged guy that claims having bought this bike new at the factory in Italy in the late 80s. It's one of the first carbon fibre models from Colnago with the support of Enzo Ferrari. It has been his main bike all along and has used it for long distance travel and many adventures. Unfortunately, he cannot afford to (and doesn't really seem to want to) restore it.






Here's another one that is that is not used for its intended purpose. This one belongs to a messenger.

steelbikeguy

Neglect?
Well, it was more the lack of expectation that a pedal might use left hand threads for the cone and locknut... but I certainly neglected any small inner voice that might have been whispering "maybe there's a reason that the locknut is so hard to break loose?".

Well, it did come loose, but with that sickening feeling of a gradual decrease of force that suggests that metal is yielding.
oops.



fwiw, this is a Shimano A520 right hand pedal.
I did pull up some Shimano pedal manuals online, and it looks like they only did this for a while.

Steve in Peoria

BFisher

Inside left chainstay on an abandon Schwinn.


Ready for another 50 years.

stardognine

Forgive them, O brother, for they know not what they do sometimes. 🙄😁😉

No pics of screwups, but I did re-lube my chain recently, after going through some SEVERE mud. It got so bad, my rear wheel locked up, until I knocked off some mud with a stick. Kinda like in cyclocross pics. 😲😁

jonwvara 

Please! Univegas have feelings, too!

Although I would be willing to bet that someone, somewhere, is using a Gios Torino as a winter bike.

Kabuki12

My poor 1972 ItalVega Grand Rally as found.The Silca pump is actually chrome , not green
I have posted about my Rusty Resurection more than once on this forum. The chain was completely frozen , the chrome was covered in a thick , crusty layer that had to be scraped off. It had sat outside for several years in a Central California beach town, presumably abandoned.

Yea, it really was bad!
It took over a year to get this one on the road. Would I do it again? HECK YEA!! joesvintageroadbikes@wordpress see Rusty Resurection

Drillium Dude 

I can't contribute, except to say: shame on all of you

DD

grant40

This Rollfast is pretty far gone.

smontanaro 

No photos (at least, not so far), but I pulled my Schwinn Super Sport down off the hook where it's been hanging since last Spring. My chain isn't as visually rusty as jonwvara's, but it doesn't really work like a chain should at this point. I also had to disassemble the saddle/seatpost, dump a bit of PB Blaster down the seatpost, and use my vise to coax the seatpost out of the frame. I haven't finished the refresh yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if next fall I experience a bit of deja vu... I should at least replace the seatpost. It's a Sugino SP-H. One should never use a fluted seatpost on a winter bike in climates where Jon and I live. I will try and find something which seals the seat tube a bit better.

nlerner

Some years back right around this time of year, we had a big dump of snow and then an immediate warmup to about 60 degrees the next day. Seemed like a good opportunity for a bike ride! I was on my ‘74 Norman Fay tourer. It’s fendered, so making my way through snow melt was no problem. What I didn’t think about was how that melt was a salty brine from all of the road treatment before and after the storm. I got home and literally hung that bike up wet. A month or so later I pulled it off the hook and was horrified to see the entire original drivetrain (Shimano Crane GT RD, early DuraAce FD) was trashed, and the galvanized spokes on the original wheels looked awful, and the rear Phil Wood hub was crunchy. I managed to overhaul that hub with new bearings and replaced the parts and hopefully learned my lesson.

Edit: Ah, found a photo from mid ride. Just imagine the corrosion creeping in:

ascherer 

Nice work, Jon! I like the chain angles. I say, leave it as is and call it Art.

nlerner

I'm pretty sure they came that way from the factory.

jonwvara 

Neal, you say "...learned my lesson" like it's something that has actually ever happened around here. I like your optimism.

Ged117 

The Eatons Commander - are those 700c wheels? Just curious about studded tires that fit such a bike. Gran worked at Eatons in Toronto for nearly 50 years. On a summer's day in TO or Ottawa, if you eyeball the old British three-speed looking bikes rambling around the city, 1 in 3 is probably going to be an Eatons Glider.

I betcha the green paint on the Humber would clean up very nicely with some light compound and wax. If if were me, I'd start with taking the chrome parts off one by one and polishing them up, followed by lots of slow fun cleaning and preserving the frame.

grant40

I like the ones where someone is still riding at even if it looks like it's about to fall apart at any moment.

smontanaro 

That's locked up as if the owner wants it stolen! If an enterprising thief was careful, he might be able to slip the cable lock over the front wheel and handlebars without cutting anything.

Edit: Looking at the image on a larger screen, I see that there is a loop through the hole created by the main tube and the secondary tube, so my slip-it-over-the-wheel trick won't work.

clubman 

Yes the Commander has 700c wheels. It was nice that almost all of the the British roadsters made for Canadian market came with 622 instead of 635, with the exception of Raleigh tourists. Even then, I've got a 57 women's Raleigh Roadster with a TCW and 622's.

nlerner

You did see the conditional "hopefully" at the start of that phrase, right?

Ged117 

Well, that means that I have to go now and find an Eaton's Commander. Look what you have done!

I really like the red on that Raleigh Canadian. It is almost like the company had higher than normal affection for our tiny market in the 1950s, we got such a variety of colours and special model Raleighs in the era.