Originally Posted by
luker
You can make 'em look better by rubbing them down with steel wool. You definitely aren't gonna hurt anything but your time budget.
I tried a bit of that tonight - they're even worse than I thought.
Under the layer of dust and crud is some pretty thick corrosion, especially where the spokes cross. Steel wool makes them smoother but that's it - they're dull and ugly forever. The rims are astoningly clean and straight - like the bike was never ridden but left outside for several years. I feel like rattle canning the wheels flat black...
Here's the tally of good parts
RX100 crank (mottled with spots) with 53/42 rings (steel?) in good shape
bottom bracket
105 FD
RX100 RD
RX100 indexed DT shifters
RX100 dual pivot brakes,not bad, surface rust on springs and bolts
RX100 levers with good hoods
RX100 hubs
HG cassette (13-26?)
Araya CT19N rims
one 57cm gaspipe lugged steel frame with horizontal dropouts, with 'sporting' geometry and barely enough clearance for 28 tires.
and
64 rusty spokes
Maybe I should jump on the fixie bandwagon with it - which means spending even more money on it!
Trying to feel better about the $$ spent, but seeing NOS RX100 brakes sell for $9 on ebay doesn't help!