Ok, hope you will help me help this guy. A co-worker sits next to me and he is north of 350. I suspect most of us can't relate to being that big. Ex lineman OK State and one year of pro. Nature is not kind to these giants. He has admired my daily commitment to ride to work for the past 4 months and notes the 20 lbs that have fallen off not to mention being in much better shape. He said he bought a nice MTB years ago when he was 300 in an effort to get in shape. I offered to take it and give it a tune up and go for a ride with him.

Well, picked up the bike last night. Looked at it closely tonight. Giant Sedona, steel, hard nose, massive externally butted tubes marketed as 'Full Butted CrMo MAX Tubes'. Minimal use. 3x wheels on STX groupe. Rear hub Parallax STX. Most codes are SI or SH which dates it as fall of 1994 era STX. Seems like a decent platform and it should clean up well. More important to work than to look pretty!

I find myself again at a loss with these darn RapidFire shifters. FD goes from granny to middle but more pressure will not make it to next click although it does try, just not far enough. Suspect stretched cable?

Worse, the RD does nothing. Push forward and it just swings w/o much resistance and comes back apparently not engaging any 'cam' inside. Release (downshift) lever does similar action. No engagement. Almost as if the cable is not even engaged.

Do you take these things appart to see what is not happening? Are they (STX) servicable? Last time I tried I snapped of a piece of plastic when I tried to pry open the cover after removing a screw that seemed to hold it together. Give me friction shifters! Just kidding....maybe.

Any other suggestions welcome. Do you think SS 3x wheels will hold this guy? Rims are Weinmann BCX3 26x1.5. I figure if I can get him out and start small each weekend we can put money into it as things break. No need to do that now and just have it sit in garage for another 12 years.

Thanks in advance.