Any chance the tubes are suppose to be bent like this?

Yes, they are supposed to look like that...after they run into a brick wall!

ouch. that frame looks to be toast.

wrk101, you are the Lotus freakin master! Great frame and paint! I suspect this one will be a rider rather than a flipper?

(I think it's time I dusted off the old Lotus headbadge avatar)

LOL, I know. Just hoping someone would say it was a specially designed frame to look bent.

Tom,
The more I fiddled around with the chain and derailleur, I realized how true your advice is. Alas, I don't have the tools to do a cassette, so I cleaned up the old chain and put it back on, and all is right with the world. This is the first mtb I've ever touched. Even rough road bkes come to me in better condtion than this.
Thanks for the advice.

Glad to be of help. Basically, some sprockets wear down together with the chain, and the shape is "accustomed" to the elongated links and can't deal with a new chain. If the owner had replaced his chain more frequently, he would have slowed down the sprocket wear. Eventually, you have to replace both at once. Replacing one without the other makes the problem worse, not better.

I bit the bullet on one bike I was restoring, an old Schwinn Varsity. Chain absolutely needed replacement, and I couldn't avoid that. It skipped in the highest gear. I had to buy a new freewheel.

I recommend getting cassette tools. They will pay off!

Nope... that frame is toast.

I have a frame that looks just like that. Bending it (and trying to replace it) opened my eyes to the whole world of C&V.

Found this in the trash a few years ago, it says Centurion on the chain stay, the only part that wasn't painted over. It also got a sort of 'aero' frame.

Found this Murray Alpine with Shimano 3-speed hub by a dumpster. I came across this forum and joined to find out more info. It has medium rust on the chrome bits and some dings and scratches, but rides fine. Everything seems original. Sticker says 03-79...assuming this is the bikes model year. Any info or value? By the way, reading this forum has got me looking out for more bikes...I'm hooked!

Purchased this from CL today on a rebound. I missed out on another and was determined to buy something. Looks and rides like new.

fastmummy, I don't mean to be discouraging. That bike has no value. But it will help you appreciate your next acquisitions.

You could use it for experiments, at things such as painting.

Stick around, and you'll learn a lot. Have fun!

A nice old bike but nuthin special. Not worth too much unless you happen to find a Murray collector (don't count on it). If you want to clean up the chrome, try using aluminum foil and lemon juice; I've had good results with that. A good cleaning and it should shine.

Change your Avitar to Fastmurray and we'll send our extras. Really, if you don't mind spending the time, there are a lot of cheapo bikes that you can get for nothing. Recent Huffy pickup that had a missing oddball seat post. Finally found one and put it back on the road. Made a whole $50 on it.

Sometimes good fortune just seems to find you.

I’m posting this in C & L as well as in Tandems.

I’ve been looking around for a cruiser-type tandem. I own a vintage Santana touring tandem, but my daughters aren’t big on drop handlebars and toe-clips, so I was looking for something more relaxed for them. A neighbor stopped by my house the other day, and said he had an old tandem I might be interested in.

Voila! It was a late 60s or early 70s Columbia Twosome, 5 speed, with a drum brake/caliper brake combination. Check out that chrome. He restores vintage cars for a hobby, and I think he started working on this, and then got bored. He even threw in two brand new tires. Not bad for $150!

This bike has a complete lubrication and some new chains in its future!

Not worth a lot but I get $100-150 for older 3 speeds like that in my area completely serviced,so for a dumpster find that's not to bad depending on what kind of parts it may need. The chrome on the older bikes is so much better then what is used now and that bike should clean up nice.

I want to know what this bike is? Never seen one like it before!,,,,BD

Rip Van Winkle,
I redid a Columbia Twosome from the early 60's that I picked up from the orig owner last year in a trade. It had been sitting in a barn since the early 70's and looked nothing like yours, the only new parts that were needed were tires,tubes and reflectors for the wheels and I replaced the seats (the seats came from a his and hers matching ten speeds that I got from the same guy ) which I had in stock. After a complete tear down and cleaning I sold it for $300 on CL to a life guard in Ocean City ,he paid me $50 more then I was asking because of how nice it was and in Nov I received a email from him saying how much he liked it and where ever he went with it people couldn't believe that it was from the 60's because of how clean it was.

Excellent work, glennfordx4!

Yeah, I haven't been able to find any info on it. Like I said, it has a sort of aero frame, the downtubes etc. are all shaped like blades. Its got a Suntour GPX front derailleur, Shimano Biopace crank and a Shimano SIS rear derailleur. Its been repainted that sweet mauve so I don't know what if anything is original on it.

Glennfordx4, that is one beautiful bike. I'm hoping this one cleans up as nicely with some car wax and some buffing. I just have to find the time to do it now. :-(

Looks like a good saddle on the nishiki

That is really interesting. Could you throw some pics up of the downtube and BB connection. That downtube just doesn't look stiff at all. It feels like looking at some ancient species that was related to a sucessful one, but went extinct without evolving further.

Does it say Centurion on the frame or is it just on a stick-on chainstay protector?