Hey! I'm new to this forum and new to the US, having just moved over from the UK recently and wondered if I could look for some advice. I have loved bikes and cycling for some years although I've never done anything more than tinker with the mechanics of my bikes. Since moving here, my wife and her kids have bikes in the basement which need a LOT of work, so I set about restoring, with my Zinn & the art of Road Bike Maintenance and a lot of newly purchased tools for company (as well as the internet and YouTube, of course). I'm patiently stripping, cleaning, de-rusting and tidying up the first bike (non-branded components/frame, basically bikes to practice my mechanics on).

A few things I'm looking for help with...
- grease... which grease is recommended? I read that any automotive grease will do, but is there a cheap/decent grease that I should look for?
- spokes & spoke nipples... I've looked at prices online and don't want to spend upwards of $40 for these if possible. Where is best to order/buy them from?
- paint remover (as I am looking at the possibility of going the full 9 yards and restoring everything!)... again, any recommendations. I've read a lot on this and it seems to be a bit of a minefield. I don't want to spend hours on end with steel wool, but don't want to damage the frame.

Any and all help will be very welcome!

BC

PS. Bear in mind that 'your local bike shop' isn't a day-to-day option for me, as I moved to a place with no bike shop within an hour's drive and transportation is a problem. The place doesn't even have a Starbucks!! I mean, come on!!!

Chicken: Welcome to the States. I think it is great that you are getting into repairing your own bikes, but I question whether refinishing a no-name bike is going to be worth the effort. I'd recommend just getting it onto shape and riding it. Maybe touch up the rust spots. Save your refinishing efforts for that neglected classic you find at a garage sale or thrift shop, when you'll have something to be really proud of having brought back to life and restored to its classic beauty. Just my free advice.

My 4 Cents
1: I use phil wood grease.. a bit pricey but hey the stuff is great.

2: Spokes and nipples.. honestly I usually just hunt down a replacement wheel or wheelset if we're that far gone already. (I dump hunt for bikes that old since most people think of them as trash)

3: I hear things like naval jelly, I personally just used generic paint stripper on my last paint job.. it's fairly simple anything that'll strip steel but not discolor/harm it and remember, keep anything alloy or chrome etc the heck away!

4: Niagrabikes or whatever it's called (you can find them on amazon) is great if you can put up with long shipping times to get a lot of random stuff for cheap..

Edit: OH! And Welcome to the US!

Any grease that can be screwed into an injector or grease gun of some sort would be handy. Lots of testimonials for cheap auto grease or marine grease have been seen on BF.

Phil Wood grease is indeed great.

Are you and the folks in MS able to understand each other ok? (Clash of Accents?)

Boat trailer wheel bearing grease is OK, and Cheap.. tub of it bought 20 years ago is still in use.

but since Phil is put up in little plastic tubes it certainly is tidy to use.

Phil is also put up in 14 oz cylinders and 22.5 oz (640 gm) tubs which keep the price per oz reasonable.

What I would recommend for starting out...

Grease: Park PolyLube 1000 (Great for any application)

Spokes and Nipples: If you only need a few spokes find a wheel (bent or true) that is the same size and use those spokes and nipples. Otherwise purchase some new spokes and nipples. Checkout www.universalcycles.com they have a great selection. Otherwise purchase a new wheel if you do not want to mess with replacing spokes and learning how to true a wheel.

Paint Remover: Use any chemical paint remover with scotch brite pads. Make sure to wear heavy duty gloves and goggles.

Hope this helps!

Wyatt

Thank you to all the replies so far and for the nice welcome to the States! (and yes... MAJOR clash of accents. I can handle most if not all that I'm hearing, but I'm getting used to repeating things a few times, haha).

The advice about not wasting time with non-brand bikes... I'm using them as practice and I'm proud of how it's going so far, I don't expect to have a masterpiece at the end of the process, but it's in good shape to be looking as good as new, I just hope it runs that way too!

The grease/spoke/paint stripping suggestions are much appreciated and I'll be looking around for the best deals/shipping etc, so thank you for that.

I'm sure to be on here often from now, so thanks again for the advice and I'll possibly run into y'all again at some point!

Cheap bikes get parts from other cheap donor bikes. Marine wheel bearing grease from auto or farm store. Buy bearings in bulk from the bearing or industrial supply house. Scuff up the frames with some sand paper, clean up the rust, and rattlecan paint them.

I'm too lazy for sanding! lol

I have been putting 'old' parts in a 'vinegar bath', leaving them overnight and the rust just wipes off. There are exceptions of course and it's a longer process than I sometimes want, but vinegar is a very effective rust remover. I do have some naval jelly for the more stubborn areas, but vinegar has yet to fail me so far.

Thanks again for the grease advice and I'm checking out the links for stores. I'm very grateful for all the suggestions.

Spokes and nipples:

There is a guy on ebay that goes by the name of Childhood Dreams. He cuts custom spokes with a phil wood machine, and has the best prices I have seen anywhere. He's also very nice and ships fast. I highly recommend him. Here's the link: https://www.ebay.com/sch/childhood_dr..._sop=15&_rdc=1

When i read the tittle i thought somebody thought this was the dating section of CL.