Originally Posted by
cehowardGS
I can't even take a seat post out, so any tear downs is over my head. However, you all have restored my faith in my taste. I knew I was on to something hot, it just turned out to be messed up. And I am not a fixer, not even in the littlest sense.
Pretty much everything on a bicycle comes off by unscrewing a mounting bolt. Assuming nothing is really stuck you should be able to strip down the majority of the bike in a few minutes.
This would be a great learning opportunity for you and it should be pretty easy. you can look up directions on the internet about using OA to deal with the rust, clean up the parts and build her back up. If you reinstall all of the parts and run the cabling (very simple obvious things) your local LBS will probably adjust your derailleurs for free if you don't feel like learning how to do it yourself.
Bicycles are very very very easy. Take a little time and i'm sure you will enjoy the process.