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Old 08-28-09, 07:20 AM
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JonathanGennick 
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Munising, Michigan, USA
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Bikes: Priority 600, Priority Continuum, Devinci Dexter

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The wobbling front wheel despite your best efforts to secure it could indicate the need for a hub rebuild. Take the wheel off the bike. Hold it in your hands so that you can spin it. Then push left and right on the wheel while still holding the hub. Do you feel play? If so, you should take the hub apart, clean the bearing races, replace the bearings (ideal, but sometimes can reuse the old ones), regrease, and put back together properly. You'll need some cone wrenches for that work.

My personal approach when presented with a bike with a history like yours is to just tear it down completely, clean and relube everything, replace the cables and housings as a matter of course, replace any broken parts, and then put the bike back together again. There are usually so many little problems from lack of maintenance that it's worth it to just attack them all in one go. I've done that several times for friends. It is time-consuming and tedious work.

Leonard Zinn's book on road bike maintenance is possibly a good buy for you. I have his book on mountain-bike maintenance. It's not my favorite book, but he tends to cover the older parts and standards that I encounter when working on older bikes. Here's a link:

http://www.amazon.com/Zinn-Art-Road-...d_bxgy_b_img_b

An excellent website with tutorial videos is: http://bicycletutor.com/

Where I buy parts and supplies from online: jensonusa.com, speedgoat.com

It'd be ideal if you can find a friend who works on bikes, who has tools, and who can help you. Otherwise, be prepared for a learning curve, and you really won't save any money by doing the work yourself as a one-off effort. It helps to look at your expenses as "tuition" that pays off in the long haul. You'll make some mistakes too. Count those as part of your tuition.
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