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05-28-06, 12:33 PM
My Father and I used to ride bikes together on the weekends when I was growing up. He recently gave me the bike he used to ride: A Univega Nuovo Sport. It has obvious sentimental value and I've been aching to build up a classic roadie for a while. The frame has no dings but has many scratches, and scuffs most of which are a little rusted. The rust doesn't seem to have spread beyond the scratches, but I can't be sure if there's any damage. Also, the complete bike weighs about 30 pounds. :eek:
Altogether the braking surface on the rear wheel is worn off, the brakes barely work, the brake levers are a little messed up and are very uncomfortable, the seat and seatpost need to be replaced, and the shifters are a rather pedestrian Suntour with rubber levers that mount to the too-short stem. So it seems as though I'll need to replace: Wheels, tires, tubes, seat, seatpost, stem, brakes, brake levers, cables, cassette, chain, and the frame will need to be sanded? and repainted.
My questions for the forum are: Do you think its worth it to restore this bike? I understand that the Nuovo Sport isn't a particularly nice frame, and even if I replace most of the components it'll still probably be rather heavy. If I should take this on, can you offer any advice on how/where to start picking up replacement components on the cheap? And are there any unforseen challenges you can help me look out for? French threading, odd-size parts, etc. Any advice on stripping and painting a steel frame myself?
Thanks!
Altogether the braking surface on the rear wheel is worn off, the brakes barely work, the brake levers are a little messed up and are very uncomfortable, the seat and seatpost need to be replaced, and the shifters are a rather pedestrian Suntour with rubber levers that mount to the too-short stem. So it seems as though I'll need to replace: Wheels, tires, tubes, seat, seatpost, stem, brakes, brake levers, cables, cassette, chain, and the frame will need to be sanded? and repainted.
My questions for the forum are: Do you think its worth it to restore this bike? I understand that the Nuovo Sport isn't a particularly nice frame, and even if I replace most of the components it'll still probably be rather heavy. If I should take this on, can you offer any advice on how/where to start picking up replacement components on the cheap? And are there any unforseen challenges you can help me look out for? French threading, odd-size parts, etc. Any advice on stripping and painting a steel frame myself?
Thanks!