Looigi

zackly. You'd hardly get anything for it if you sold it so keep the old bike and if you're not already proficient at bicycle mechanics, use it to learn. You probably don't need to replace the housing so just shorten them as needed. It's difficult to reuse old cables because it may not be possible to get the schmooshed end through the housing again, though I've done it. You can find stainless steel shifter cables for like three bucks, even at REI.

Having a second bike can come it handy.

NightShift

I generally advocate this approach, but the OP made it sound like his not mechanically inclined, and though capable of doing simple work (adjusting brakes) he isn't interested in doing it if he doesn't need to.

Around here that bike would probably go for $60 on Craigslist.
For $60 you could also get a rigid '90s mountain bike that was worth putting money into.

If you're going to do the work yourself, do (just) the needed repairs. If it would be a matter of paying a shop to do the work I'd still say it depends on the details of the bike as to whether it's worth it.

Then again this is coming from a guy who upgraded a DiamondBack Wildwood with a new fork (and headset), stem, handlebars, shifters, wheels, and pedals (if I can just put a decent RD on I'll be really happy with it). I'm big on doing the work myself, but we each decide if that's right for us.

If you do decide to fix this bike up, for anything beyond pads and cables donor bikes are a wonderful thing.

BCRider

Uh, do you guys realize that gear freak a few posts back resurrected a 5+year old thread? And it's not like this is a topic that doesn't come up often enough so it needs to be re-surfaced. GF, if you're browsing search results it pays to check the dates to see if they are ancient or not.

FuzzyDunlop

And to think, I had some good advice to offer!

HillRider

I cannot think of a more expensive way to aquire a good bike.