I've been a lurker here for a while, but this is my first post- I found this old '84 Ross Mt. Hood on Craigslist and built it up for a friend of mine who hasn't really ridden a bike since he was a teenager. I stripped it down and cleaned and polished all the chrome, plus re-packed the headset. Then I re-assembled it, keeping the old bullmoose bars, the original Dia Compe brakes and moto levers and the rear shifter.
Everything else got ditched and/or replaced with stuff I had in the parts bin or bought new, and I added some custom little touches. For instance, to replace the long-gone portage strap that would have originally come with the bike, I used a black leather bookmark from Golden Saddle Cyclery here in L.A. So far he loves the rig, the low gearing lets him climb pretty much anything and it can handle hard-pack like nobody's business. As he gets more in shape, I'll probably swap out the front ring with something like a 39t or 42t to give him a little more top end, though.
Everything else got ditched and/or replaced with stuff I had in the parts bin or bought new, and I added some custom little touches. For instance, to replace the long-gone portage strap that would have originally come with the bike, I used a black leather bookmark from Golden Saddle Cyclery here in L.A. So far he loves the rig, the low gearing lets him climb pretty much anything and it can handle hard-pack like nobody's business. As he gets more in shape, I'll probably swap out the front ring with something like a 39t or 42t to give him a little more top end, though.
