SO I GOT THE BIKE BACK TODAY AND I AM A HAPPY CAMPER! i took it out for a ride and it rides great. my friend with a heavy steel schwinn varsity couldnt keep up with my reynolds frame. the only problem i have is that i am out of shape and the hills around my house are just really tiring.
i tried taking pictures right now but the flash doesnt do justice so i'll wait for tomorrow to take pictures.
things i installed: suntour brake levers ($10), brand new suntour winner pro 5-speed freewheel (which i bought for $25 and goes for $50 on ebay!), and a suntour vgt luxe rear derailleur ($15. which works perfectly, thanks for the advice early in this thread).
oh and i put on a white velo endzone seat for the time being. i want to put on a better seat but my budget just doesnt call for that. but please dont hate cause i DO plan on changing out the seat. i just couldnt stand looking at the BMX seat that was on it. oh yea, i wasnt able to change out the tires because the shop didnt carry any good white tires. i'll just take a little more time into thinking about what tires i want. but after today's ride, i KNOW i HAVE to change out the tires because these tires are soo rough to ride on. they also had really crappy bartape there so i didnt add handlebar tape because i'm also trying to figure out which tape i want to put on.
i spent a total of $130 for the labor and parts. that plus $120 for the bike i've put in a total of $250. i dont think i'm doing too bad.
my next plans are to clean up as much rust as i can and add handle bar tape. in the later future i plan on getting 700c wheels (i tried on a friend of mine's and it fits just fine) and a better seat. after that i think i'll be perfectly happy with the bike.
p.s. i'd really hate to repaint the bike. although in the pictures the paint doesnt look bad there are a lot of scratches and the decals are totally faded. i'd love to repaint the bike the original color and add decals but that's jsut too expensive for me. if i end up building sentimental value on this bike then that may be an option. but in the meantime, is there a way i can touch up the paint?