Classic & Vintage - My 3 dollar project bike (10 speed something)

I got this "made in Taiwan" 10 speed cummuter. Anyone know anything about this one?
head badge says "World" and frame says "World" and "Sports" on it. Is this anything special?
Thanks, I'm new here too, been looking for a good vintage forum - this is it. Thanks for ideas.

http://www.goosedesign.info/images/10speed1.jpg

http://www.goosedesign.info/images/10speed2.jpg

http://www.goosedesign.info/images/10speed3.jpg

Is the frame material marked? Check the bottom part of the seat tube. It looks 70's/early 80's to me, based on the shape of the handlebar and the centerpull brakes. Probably fairly low end... given that the cranks are riveted and it has stem shifters. How about the other components, what brands are they? SunTour maybe?

Looks like fun :) I got a Nishiki for $25 and completely stripped it, cleaned it, painted it, then gave it to my girlfriend. It runs real nice and smooth, and is fairly light even. It's a bit higher end than this thing but not hugely so.

I think you need to go crazy with some steel wool. I did that and it worked wonders, everything's shiny now.

Hey thanks for the quick response. I got a little more info here, I know the
frame is made by FEMCO and it has a sticker "1207 tensile tubing" under the seat
post.

Rust, yep think this thing was at the bottom of a pond at some point! But this is my
second restoring project, I have a 71 Triumph 3 speed I've been working on:

http://www.goosedesign.info/images/triumph2.jpg

Your Nishiki sounds pretty cool, when was that made? :D

Hmm, according to this site (http://members.1stconnect.com/anozira/SiteTops/tools/metallurgyFAQ.htm#FOUR%20DIGIT%20ALLOY%20NUMBERING%20SYSTEM) 1207 steel is "plain 0.07% carbon steel w/high phosphorus + sulfur". I think it is probably low-end stuff. If it was me I'd fix it up anyway. There's nothing like a lovely fleet of frankenbikes, or so I'm told.

I found a Raleigh 3-speed in my Grandma's basement, thinking about restoring it. How do you like yours?

The Nishiki is probably early 80s. I was lucky, I picked up these two similar-looking 12 speeds for $50. One turned out to be kinda crappy but I sold the wheels for $40 :D. The Nishiki has a CroMoly frame with some quality suntour, sugino, and diacompe components + araya/maillard wheels.

Nishiki looks nice - ready to go. And yes you should restore the Raleigh 3 speed, really. Those are real classics and I love my Triumph, crusing the greenways around here. And you'll get a kick out of using the 3 speed hub and the shift clicker.

Thanks for the chat here, I'm liking the forums, knowledge base here is better than any bike shop! I will restore this strange junk bike, I want a working 10 speed and this should be entertaining.

:)

Goose, yesterdays low end bike is todays middle level bike.
The bike you have has a lugged steel frame which is a good
thing for a commuter which this bike is. That or a great
town bike.

I have an early Giant (Tiawan made) Schwinn contract
bike that looks much like this bike and I find it to be
a sweet town/utility bike for everyday.

FWIW, I'd rather fix up any lugged steel framed bike over
even considering any aluminum framed bike as they ride that
much better.

Good points Tightwad, guess I'm in the same choir. It's more fun re-building and riding older
bikes. I started in on it today, with cleaning, de-rusting. Handle bars were way gone, but had
some other bars from a schwinn 3 speed, rust free, same with the seat post.

I'll need new mounting hardware for the brakes, frame is in great shape, and rims should come back
easy. Gears look ok but, don't know a lot about 10 speed trannys... hmm. Oil and a new chain maybe.

"Gears look ok but, don't know a lot about 10 speed trannys... hmm. Oil and a new chain maybe."

Soak the entire drive train in kerosene to loosen up/remove
rust then oil the crap out of it. Run it through a few times
to see what work or is broken. Then go from there.

As far as 10 speed go most had a small front gear of about
30 something teeth for city use with a 5 speed gear set.
I prefer a 5 speed simply because that's all you really need
for in town and they do NOT dish the rear wheel nearly as much
as 7,8,or 9 speeds do. Simply put a 39 tooth (or close) on the
front and 5 speed on the back is a pretty good set up for
utility use ....cheap. I NEVER use the 52 tooth big gear on
the front so my town/utility bikes are either 5 or 6 speeds.

Interestingly enough.Silstar,( on the crank) like shimano, now makes fishing tackle............not saying that Silatar is comparable to Shimano...just a similar heritage

before you give up on those handlebars.... I had a bike with bars in similar shape that you showed in your picture. I soaked it with WD-40 and then rubbed it with steel wool. It now looks brand new. The transformation was amazing.

before you give up on those handlebars.... I had a bike with bars in similar shape that you showed in your picture. I soaked it with WD-40 and then rubbed it with steel wool. It now looks brand new. The transformation was amazing.

I too would like to put in a good work for steel wool! It works great on cranksets, rims (gently), handlebars, stems, you can even get a slightly rusty chain looking new with it.

Goose, yesterdays low end bike is todays middle level bike.
The bike you have has a lugged steel frame which is a good
thing for a commuter which this bike is. That or a great
town bike.

I have an early Giant (Tiawan made) Schwinn contract
bike that looks much like this bike and I find it to be
a sweet town/utility bike for everyday.

FWIW, I'd rather fix up any lugged steel framed bike over
even considering any aluminum framed bike as they ride that
much better.That's just nonsense. It was low end junk then and it's below junk now. Lugged construction it's self is meaningless,as even junk was made with lugs by machines. Gas pipe steel has no redeeming ride qualities.

Aw, c'mon Sydney; quit *****footing and just say what you think. :D

And no amount of steel wool is gonna help those bars; they suffer from the curse of Chinese chrome plating. I think they use bacon grease instead of copper as an undercoat.

Aw, c'mon Sydney; quit *****footing and just say what you think. :D

And no amount of steel wool is gonna help those bars; they suffer from the curse of Chinese chrome plating. I think they use bacon grease instead of copper as an undercoat.

Well I'm glad not to have encountered that material previously :D Seriously, though, steel wool has helped me completely clean up some awful-looking handlebars on what is now my commuter. Perhaps the material was of a better quality, the rust was a very thin (but extensive) surface layer.

bwahahaha bacon grease :)

There's reasons for restoring a junk bike that probably should be junked...

Like my Dad's bike I just restored for him. It was some cheap Nidia Vista 10 speeder, horribly slapped together probably by some 9 year old in taiwain in the 70s.

BUT, it was the FIRST bike I ever rode... in a baby carrier in back. :)

Rides pretty well now!

bwahahaha bacon grease :)

There's reasons for restoring a junk bike that probably should be junked...

Like my Dad's bike I just restored for him. It was some cheap Nidia Vista 10 speeder, horribly slapped together probably by some 9 year old in taiwain in the 70s.

BUT, it was the FIRST bike I ever rode... in a baby carrier in back. :)

Rides pretty well now!yeah, but for the same money or a few bucks more you can at least start with something that spent it's life as a garage ornament rather than a rusted out, neglected, abused, wore out hulk that hardly qualifies as landfill material.Why start in a hole unless you are some kind of glutton for pnishment?

yeah, but for the same money or a few bucks more you can at least start with something that spent it's life as a garage ornament rather than a rusted out, neglected, abused, wore out hulk that hardly qualifies as landfill material.Why start in a hole unless you are some kind of glutton for pnishment?

I would kind of agree here... 10-speeds with good components in decent condition can be had cheap. I have picked up several, the most I paid was $25 for one which had brand new tires and nice components.

Maybe sentimental value, or a place to hone your restoration skills without screwing up something expensive. But your right; it's not logical -- but a lot of people say that about mucking around with old crocks in general. They're right too, but who cares? :D

Lugged construction it's self is meaningless.

Hmmmmm.....Tell that to those folk's who pay big bucks for
Rivendell's and other custom made bicycles. They'd really
like to know this fact and save their money.

Hmmmmm.....Tell that to those folk's who pay big bucks for
Rivendell's and other custom made bicycles. They'd really
like to know this fact and save their money.Read the whole thing again, and then try real hard to put it in context.There are lugged frames that are made by true artists and craftspeople, and there is also lugged junk make by machines.Lugged junk has been around for years.
Some of it hardly even has enough brazing material in the joints to begin with. As said before, just because a frame has lugs it doesn't necessarily imply any kind of quality. If you don't know the difference......... :rolleyes:

OK big whoop its not a high-end frame and components. How much did you spend? Oh yeah $3. You hit the nail on the head, these kinds of bikes are great for entertainment value. I got a $6 ten speed road bike that I'm turning into a single speed, its turning out to be great fun! I'm almost done with the project, and am having to spend a little more than I wanted to but I'm having so much fun with it, that I don't mind :D

yeah, but for the same money or a few bucks more you can at least start with something that spent it's life as a garage ornament rather than a rusted out, neglected, abused, wore out hulk that hardly qualifies as landfill material.Why start in a hole unless you are some kind of glutton for pnishment?

In my case, BECAUSE IT'S DAD'S BIKE, and the first one I ever rode :) I wouldn't spend even $3 for a bike just like Dad's bike in better shape,because it's just not the same.

And, depending on where you live, it's not always easy to come by bike parts. It isn't that easy for me to find old stuff in good shape, and there's something really cool about restoring a peice of history, even if it was a peice of crap back then :)