Tape2011

I have been reading the forum for a while but this is my first post. I have been riding my Sears Free Spirit MTB for about 5 months to my local YMCA in order to get into shape. Then I started enjoying the ride more than the workout and began riding just for pleasure. After reading some of the posts here I began looking for an inexpensive road bike that I could work on and ride. I found one this past weekend on CL for $50.





I know from this forum that this was a midrange bike, but it is very solidly built. It weighs about 31lbs according to my bathroom scale. I aired up the tires and rode it to the Y on Sunday. What a difference! I cut about 5 minutes off of my 10 mile round trip. The biggest difference was when I was riding back against a 15 mph headwind.

Last night I started taking it apart and cleaning/greasing it up. Everything looks to be original and in good working condition. I did replace the tubes and even the tubes appear to have been original. There are some scratches on it so someone must have put some miles on it but it looks to me that it mostly sat indoors.

I know I need new cables as the old ones are cracked in a few places. I plan on replacing the rear freewheel and chain next. Is there anything else that I need to look for? Other than these few things, my plan is to clean/tune it up well and put some miles on it.

Big_e

ARGH! Can't see the pics! You said you've checked the cables. Make sure the brakes are properly adjusted. I always replace the brake pads on everything I get from craigslist or anyplace that seels used bikes.
Ernest

treebound 

cut and paste and imagelinked

Tape2011

Thanks for the help with the photos treebound! What did I do wrong?

cb400bill

What is wrong with them?

Tape2011

The chain was very dry and appears to be stretched slightly using a rough measurement with a steel rule. Not knowing how many miles were on it, I thought it would be a good idea to start with a fresh one.