Hi Guys,
This is a kind of follow up to this thread:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-maybe-cruiser
I've been looking around and not really seeing any bikes I like. Actually went against everyone's advice and did the walmart bike-like-object, figuring I'd take advantage of their return policy if it didn't work out right. I didn't even last a month. Hell, I didn't even ride it before it had its first problem, an exploding tube when I actually put more then 10psi in the tire. After a pedal snapping, the tube blowout and finally a seized freewheel, its gone. YOU GUYS WERE RIGHT.
Anyways, through a combination of not knowing what to look for and not really seeing anything I like on craigslist, as well as watching the city auctions (they use raleigh mountain bikes for patrols downtown), I've pretty much settled on fixing my old bike.
First issue up is a back wheel that doesn't spin well. Prognosis is a bent axle and 13 year old dirty white lithium grease in the hub.
Option 1 is to replace the axle, clean and repack the bearings, clean up the cogs. It still only leaves me with a 32h single wall (but pretty solid) rim and rear freewheel which will probably bend the replacement axle given the wonderful brick roads here.
Option 2 is to replace with a new wheel. From reading on the forum here, 36h double wall rim freehub. There are a couple questions for that:
* do I go with a similar 7 speed read cassette and keep the shimano altus derailleur, or upgrade speeds and get a new derailleur and shifter to match. It seems like I could order a 7 speed cassette and add a spacer onto a new hub and adjust derailleur to shift it. It would also leave me open to upgrade to an 8 or 9 speed in the future (and save costs.
Could I build the wheel myself? I've seen stuff online, looks tedious but doable. I'll check around town on how much a build will be. Are there any places online that will do a build and ship it to me at a decent price? I'd like to comparison shop that around.
Front wheel is also 32h, in good condition. Do I have to match up wheels? I'd rather just leave it as is, and just clean, repack and true. Its the same sturdy single wall with stainless steel spokes.
There's also a weird sound that was coming from the crankset. I'm going to pull that apart and see if I can just replace bearings and repack and call it a day. I'll replace if need be.
The front derailleur cable is pretty frayed at the end. I'll probably replace that. But even if it snaps, I can limp home in the small chainring.
Does it make sense to do all this, or am I shooting myself in the foot again, this time without a return policy?