All done! Wrenchette in training has completed her first bike.
I have had a project. For quite sometime now I've wanted to rework The Tank, my old steel Giant HT with a pos RST fork,
center pull brakes, quill stem, comfort seat and other timeless wonders.I've been setting aside parts, including some donated items for a while.
So picture this. I'm out in the shop with my nice Salsa apron and Park work stand, ( xmas/hubby) a box of bike tools leftover from my hubby's build-a-full-campy-roadbike-while-in-college days, and a copy of Zinn. So I read everything two or three times, stand there for about 20 minutes, and then tentatively tackle the task at hand for that evening. I just about had an anxiety attack cutting all the old cables off. I gently dismantled everything; I did not have to bring in manpower to undo anything, I am happy to say! Whew, that was intense but you have to start somewhere.
One of the goals of this project was to spend as little money as possible,as this rework has now turned into "trail worthy bike for college kid" for my son to take to Flagstaff with him. The Tank has always been a hair too big, so it should be just right for him.
So here's what I did. I replaced the pos-rst fork with an old Judy that was laying around the shop that came off my hubby's bike. I tossed the center pull brakes and 7 spd shifter/brake levers, and replaced them with a nice old XT v-brake set and 8 spd shifters that was donated. I replaced the old quill stem, again with hand-me-downs from Dad's bike, a nice shiny Ritchie stem. A mtb saddle was installed to replace the old comfort saddle- one of my old ones. I got rid of the bear trap pedals and put some flats on.
Put a new chain on. The bottom bracket was toast, and I found a replacement for $9, installed that and torqued it properly. Last but not least,a new 8 speed cassette, new cables and housings, and adjusted everything. Oh, got rid of the bar ends and installed new grips, too.
The only thing I asked for man-help on was removing the old bottom bracket, it took me a while to figure the whole cartridge thing out. I did have to place one late night call when I got mixed up on "cassette removal" and "freewheel removal". Another guy, when I asked to borrow a crank puller, gave me his full roll of Park tools to use, leftover from his LBS days. Come to think of it, he's the guy who sold me this bike way back when! The only part I did NOT do was put a new threadless headset on.
I did have a little trouble with the brake adjustments. When I put the new cassette on, the wheel I was using was one that had some flat spots on it and would not true, therefore the rear brake wouldn't adjust. Once I found another wheel ( say, what is this one hanging up on the wall) that problem was solved. The front brakes were very mushy but beyond me at that point.
I bought my mechanic friend a mocha, and he went through it to check my work. The brake pads required a little master mechanic tweaking as did some little tiny spring doo-hickey, but he said my drive train was " just about dead on". VBG.
The only parts I had to buy were headset, flat pedals, new chain & 8 speed cassette, bottom bracket, cables & housing. Everything else was either laying around or donated.
Now, I just have to let go. This was my very first bike that saw an awful lot of miles and crashes. He's a good kid and will remember to lock it up.
I have had a project. For quite sometime now I've wanted to rework The Tank, my old steel Giant HT with a pos RST fork,
center pull brakes, quill stem, comfort seat and other timeless wonders.I've been setting aside parts, including some donated items for a while.
So picture this. I'm out in the shop with my nice Salsa apron and Park work stand, ( xmas/hubby) a box of bike tools leftover from my hubby's build-a-full-campy-roadbike-while-in-college days, and a copy of Zinn. So I read everything two or three times, stand there for about 20 minutes, and then tentatively tackle the task at hand for that evening. I just about had an anxiety attack cutting all the old cables off. I gently dismantled everything; I did not have to bring in manpower to undo anything, I am happy to say! Whew, that was intense but you have to start somewhere.
One of the goals of this project was to spend as little money as possible,as this rework has now turned into "trail worthy bike for college kid" for my son to take to Flagstaff with him. The Tank has always been a hair too big, so it should be just right for him.
So here's what I did. I replaced the pos-rst fork with an old Judy that was laying around the shop that came off my hubby's bike. I tossed the center pull brakes and 7 spd shifter/brake levers, and replaced them with a nice old XT v-brake set and 8 spd shifters that was donated. I replaced the old quill stem, again with hand-me-downs from Dad's bike, a nice shiny Ritchie stem. A mtb saddle was installed to replace the old comfort saddle- one of my old ones. I got rid of the bear trap pedals and put some flats on.
Put a new chain on. The bottom bracket was toast, and I found a replacement for $9, installed that and torqued it properly. Last but not least,a new 8 speed cassette, new cables and housings, and adjusted everything. Oh, got rid of the bar ends and installed new grips, too.
The only thing I asked for man-help on was removing the old bottom bracket, it took me a while to figure the whole cartridge thing out. I did have to place one late night call when I got mixed up on "cassette removal" and "freewheel removal". Another guy, when I asked to borrow a crank puller, gave me his full roll of Park tools to use, leftover from his LBS days. Come to think of it, he's the guy who sold me this bike way back when! The only part I did NOT do was put a new threadless headset on.
I did have a little trouble with the brake adjustments. When I put the new cassette on, the wheel I was using was one that had some flat spots on it and would not true, therefore the rear brake wouldn't adjust. Once I found another wheel ( say, what is this one hanging up on the wall) that problem was solved. The front brakes were very mushy but beyond me at that point.
I bought my mechanic friend a mocha, and he went through it to check my work. The brake pads required a little master mechanic tweaking as did some little tiny spring doo-hickey, but he said my drive train was " just about dead on". VBG.
The only parts I had to buy were headset, flat pedals, new chain & 8 speed cassette, bottom bracket, cables & housing. Everything else was either laying around or donated.
Now, I just have to let go. This was my very first bike that saw an awful lot of miles and crashes. He's a good kid and will remember to lock it up.
That's AWESOME! Sometimes I get annoyed when my bike breaks and my husband insists on my fixing it while he talks me through it, but I guess I am really lucky that I have these little learning opportunities!
