SW84

Hi everyone. Since retiring I've gotten back into riding. I saw this bike on FB Marketplace for $5. Thought I'd go take a look, and as long as the frame and wheels were in good shape, it was going home. It will give me something to do. It has some surface rust, broken cables, and a frozen freewheel, but I saw nothing I can't fix.

SW84

Tore the bike down yesterday and put all the rusted parts in a container of Evapo-rust (recommended by a forum member). Went out today and WOW !. The freewheel looks amazing! It was a mass of rust that looks almost new now. The freewheel bearings are toast and I've ordered new ones. The 3 speed shifter was broken so I'm replacing both shifters and brake levers with units that combine both. The BB and stem bearings all looked new. I cleaned them and will grease them when it's time to reinstall them.

SW84

If anyone is following my thread I have a crank question. I want to disassemble a Sakae XCU but it has a plastic piece covering the bolts I need to access. I've tried prying t off with a screwdriver but it looked like it was going to crack the plastic so I stopped. I'm including a picture if it helps.

hokiefyd 

It's just a decorative trim piece -- and it very well may break during removal due age, being brittle, etc. You might be able to look at the back side of the crankset to see if you can figure out how that plastic piece snaps on, and maybe even ease the clips off from the back with a small flathead screwdriver or other device (rather than prying from the front).

Before doing that, are you sure the crank has chainring bolts? They may be riveted (and sometimes, the rivets look very much like bolts!). I'd suggest making double or triple sure you can disassemble that crank before trying to prize off the plastic cover.

SW84

Good advice. I tried looking with a screwdriver but couldn't pry it up enough to see anything. I'll give it one more try, and if I have no luck, I'll just leave it alone. Thx.

hokiefyd 

I do see this Sakae XCU on eBay and it very much looks like a riveted crankset to me:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186007619405

SW84

I suspect you're correct. I think I won't worry about it for now. If the rust gets any worse then I'll just soak it in Evapo-rust.

SW84

Got the Freewheel rebuilt with new bearings. Installed it along with a new dork disc,and chain. Installed new bearings in the front axle and attached it to the front fork with a new QR. Got the stem and handlebar de-rusted and painted, then installed.

SW84

Installed all brake cables/housing, and all shifter cables/housing. I adjusted the RD, but when I went to adjust the FD it wouldn't move from the small ring upward. I suspect that the FD is missing a part, that part being the part that redirects the cable from vertical to horizontal. Hope that makes sense. The cable comes up from under the bottom bracket, goes around this part, and over to the cable clamp. I'm including a picture. I believe it attaches to the area below the derailleur that looks like a "C". I suspect it's a small metal tube that's held in place by a bolt. Does anyone have any ideas? If you have a FD like this one could you post a pic? This FD is a Suntour.

hokiefyd 

What is the FD make and model number?

DorkDisk

Looks like a housing stop. Some older bikes had top tube routing, and this was a way to make the top pull compatible with the bottom pull derailleur.

Trek used this setup in the early 90s. By this time, the derailleurs did not have the stop, so a braze on stop was used; same principle.

SW84

Thank you. That makes sense. My investigation continues.

SW84

It's a Suntour but there are no numbers on it. I'll try to search the internet to see if I can find more info.

SW84

After doing some searching I found it on South Salem Cycleworks website. It's listed as a Triple 28.6 clamp on - bottom pull, bottom swing derailleur. Out of twenty listed it's one out of three that didn't have a model number. Just my luck....

SW84

Installed a bottle rack today. I also installed new microshifters. Installed a new saddle.

DorkDisk

Looks like an XCM from around 92; if that matters.

More importantly, the low limit screw should be making contact with the part that says "17" at rest but it is not. Find out why. Also, back out the H limit screw, and make sure there is nothing in the parallelogram.

SW84

The XCM is different than this one. I wasn't worried about the H-L screws as I know how to adjust them. I've ordered a new Shimano FR, shifters and crankset. I'll keep the original parts on the shelf, but I think it's time to upgrade.

SW84

Nice sunny day so I put the bike on the stand and made a whole bunch of adjustments. I finally got the FD to work correctly. Unfortunately the RD was going from 3rd gear to 5th gear when shifting from 3rd to 4th. After about 30 minutes of making adjustments I've come to the conclusion that the derailleur was bent sometime in the last 20 years, so I ordered a new one. 2 weeks in, and I still haven't got it out for a ride. Maybe next week.

Russ Roth

If the old rear der wasn't shimano it probably wasn't cross compatible. I suspect that your bike age is off by a decade and some of the brands that folded at the end of the 80s were experimenting with their own pull ratios. That would also explain the jump in gears.

SW84

Thanks. The serial number on the bike says it's a year 2000 buiId, but I really think it's a '90's model. I did end up bending the cage to try to line it up better, and it did shift better, but it still jumped between the two gears. I know more once I get the new one installed Monday.

SW84

Today I installed new Microshifters, grips, and brake cable straddle carriers. I also installed a brake cable stem hanger because I hated the way the front cable came over the handlebars and down thru the stem to the brake cantilever. UGLY and distracting! Another thing that's been bugging me on all three of my bikes is the way the bag under the back of the seat never hangs the way I want it to. The strap that attaches to the seat post cannot be tightened enough to hold the bag level. I got to thinking that if the diameter of the post were bigger then the strap would tighten all the way down, so I went thru the spare parts and saw a rubber grip sitting there. I cut the end off of it, soaped it up, and installed it at the top of the post. Now the bag strap tightens down correctly, and the bag looks great. I'll take some pics tomorrow in the sunlight and post them.

SW84

Received the Shimano Claris R2000-G5 rear derailleur today and installed it. Easy to adjust and works great. No more gear jumping. The bike took almost 3 weeks to get running. Tomorrow I take it out and see how she does. I'm on the fence about putting new tires on it, but riding it will make the decision easier. Here's some pics. The first 2 are a "before and after" of the front brake cable rerouting. The third one is the new 7 speed freewheel and RD. The fourth is the seat post grip that allowed me to mount the seat bag correctly.

OldCruiser

Nice looking bike !

SW84

Well I took it out for a test ride today. The only issue was the rear brake needed a little more adjustment, but other than that it rode good. I will say that this one, and the '84 Schwinn I rebuilt, don't ride as comfortably as the mountain bike with the bigger tires does.They're both faster than the mtb, but I'm not into speed and distance as much as into comfort and sights.

hokiefyd 

It looks pretty clean — and sharp!