Classic & Vintage - Picked up a Concord Freedom 12 today, what now?

I paid $30 for this bike at a yard sale earlier today, it's in okay shape but needs a bit of work. Specifically new tires and tubes, tightening the tension on the shifters, etc, and honestly I don't know anything about fixing a bike up or anything. Are there any sites that have guides on how to perform maintenance on all the parts of the bike?

My next question is, the inside of the wheels (there were no tires) has a bit of rust on them. Nothing major, but is this something some toothpaste could take care of or should I look into new wheels? I really don't want to put much money into it, but I need a bike to ride to campus next year and this looked like it would be fun to fix up for not much $$$, so it would be no biggie if someone decided they needed it more than me and steals it. I'll take some pics when I get home from work, but any info on restoring a bike on the cheap would be appreciated :)

I'm also thinking about converting it to a fixed gear, does anyone have any advice on converting?

Well, it is not a big deal that there is rust inside the rims, just remove with fine sandpaper or whatever. However, for actual riding purposes, it would be better to have alloy rims as they stop a lot better when wet, if that is important to you!

Well, it is not a big deal that there is rust inside the rims, just remove with fine sandpaper or whatever. However, for actual riding purposes, it would be better to have alloy rims as they stop a lot better when wet, if that is important to you!

Okay good deal! I was worried that I would have to buy whole new rims, so that's a relief. I'm not looking to fully restore it or anything, I'd just like to have a properly functioning road bike for commuting around campus.

Are there any guides that you know of that that tell how to tighten the tension of the derailleur cables? Other than that (and the tires), I'm pretty sure all that needs to be fixed is the scrapes on the frame, but that's no biggie. I'm thinking about leaving them there instead of making it look really nice so no one will want to swipe it ;)

This is the Concord I built up for my wife with a Bendix 2sp hub:

http://velospace.org/files/concord3.jpg (http://velospace.org/node/2729)

Now just looking for an SR royal stem, seatpost and pedals to match the crankset.

This is the Concord I built up for my wife with a Bendix 2sp hub:

http://velospace.org/files/concord3.jpg (http://velospace.org/node/2729)

Now just looking for an SR royal stem, seatpost and pedals to match the crankset.

nice! That's pretty close to what mine looks like (with drop bars), it's currently disassembled in the garage at the moment though. What size tires did you put on your wife's Concord? I know nothing about tire fitting and I'm not sure what size this bike needs... I measured the diameter of the rim and it's about 25.5", but I have no idea what size tire to go with. Would a standard 700c tire work? The size of the tires on my Trek are 700x25c and the diameter of the rim is 25".. so I'm really not sure what to go with.

I think she is running 700x20 or 23. I ended up converting the steel 27" rims to 700c (she really wanted a pink tire!). The thing was that this frame was originally a 5sp roadster so there was a ton of clearance on the frame for wider tires and fenders. I ended up having to go with the "extra long" reach tektro front brake.

Actually the frame and fork were the only original thing we kept, everything else was either rusted or junk. It was a free frame and the size and roadster geometry were perfect for my wife.

As for rim sizing, it's a tough call if the rim isn't marked as to if it is a 27" tire or a 700c as the difference is only 8mm. My guess is that it's a 27" tire and in that case 700c won't fit. Check really closely as the rim should be marked somewhere (you might have to clean up some dirt and grease).

Here's a good link on tire sizing:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rim-sizing.html

On the inside of the rim it says "12 05 19" but I don't see anywhere that tells what size. I looked around this forum at older bikes and noticed that 70s and 80s bikes were almost all 27" unless new wheels were put on them, so I went ahead and ordered a pair of 27x1 1/4 tires. Hopefully they'll fit, I figured that the rim is slightly larger than the rim on my Trek, which uses 700c tires, so 27" would probably be the best bet.

Thanks for the help! :)

Well, in an attempt to true the front wheel, it turns out most of the nipples and screws on the rim are so old that they kind of just stripped at any tiny bit of force... so long story short, I'm now looking for a 27" front rim. Does anyone have an old one they will sell for cheap?

Try the ISO/WTB thread, you will have more luck there.