Ridgeback 702 lx forest bike build

Picked this up a while back & thought it'd make a nice bike for my partner as we're near the forest & her bike isn't really up to that kind of work. The plan is to refresh it for use, with some of the bits I've collected, not a period restoration job.
So finally dug it out today, stripped the original madison combine comp tyres off as although they held air they were shot, madison saddle, grips & handlebars in the bin.
sprayed it down with a little g.p.c & gave it a wipe over & started checking the condition of the other parts, looks fairly good. Popped the wheels off & serviced the front one before the light ran out.
Looking forward to cracking on hopefully later in the week. Yes I got one of those Aldi workstands, it's not to bad!

That's really nice!!

Got to love a 91 ridgeback.

It wasn't so long ago on here that none of these had turned up.

Yep, their everywhere now!
Good quality, sturdy, affordable bikes

Nice – always wanted one of these at the time back in the day.

So with one thing & another this hasn't really got the attention I was intending as it should've been done by now! rear wheel turned out to need some spokes as they'd got chewed by the chain & although the crank is good the cassette was really worn? Now we have a nos hg 50 cassette (cost more than the bike) & new chain rear wheel is fixed & serviced, cleaned up a good pair of alloy bars for it & had a go at polishing up the stem (not really happy with it)
Also picked up something just as nice in much better condition that would do the job but I'm feeling commited to this, got a soft spot for this old ridgeback. Popping over to see a friend soon & maybe source a couple of parts. Pictures to follow.

Still haven't got over to my pals to rummage through his spares but managed to spend a little time on this today, popped the forks of to examine play in the headset, no problems there however I thought I'd touch up the paint on the forks while they were off, on closer inspection it might be easier just to paint them (I hate painting things ) cleaned up few items too.

Finally popped over to see my buddy & came back with a stem (which I'm going to have to paint See above) more cleaning also!

Great to see a Ridgeback! I am 2 bikes away from completing my collection, a muddy fox being one and a ridgeback the other. Always wanted one back in the day. Until now, I have not found them to be particularly popular. They were there in the beginning but dont seem to get much of a mention.

I picked up one of these 702LXs a few months ago for the grand sum of £25, complete and relatively unused. I thought it might make an interesting, low-cost drop bar project.

Rk.

So now my garage is getting some kind of order, I'm trying to crack on! Having an issue with the bb so that is soaking with wd. Trying to resist going to Sandhurst for the free xt frame also, as my life would not be worth living if I came home with that!
Finally finished with the break down & cleaning moving on to the greasing, painting & polishing!