Hi, I am not sure where to post this, im sorry if It shouldnt be here. I am severely depressed and desperate to get some.. freedom back.
I can remove this post if not allowed.
I used to ride, had a nice road bike I could use regularly, that a friends father always maintained for me. I never learned about any of it. I know there are tubes in the tires likely ruined. This is my bike that has been sitting in a partially exposed shed for five years.
It is a bit rusty, and looks in need of a lot of help. Im asking my huaband if we can repair it to working order for my gift on mothers day, but as I look at it more and more, I just see dollar signs going up and up.
But I know nothing.
do any of you folks out there, know if it might be difficult to restore? Ideas for resources? Im about to look up bike repair shops in my area, but Im afraid this repair might cost more than is reasonable as a mothers day thing.
I look at this and just, metaphor written all over it. This bike is to my life.
anyhow, would it be expenisive? is a bike tune up expensive? Im terrified for some reason. please help.
I give it about 90% chance that you could revive the existing chain by just rubbing some oil onto it and pedaling it a little bit. Maybe it won't be perfect, but it will be good enough. It will work. Then you save money on the new chain and tools.
Probably unnecessary again. Some regular household brushes should be able to handle this just fine, no need to spend extra money. Hit that shit with an old toothbrush if necessary. Probably not even super-necessary to clean it in the first place.
Very unlikely that the pads need to be replaced. They don't get worn out from sitting in storage.
Possibly the mechanism might have gotten sticky or jammed up -- in that case, pulling the old pads and putting them right back in should help. And, otherwise, just cleaning things and knocking things loose, oiling a little where necessary (don't get oil on the pads and rotors, though).
Yeah ... totally unnecessary for casual bike repairs. Just flip the bike upside down to work on it if necessary. A lot of these repairs can be done without even doing that.
Honestly, I've ridden bikes in way worse shape than this one looks to be in. Like, 10 years sitting outside kind of stuff.
If I were fixing this up, I'd pump up the tires, replace the tubes if they don't hold air, maybe put a bit of oil on the chain and gears ... and then just jump on and ride. I'm betting most of it will just already work.
I think this comes down to our ideas of what constitutes a working bike being different. I mean sure it would most likely move if you just reinflated the existing tubes and pedaled hard enough. It would likely make all sorts of grinding noises that you could choose to ignore, but all that rust would for sure wear out your front chainring and cassette fast, at which point the chain will begin to slip constantly. That's going to be a more elaborate and costly repair in a few months, with a bike that rides like shit until then.
And sure, you can skip the 10 dollar cleaning kit and try cleaning your drive train with a tooth brush and citric acid or what have you, but having a set of stiff long bristled brushes and plastic scrapers that fit between the individual cogs of the cassette just makes the whole process a whole lot easier. You're gonna want to keep on top of cleaning your drivetrain, so for most people who don't already own a large assortment of brushes they also don't mind getting dirty this is 10 bucks well spent.