P4D 

Having just gotten one, and thinking I am mechanical enough to do the work myself, what should be done to clean-up/tune-up a 20 year old bike?

The bike itself is a bit dirty/dusty, but the chain and cassette look well lubed. I didn't notice any issues with grinding or clanking from the BB or rear hub. Should I worry about what was used to lube the chain/cassette?

It has a chrome fork that needs to be cleaned, as does the headset (very minor surface dulling/pitting).

What is the best way to make the frame sparkle again: wax?

Do the hubs/spokes/rims need to be cleaned?

Anything else I should consider doing? I understand it might be hard to answer in a vacuum, and without photos, but I am just trying to get a general sense of what I should be thinking about.

Thanks!

Panthers007

Get new cables and housing for both the brakes and gears. Don't use gear-cables for the brakes. That can get you killed.

If it's been sitting for 20 years, you will need new rubber - tires & tubes.

Check all the bolts and tighten if loose.

RobbieTunes

Take it apart, remembering where you put stuff.

Clean the parts. Lubricate them after cleaning.

Replace safety-related and time-affected parts: cables, housing, maybe hoods, tubes, maybe tires.

Check brake pads. Clean and lube or replace the chain.

With parts off, check lube and condition of bottom bracket, hubs, and headset. Re-lube them.

Re-assemble cleaned and lubricated parts. Run the cables, adjust gears, brakes, saddle, bars, etc.

Give it a once-over to make sure all works. Wrap the bars, Adjust again, as wrapping can change things.

Do not use harsh detergents. Auto car wash, WD-40, and some other stuff works fine and is not expensive. Rust remover is cheap, too.

Take pictures, send them to us.

Ride. Adjust for fit, ride some more. Fine tune the fit and cables if fitting moved them. Ride on.

Codys311

I agree with the above. You will want to re-lube pretty much everything.
As far as cleaning it up to make it look purty, I have had good luck with naval jelly to remove tarnish and rust from bare metal. With respect to cleaning to make the frame shine: if the paint is in good shape, it should take no more than a little soap (I use dish soap) and water. If the paint is in rough shape, I don't know what to tell you except that it may be time to do some painting.
As a side note, bare metal can also be sanded to a shine with a very high grit sandpaper (like 1600), but I only recommend this for extreme cases.

P4D 

Thanks for all the advice already. Am I going to do something potentially terrible if I ride it a bit before I break it all down? Sounds like a good long day for me to do all of that, so I might not get right to it.

The cables note above raised a good question for me. How do I know which cable is which on gears vs. brakes, and aside from the LBS, is there a good place to get them?

Also, barwrap, tubes and tires, is there a good source aside from the LBS? I have this suspicion I am going to be paying more than I ought to from the LBS...

Thanks for all the help, so far.

Incidentally, its a Peugoet of what I think is '84 or '85 vintage but with indexed Shimano 105 everywhere and Dia-Compe brakes.

jtgotsjets

Ok, so this is something I've been wondering about as well...

When you say "take it apart," to what extent do you mean? Removing wheels and chain is a given, and i'm guessing stem and fork too? Do you take apart the bottom bracket too (I would have no idea how to do this)?

And when you lube it, what do you use? I assume grease in some places, oil in others... but which places and what kinds of grease/oil?

Last question:
How much can one expect to pay to do this the first time? not only buying new parts for the bike (cables, housings, etc) but also making initial investment on cleaning supplies, tools and lubes?

P4D 

'jets'-great questions, I wonder the same. I also wonder what the "essential" tools are for doing your own work. I'm sure you could load up a shop, but for me that's not practical.

I did see this blog post about how to clean a bottom bracket....not sure if it is applicable to all bikes or how it has to be modified based on particular model, but here is the article with some photos:

https://www.the-climb.net/2009/06/cra...-brackets.html

I'd love to hear some input from more experienced folks on whether the re-greasing of the bottom bracket is as easy as this makes it seem.

EraserGirl

I try to take apart as much as I can and remove all previous grease and lubes from chains, sprockets and crankset. then after I clean it, I relube it. Any grit stuck in old grease can cause squeaks, chain wear etc....These days I am using Pedros Chain Lubricant and Oil. and I just bought me a Finish Line Grunge Brush

I use Chromax Biodegradable Chrome Polish to get the rust off chrome and bare metal, either with 000 steel wool or just a clean towel. But that's after i give the thing a good wash, lately i have been using Sterling's Magic, because i happen to stock it and it's a nice gentle cleaner. I always worry about decals popping off, with a 'fine bike' i may be very careful around the pinstripes and decals.

My ridable vintage bikes don't have fine paintjobs, they have a lot of patina...which means the paint is already scraped in many places. so after i wash em, I use Liquid Turtle wax to give em a polish, wipe on when dry wipe off. It may not get them to a mirror sheen but i think i am protecting the metal and paint from normal moisture and condensation as my bikes are usually on my screen porch not in the house.

duckweed

Nail polish is great for paint touch up.

RobbieTunes

PM me. I don't want to jack the thread with a book.

Roll-Monroe-Co

Naval jelly and steel brush or wool will remove/scratch chrome! #0000 steel wool is OK, but does put light scratches in chrome. If you want to get serious about rust removal, search for oxalic acid on this forum.