Noob with old bike. What needs work? Would help if u have worked on old/rusty bikes

[poppadiddysmurf]

Hi, noob here.

I have an early 80s bike. Certain parts have rust, but everything works. It's for easy riding, not trying to tune it for competition.

So my question is: Other than fine tuning details, i.e. true the wheels, what are a few things that I have to look out for on an old bike, for a safe ride?
Like rusty brake cables can snap. Or this-or-that part can lock up, for no reason.

What needs replacing? The spokes? or brake cables? But then again, they work, "for now". Or maybe old tires are known to pop, indefinitely.

Experiences or stories that you have heard of would really help.

Thanks.

[Painkiller]

it is a not so common common sense approach. tear down, inspect clean and lube, true the wheels and replace cables and housing, as far as tubes and tires, when in doubt swap them out!

[1FJEF]

Yeah, what he said. Personally I start with servicing ALL of the bearings starting with the wheel bearings. Followed by the bottom bracket and then the headset. Your bearings will need it.
Next I check the sidewalls for cracks and if they are old I change the tubes.

[poppadiddysmurf]

(07-07-2013, 05:00 PM)painkiller Wrote:  it is a not so common common sense approach. tear down, inspect clean and lube, true the wheels and replace cables and housing, as far as tubes and tires, when in doubt swap them out!

Thanks painkiller and jef.
Yea, that's actually what I'm slowly doing. Test riding it around the block, didn't tell me anything; but when I went for a 30 min ride, all the little imperfections showed up, which can be potentially dangerous.

Right now, I'm disassembling, cleaning, and reassembling each piece, by piece. And that helps me on deciding what I need to replace. Cause I'm cheap. And good thing you said that about the tires, I was thinking, to be cheap, that I would overkill those tires.

Yea, there was really no easy way to do it.

[1FJEF]

Yeah, stop riding it until you service the bearings. Uncommon, but you could damage a bearing cone etc... so service them. It's easy, start with the front hub. Sign up for the repair guide (at the top of the page) cancel at any time. Hey, what bike is it? Hows about some pics.

[poppadiddysmurf]

[attachment=4320][attachment=4319]

It's a Cannondale SM500. These are current pics. Don't have pics of how it originally looked. The handle grips were non-existent; wheels had no side wall, all threads; freewheel had chipped cogs; petals gummed up.

Problems everywhere and still working on it.

[GeorgeET]

Nice find and Cannondale is aluminum so the frame does not rust. The one advantage of aluminum frames.

Just take your time and go through the whole bike, grease the wheel bearings if not sealed bearings same for crank and head bearings. Than clean and lubricate all shifters, brakes, and cables, replace damaged parts. Looking good so far.