danishbacon
Retro Newbie
I've been toying with the ideal of riding an 80s bike for a while now and had the following criteria: cheap, high quality, at least 80% original, my size, and well preserved. You might say that some of these are mutually exclusive but I managed to find something very interesting that seems to tick those boxes.
I've never dealt with a bike this old. I worked in a bike shop about 15 years ago and even then, this class of bikes did not come around very often (at least where I was living at the time).
The paint appears to be original and the decals are very fragile.
I have a few questions, mainly on where to begin with this as I do not want to screw anything up.
1. What's the best way to clean away the grime on something like this without damaging the decals?
2. Whats the best way to protect the decals from further deterioration
3. Is there a way of re-gluing some lifting decals (theres a reynolds one on on one of the fork blades lifting)
4. Would you pull the freewheel, crankset and derailleurs to clean or would you clean them in situ
5. The freewheel is Shimano. I know this is a problem with indexed shifters but mine are not. Is there a potential issue with tooth spacing? Should I sort something different or just clean the Shimano one up? There are a couple of low teeth on it on the 24 cog but seems to be spinning freely.
6. Cable housing for the brakes is broken at the lever end. I'm sure I could just trim the cracked bits and reuse them as they might be original to the bike. What sort of lubrication would you put in the housing?
I've never dealt with a bike this old. I worked in a bike shop about 15 years ago and even then, this class of bikes did not come around very often (at least where I was living at the time).
The paint appears to be original and the decals are very fragile.
I have a few questions, mainly on where to begin with this as I do not want to screw anything up.
1. What's the best way to clean away the grime on something like this without damaging the decals?
2. Whats the best way to protect the decals from further deterioration
3. Is there a way of re-gluing some lifting decals (theres a reynolds one on on one of the fork blades lifting)
4. Would you pull the freewheel, crankset and derailleurs to clean or would you clean them in situ
5. The freewheel is Shimano. I know this is a problem with indexed shifters but mine are not. Is there a potential issue with tooth spacing? Should I sort something different or just clean the Shimano one up? There are a couple of low teeth on it on the 24 cog but seems to be spinning freely.
6. Cable housing for the brakes is broken at the lever end. I'm sure I could just trim the cracked bits and reuse them as they might be original to the bike. What sort of lubrication would you put in the housing?