Bikes and commuting etc

So knowing absolutely nothing about the bike's history or condition beside this post, I can list some probable bare minimum to get it running again

1. Chain. The chain looks like it's dead, new 9 speed (educated guess) chain will should be less than 20 euros or dollars
2. The tires look old but not terrible in condition. If the tubes are not holding air, swap them off. ~5 western currency per tube (times ten if you're scandi)
3. Cables. I see the rear derailleur cable is detached, and by the overall condition of the bike I'd guess it'd be the time to replace them to make sure shifting and breaks are working properly. The cables will likely cost you ~20-30 freedom or eurocommunism coins

There may be some bearings and whatnot rusty or loose, can't tell from picture, but that's what I'd start with. If you'll bring the bike to a mechanic, they'll probably bill 30-50 scamcoins per hour for the work, depending on where you live. With just what's listed above, should be 1 hour work unless there's a lot more stuff to fix

If you can rattle the bike around a little bit and tell what feels strange and what feels normal, or what you've felt you don't like, please tell and can maybe try to be more helpful :)

Edit: also much love for wanting to bring new life to an old bike <3

Everyone's idea of "expensive" is different and when it comes to bikes people seem to have a very low threshold for what they consider expensive. I'll just give you some numbers and you can decide.

The first thing a disused bike is going to need is new tubes. Tubes are like $10 each. You may also need new tires. A tire can be like 30 or 40 bucks. Someone who does this once a year or less like myself can change both tubes and tires in a half hour. I don't know what bike mechanic labor rates are in your area. Your husband could do it in an hour after watching a YouTube video, using a flathead screwdriver or kitchen spoons

It looks like you also need a chain. Chains can be 20 or 30 bucks and take 2 minutes to replace but you need a special chain breaker tool which are relatively common. I'm sure there's at least one in your neighborhood you can borrow. Also easy for anyone to do after watching a YouTube video.

You'll also want to be really sure that the brakes are working properly or you could get seriously hurt. They're disc brakes which can take disuse much more gracefully than rim brakes. I would get a legit bike mechanic to replace the pads if they need to be and to make any necessary adjustments. But they may be perfectly fine.

That's a sweet bike, I'd have a lot of fun getting it back in working order. Park Tool (bike tool manufacturer) have amazing video guides on how to do nearly every bicycle repair yourself.

What you should definitely do first is put in new tubes, for which you'll need nothing more than tyre levers (5-10 bucks online) and the tubes. You'll need to know your wheel's diameter and valve type (Presta or Schrader) before ordering them, but it's easy enough to do yourself.

How to change tubes and tyres

You're also gonna want to replace that rusty chain(20 bucks), for which you'll need a chain tool (10-50 bucks, avoid the super cheap ones because they'll just frustrate you and might damage the chain links) to shorten your new chain to the same number of links as your old one, some master links to make future chain removal easier, and master link pliers. When ordering the chain and master links make sure you get the correct ones corresponding to the number of gears on your rear cassette (if it has 10 gears the chain and master links will say "10 speed"). How to Size a Chain

Order a basic cheap bike cleaning set with some scrapers and brushes to clean the cassette and front chainring, some chain lube/oil to lubricate the chain, and you should be good.

The derailleur may also need to be set up again so it shifts properly, which can be a bit of a learning curve, but other than some hex wrenches and replacement shifter cables you shouldn't need any specialized tools for that. Rear Derailleur Adjustment

If you cannot get the derailleur set up/indexed correctly the little piece of metal it's attached to the frame with (the derailleur hanger) may be bent. In that case you can either replace it (10-30 bucks) or get a derailleur hanger alignment gauge (around 50-100 bucks for a good one) to bend it back into shape. Derailleur Hanger Alignment

This should get your bike running again for under 200 bucks. Maybe throw in some silicone oil to lubricate the front suspension.

Seth from the mountain bike centric YouTube channel Berm Peak also has a ton of pretty good and fun videos on doing your own repairs and general maintenance. Here's a great overview on getting your shifting diagnosed. https://youtu.be/UzXPK-Zednc

Aliexpress has lots of great deals on cycling products, but knowing which ones are decent and which ones to avoid can be a little overwhelming at first.

You might also want to get some wrenches and a cassette tool for your type of cassette, so you can remove that for better cleaning. Goes a lot easier removed from the bike. Get some general assembly grease (5-10 bucks) while you're at it, that never hurts.

Oh and if the brakes don't work well, replacing the brake pads should be around 10, but the ones on your bike might still be good. You should have some isopropyl alcohol on hand to clean your brake rotors from any oil or lubricants that may have contaminated them. Brakes are important.

A repair stand will be worth its weight in gold for all this, but you can get creative and find some other way to mount your bike for maintenance. I used to use a weightlifting barbell rack for the longest time until I got a decent stand for ~250.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask me, I'm also kind of a beginner but I never had to bring my bike to a shop and have done all my own repairs these past 6 years thanks to these two YouTube channels.

Other people have already given good info, but I just wanted to link this old website from the late Sheldon Brown who has a lot of articles about maintenance, repair, and countless other bicycle related topics

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/repairs.html

I see much worse come into our shop pretty regularly. Others have it covered, tubes, chain, cables, possibly tires depending on their condition.

I'd see if your area has some type of group that does bike maintenance workshops. It's really useful stuff if you don't know much about mechanical stuff or just about bike maintenance. They'll run you through doing tire/tube changes, cleaning and changing chains, adjusting brakes, and usually will have all the tools you may need on hand.

At a glance, that bike doesn't look like it needs too much money put into it, but it may need a good amount of time.

This metaphor is...resilient. And good on you for setting it for exactly what it is.

It first needs power. You. It needs to ensure power continues. Helmet. It needs a way to handle the bumps and terrain of movement. A pump and maybe bicycle tubes. It needs a way to transfer your power to it. Chain.

You already mentioned the brakes work at least a little.

I'm probably getting a bit too caught up in the metaphor, but it doesn't need to be restored to some mythical idea of perfection. It needs a bit of basic assistance to do what it was meant to do, and that's not expensive.

Once the above mentioned items are addressed, then you can move with it. And then you can start figuring out how to make it move better. You won't figure that out until you help it move.

Happy mother's day.

Do you have a working bike? How much was it?