Old (and presumably rubbish) Townsend - my first bike!

Alright. In the early 90s I entered a bike competition and won this Townsend. They accidentally sent me an adult bike (I was only about seven!).

Went to university (the first time :shock at York four years ago and took it with me. Dropped out, worked in a bike shop and got into racing bikes, so gave this away to a friend when I got a road bike. He gave it to his friend, who gave it to his friend and so on. I go back there all the time (girlfriend is doing masters there) and was talking to someone I know who mentioned he liked cycling but his bike was knackered. Went to have a look:




My old bike! He just gave it to me there and then. An afternoon with the spanners and it's all working fine, except the rear mech which is twisted and the BB is very lumpy. Anyone know anything about it? I presume it's a horrible Halfords jobbie. Has shimano SIS gears, Tektro brakes, and the rear rim appears to be alloy with a steel ring around the inside. Never seen that before (but like I said I'm into racing bikes).

The plan is the obligatory singlespeed conversion, slick tyres, new BB and chainset and possibly a quick repaint. I have all the bits in my shed apart from the tyres anyway. Purposefully not spending any more money on this one - it's my new street hack

if it holds memories its worth a restoration!

i had a flouro yellow/orange/green townsend.........my first mtb and it was massive.

i remember it never worked right and was always trying to kill me!

Are those bars on upside down?

^ they are, but I can only presume that's how they came from the factory. You can't remove the bars without cutting the grips off, and the stem is one-piece. Maybe it was just a cock-up.

Front tyre is facing the wrong way too. But that's my fault