1987 Campus ATB - better through the woods than to the scrapyard

KayOs · 2025-12-01T13:14:36+0000

Here's a little story about a bike I didn't want at all and now really like.

On the morning of my birthday this year, Mrs KayOs went to get bread rolls and came back saying, ‘The neighbour has an old bike out for the kerbside collection. Would you like it?’

She showed me a photo and before breakfast the bike was sitting in the cellar.

At first glance, it looked pretty bad. Bird droppings, dirt, rust, brittle tyres with no air... But it didn't seem to have been ridden much or hard. Besides, I'd always wanted a slingshot stem, and the lugged frame and lugged fork looked interesting too.

So off it went to the shed.

KayOs · 2025-12-01T14:06:55+0000

I hadn't heard of the Campus brand before, so I looked it up online.
And lo and behold, it's a company from Bruchsal located between Heidlberg and Karlsruhe that has been manufacturing bicycles since the 1950s and also built mountain bikes in the 1980s. In the 1990s, however, they began to specialise more in cross, trekking and city bikes.
Today, they build almost exclusively electric bikes. They also built bikes for Turmberg, and this manufacturer still exists today.

So also in a broader sense, it's a bike from the neighbourhood.

Learned something new again.

KayOs · 2025-12-01T14:17:29+0000

But now it was time to start the refurbishment work...

I had bought a set of Hutchinson tyres at a bargain price in a sale at some point and thought the red logo would look good here.
The width was also right, so I put them on.

The rims confirmed my initial assumption.
They run completely round and the flanks are hardly worn.
The bike had probably just been standing around (outside). The bearings confirmed this. They were dirty and had hardly any grease left in them, but there was no wear whatsoever.

The same was true of the crankset, including the chainrings, as well as the brakes and drivetrain.

KayOs · 2025-12-01T14:38:08+0000

The handlebars were a different story...
Once I had removed the mouldy and completely crumbly remains of the grips, it looked pretty gruesome.

However, there was enough wall thickness left that I could continue to use them without any worries after treating them with a brush, sandpaper and rust converter.

After cleaning and a little polish, the frame and fork looked quite usable again.

I then cleaned the remaining parts, fished two Deore brake levers out of the scrap box and reassembled the bike with new Bowden cables and handles.

The saddle was also still in a box and looked quite good. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit the bike, which is otherwise extremely comfortable.

Of course, stickers are a must.

KayOs · 2025-12-01T15:20:40+0000

After the first few kilometres, it was clear: this bike is just right for the planned retro bike tour in May.

I then did a few more test laps until I was happy with the setup and fitted a small front rack and a brake booster at the rear, which significantly improved the performance of the old cantilever brakes. Of course, I used my favourite Brooks saddle so that my bum wouldn't hurt.

Scott-S · 2025-12-01T15:30:51+0000

What a lovely old bike, wishing you many safe and happy miles on it

KayOs · 2025-12-01T15:35:14+0000

Then May arrived and we were finally ready to go.

As there are few sources of food in the area we wanted to explore and temperatures were expected to drop below 10°C at night, we took a little more luggage with us.

The tour took place almost exclusively on single trails and the bikes performed reliably.

Apart from a flat tyre caused by a thorn and a broken bottle holder, there were no breakdowns whatsoever.

A successful micro adventure (as it's called today I was told) on a bike that was meant for the trash.

KayOs · 2025-12-01T15:40:47+0000

Scott-S said:
What a lovely old bike, wishing you many safe and happy miles on it

Thank you! It was my first taste of a bike from the 80s and I love the comfort it provides while still being capable of handling quite some rough stuff.
There will be lots of happy miles on it in the future.

elite504 · 2025-12-01T15:56:04+0000

That's a great story, and a great resurrection. Cool to see it rescued and used.

widowmaker · 2025-12-01T15:57:32+0000

Good save

1987 Campus ATB - better through the woods than to the scrapyard

KayOs

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