Originally Posted by
parksung
Thanks for the input, very helpful. I'm far from a mechanic, but it looks like I'll be getting the bearings cleaned out
You have a great bike. I recently learned how to do all of the above myself, and can make a few tips:
1. Buy a Park Tools big blue book of bike repair. It's worth the $20 even if you don't do much bike maintenance. You may have an LBS with "tool school classes" for free - it's worth going to these.
2.. A new sealed-bearing bottom bracket from Shimano is about $20. These are disposable, idiotproof parts that can outlast most of the rest of your bicycle. If you have BB damge (quite common) or aren't sure what to do with it, go buy a more modern replacement. (DISCLAIMER: I quite like old ball-and-cup BBs...but I won't spend money on one.)
3. If you keep the old BB, buy new bearings. Cost me a whopping $3. Ditch the old bearing retainer, and fit in as many balls as you can into the races - it will work just fine.
4. When in doubt, add more grease. In fact, the only good way to get the bearings to stay in place while assembling a BB or hub is to use a ton of the stuff.
5. Buy waterproof grease. The blue stuff for boats is supposed to be pretty good, but I use bicycle grease because I can get it in convenient little tubes and I don't use enough of it to justify buying a tub.
6. Headsets seem to be the most prone to pitting, but unlike a BB or hub, a headset is still safe to ride when damaged. Replace bearings, replace grease, and ignore. Replacing headsets DIY is a pain in the kiester without expensive tools, and having the pros do it is pricey.
7. Repeat the same tricks with the hubs as the bottom bracket, but also check the spokes. If some are way higher than others - you can tell by flicking them with a fingernail and listening to the tone of the "plink" sound - you might want to have a mechanic look at them before use. (If you can't hear a difference, then don't worry about it.)
8. New tires, tubes, and chain. These are must-dos.
9. New brake cables are optional, but if the old ones look okay, just spray some chain lube down the tubes. Same goes for shift cables. Rust == BAD.
10. I don't know much about Miyatas other than that they're out of my price range, but if you don't have indexed shifting, upgrade. A nice set of old Shimano shifters, a Shimano derailleur, and some new shift cable/housing (this is a must have) will give you a nice, inexpensive improvement. Also, if your hub uses cassettes that are no longer avalaiable, you may need a new rear wheel if you wish to replace it (check with mechanic.)