Just bought this off of Craiglist for $50. Comes with some custom stuff. Its old. It is my first bike related purchase after discovering the depths of the bike hobby.
SCOTT SAWTOOTH MTB
Suzue sealed-tech hubs..
old sis shifters..
3 spare spokes on rt. chain stay..
20" double butted cro-moly frame..
30" standover top tube
What do you guys think? The cables for the gear shifters on one side is garbage. I need to replace it - any ideas?
By the way - the guy I bought it from was really nice. He even gave me a nice bike lock for free, and he said I could come over and he would replace the gear shifters/cables free, and give me a newish bike rack for $10.
I dont know if you can see it well in the pic or not - but the guy was telling me about how it has a very small gear (I do not know the proper terms yet) that allows for easier uphill climbing. I thought that was pretty cool. I also think the spare spokes attached to the side of the bike is neat. I will start researching more about bikes in general, and get some replacement parts for the gear-shifter/cables (the guy said he would buy them for me but I thought that was too much of him - I will however maybe get his help in installation of the parts, as well as go pick up that bike rack for my car).
EDIT: Is having need of spare spokes a common thing when riding these bikes? Is having the ability to replace spokes while on the go something thats ever really necessary?
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The low gear on this bike is insane. I was in a very sandy trail behind my home, and I was able to climb through stuff easily that I was not able to do at all with my other bike... Also, when I am riding slowly/at a stop, and am in low gear - I can make the bike lift off the front wheels easily - simply by starting to press a little hard on the pedals. First time that I have ever done that on a bike. I am sure it is a combination of the lighter weight, smaller gear, and lack of suspension.
The front brake sticks a bit - I have to manually push the hand lever forward again so that the brake doesn't sit on the wheel. I do not know if it is cause I didn't put it back correctly, or if it needs to be tuned...
The tires seemed to be dried out a bit, and there is some rust on the frame under the "triple chainring up front." Will the rust turn into a big problem later on?
Noticed a lot of brand name stuff on the bike, and lots of stuff said JAPAN on it as well. Gave me the sensation of finding some nice vintage audio gear.
What is the best way to go about cleaning the bike? It is pretty dirty in some parts. I do not want to commit a newb mistake by cleaning my bike improperly.
Some pics from this morning:
^Front brakes are sitting on rim when I do not manually push brake lever back to forward position.
^Bike's front brakes - you can see how the lever does not revert to extended position.
vOnly area on bike with significant rust. Hope its not going to cause problems.
Im a newb. There is a lot of info on this site. Can anyone point me to the newb forum with the newb question/answers?