Help bringing an old bike back to life

Soldato
Joined
6 Dec 2005
Posts
5,184
Location
Cambridge, UK.
I think the bike water bottle cages are a standard size. I have bought a few cages and bottles in the past and never looked to check their size (apart from ML of water for the bottle) and never had any issues.

Chain reaction cycles used to do free delivery over £12 :( Seems they do £2.99 now for anything I added to my basket. If you want another tube, you could buy the one below. I have used continental tubes and never had a problem. Again, I normally just buy what is on offer! I have the below water bottle too. It is not cheap but it does keep your drink cool (or hot) as it is insulated. You might be able to find it cheaper else where, I can't be bothered to look :D

Continental Tour 26 Tube

Camelbak Podium Chill 710ml Water Bottle SS19
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
17,957
Location
London
Thanks. Yeah I like the idea of an insulated bottle. Not sure if it'd be overkill but I really should have bought this Schwalbe repair kit; https://www.bikester.co.uk/schwalbe...sv13-tube-and-2x-tire-lever-black-478918.html Not sure how big or heavy it'd be on the bike though. I mean honestly I'm not going touring but I do like the idea of hopping on a train out into the country and doing some proper rides. But for now it'll be 1hr from the house just on the towpaths etc. Maybe one of those is overkill..

So, all my stuff arrived on Fri and I went an queued for 40mins at Halfords to pick up my Gunk Green. The poor kid in there, they were so busy :o Spent a good 45mins degreasing, cleaning then lubing. Got the wheel off and everything. Didn't have time to have a go at replacing the tubes and tyres though, think I need to study some YT videos on that before I embarrass myself in our front garden in full view of the street :p

I really need some pointers on how to straighten the brakes and re-index the gears. They're all over the place. Any helpful links on that please?
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Mar 2010
Posts
14,380
Location
5 degrees starboard
You have just reminded me, I was actually running the schwalbe 26x1.75 and not the larger ones. My old MTB tyres were 26x2 but I swapped for slightly thinner ones. I don't think you will have any issues going down to 1.75 from on any rim tbh.

I've found them cheaper for you here! :D

Link
I went down from 2,75" to 1.5" on the same shimano rims. MTB to hybrid.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
17,957
Location
London
Hey guys, a couple of busy weekends/away has meant I've not really had a chance to get stuck into this. I'm now faced with a very clean looking bike with nice new tubes and tyres on :D But the gears are totally screwed. Rattling all over the shop no matter what I'm on. I've tried playing around, fiddling a bit with the adjustments I do know about. But I'm a bit stuck. Are there any good links out there that will help me sort-of start from scratch? I can't even seem to get a good 'baseline' to work from :( I haven't got a stand which makes it a bit more difficult...

Also my only pump is an old one. It's not too heavy so could probably bung it in a bag if I do go on longer rides but I have nothing to check my tyre pressure. Is it worth investing in a pressure gauge like this or better to buy a pump with one in-built? I would probably buy a smaller pump at some point but don't really want to buy one big one and one small one, considering I've already got one that works fine. I'm supposed to be doing this on the cheap :o

Thanks.
 
Back
Top Bottom