Bicycle Mechanics - Why overhaul an old bike

I am posting this mainly for less experience cyclists who may have or consider an old used bike. Old used bikes can be amazing bargains. A large percentage of old bikes were bought with good intentions, ridden and couple of times then hung from the rafters gathering dust for 10-15 years. Buyiing an old used bike is a great idea, but you really need to overhaul all the bearing groups - front and rear hubs, bottom bracket, headset - before doing much riding. Here is an illustration of why.

I have now overhauled 3 old bikes just in the past few months and found the same thing in every bearing group on each bike. When I remove the cone nut from the wheel hub or the adjustable cup from the bottom bracket or headset I find the same situation. There is a thick ring of old dried up grease, about the consistency of dried up peanut butter, and bright shiny bearings with no sign of grease on them because they are running in a tunnel through the dry grease without ever touching it. I've actually been lucky. All the bearings looked like new, no rust or wear. Anyway, if you buy a used bike you may well have the same situation. Riding a bike like this will quickly wear out the bearings and worse, the hubs, bottom bracket or headset. Bearings are cheap and easy to replace, the other parts may not be.

So the moral is if you buy a used bike overhaul the all the bearings. If you can't do it yourself a shop won't charge too much. If you don't do it right away, it could get costly.
Regards,
Raymond

Agreed. Conventional (non-sealed) bicycle bearings should be repacked according to an automotive-style "time-or-distance, whichever comes first" schedule. This gets time-consuming for those of us with multiple bikes.

I agree with grease drying on older bikes but I have a story about modern greases.

My custom steel MTB (once heavily used but perfectly maintained for three years in Scotland) has been in my parents garage for about 7 years since I finished Uni. When I stripped it recently, I didn't find one stuck bolt or anything. The grease in the BB and hubs was exactly as I left it 7 years ago and the mechs were still lubed perfectly. I have always used Finish line grease in my bearings and winter lube on the mechs etc and will definitely continue to do so :) .

I really like the idea of revitalizing old bikes. It is such a waste to let good old bikes go to the landfill.

Unlike an old couch or a broken dish, bikes come to life again and start generating energy as soon as you spin their wheels.

Rainman is correct, though, old bikes absolutely should be re-greased before they are ridden or they WILL become practically useless quickly.

Just a quick blurb:

Phil Wood grease rocks. I use it on everything from my ancient Astra junk bike to my new MTB, ss, wet-weather comuter, cruiser, etc. I have never has a contamination or breakdown problem!