Sourcing old bushings no longer available from the manufacturer.
 

I am looking at getting into the MTB game on the cheap. Will likely start with a decent used rigid or hardtail , but while scouring CL ads I have found a few pretty neat looking FS bikes for reasonable prices. Talking to a friend who is very experienced in MTBing, he warned that old school FS bikes are risky in that many do not have replacement bushings available.

My question is, how hard is it to find them elsewhere? I work as a tech on mail inserting equipment. These things are mechanical monsters with more bushings/bearings than you can count. So, I am very familiar with these things. Some times we have to source replacement bushings from some place other than the manufacturer.

Do bike builders go out of their way to make proprietary bushings that are hard to buy off the shelf? I would think that even if they were, I could mod them with a lathe/drill press. Wouldn't be the first time I had to do that.

2 of the bikes I have looked at are the KHS FXT Comp and the Giant ATX 970. Any comments regardingthese as to their rebuildability would be appreciated.

bushings might be proprietary and yes I bet you could fabricate your own.

bearings generally will be standardized if you can find the right type. with luck, if it's a popular bike, someone has already done this legwork and google will help you find the right generic bearings to buy.

unfortunately, I know nothing about either bike you're considering. I can tell you something that perhaps your experienced friend already has: have someone hold the front of the bike securely and wiggle the rear triangle and then the seat. if you feel some clunking you could have a worn bushing or bearing.

what I always suggest in looking for used bikes is to try to find the ones that it was obvious someone did not ride much. MTBs get scratched and dinged. if the paint is perfect that's a sure sign it either wasn't ridden on trails, or wasn't ridden much at all.