chrisniemann

been doing some "google'ing" and can't get a straight answer on this bike.

FS Elite - Black River Canyon III

Shimano FD/RD
Shimano Twist Shift
26" x 1.95 tires (need replaced)

frame is in excellent condition, needs new seat, brake pads, cable, and shifters (old ones are faded bad and could prolly crack once normal wear and tear are on them) and the chain was so rusted that it wouldn't even bend (i picked up the bike by the chain and it didn't move)

so I found online that the bike new was a $375 bike... how do i know the year first off
and can anyone tell me if this is worth the time and effort to bring it back to life? this would be my chance at a rigid frame to compare to my now Wally World suspension bike. and if the frame is worth it then say so and I'll start saving up to order the new parts to stick in her...

thanks for any and all help!

edit: its an 18 speed

pablosnazzy

depends what you want it for. do you want to restore a bicycle to ride around town at an easy pace with? if so, yeah, go for it. do you want a bicycle to ride on trails or off road? if so, then probably not. but you still could.

you can take any bicycle off road, or around town. you can buy a bike from walmart and race super D on it. you can do whatever you want with any bicycle you have. it's a question of if the bicycle will break, if you will be comfortable, etc.

so ask yourself the question. is it worth my time and effort? only you know the answer.

chrisniemann

my walmart bike would be worth my time and effort but everyone told me it would be a waste of time, so I was wondering if this is a better name or if this is another off the shelf department store bike... thats what i was getting at. could you buy this at JCPenny Christmas Catalog or find it at your LBS.

it feels about 10lbs lighter than my suspension bike so i already kinda like it. i wanna put enough into it to make it last on the off road for a while so i can see how i like the rigid frames compared to the suspension frame for now. if i like, then yeah, i'd love to save up and rebuild check by check, part by part, but i don't want to do it if the frame will never hold up to the trail...

hope that shines some light on what i was getting at. Thanks pablosnazzy!

anything more anyone wants to throw in my ear? thanks in advance!

rawly old

I dug an old FS elite Grand Teton out a bicycle bone yard for $15. Was it worth it?
Oh yeah, I think so. It's a durn site cheaper than a Surly Long Haul Trucker.
You be the judge. (Hmm, Can' find a recent pic, oh well)
As seem it has a 35cc Honda on a friction drive. the current set up is a pure
pedal with high set panniers where the yellow bag is to avoid heel strike
from size 14 feet.

dminor 

All I see are two wheels and a bunch of Cordura.

rawly old

That's the idea. Did you want to see the engine? With this
setup I can run a friction drive(hilly terrain), or change over
to a belt drive for faster cruising on the flat. Being 65, and
having suffered nearly as many broken bones as Evel Kneivel,
I'll take any edge I can get.