I now have a roadbike! I'm excited and a bit scared for some reason...
The story: My friend's old roomate left it behind. We were about the same height. It's been kept outside for the last two years, definately not ridden the last 4 months but probably not for most of the 2 years.
I went there today and started oilin' her up. Pretty light bike (at least compared to my 44 lb mtb!).
Specs:
- Nishiki Sport
- Frame: Chromoly 4130
- Cranks: Sugino VP (only 2 - how do I find out if this is a compact double or not? Top ring is 52)
- Wheels: Araya 27 x 1 1/4"
- Hubs: Maillard with quick release front and rear
- Derailleurs: Suntour SVX
- Brakes: Dia Compe sidepulls
- Stem: Custom
- Saddle: Vetta
- Brake levers: Dia Compe
- Handlebar: Champion
- Grips: Squishy
- Misc: The bike has 2 water bottle cage mounts and mounts for racks and fenders though it doesn't seem like there's room for a fender.
Pros:
- Obviously - free is great
- Seatpost freely moved
- A little liquid wrench and the derailers moved easily
- Crankset is in excellent condition - the teeth look spankin' new.
- Spokes are in pretty decent condition - two spokes are a little rusty but some steel wool should take care of that.
Cons:
- Here's the big one. There is a kickstand. Seems like the kickstand was down and someone leaned against it - there's a decent sized dent on the bottom of the bottom tube leading from the bb to dropouts. However the dent doesn't seem to be in a structural place and he probably rode that way on it for a while by the looks of it. I'll include shots of that this weekend, see what y'll think.
- A tad tall. No fist is getting from the top tube to the tackle shop, though I think if I had to jump off I wouldn't get stuck as if I was on a fence.
- According to
the man the 27's are equivalent to 630 mm. Would prefer to have 700's since it's easier to get tires/tubes for it. Doesn't look like there's enough room for them though.
- Tires are shot. Sidewall is peeling off - I'm surprised I made it the 2 miles back! I was hoping to pick up some tires for cheap but if this is a speciality then this may start getting expensive.
- Took the front wheel off and spun it - very crunchy. Might just be rusty bearings or could be an eaten hub; there felt like there was a lot of resistance probably in the hubs and some rubbing of the brakes.
- Handlebars too low.
- Cables are a bit rusty, will have to change those.
Weird things
- If I move the brake cables it seems like the brake engages. And my hands have to go under the cables in order to fit.
If I'm going to put money into this I'd like it to go towards parts I can transfer. The frame has me a little worried and the 27" tires seem like they'll cause some problems.
Again, I'll take pics this weekend and post.
[Edit]
The Adventures of Dialing It In Continues Here
Rear wheel spokes rubbing against deraileur when sitting on it