Last month whilst visiting relatives in another state I happened upon a fantastic deal on a Giant Excursion bicycle and am presently in the process of sourcing known needed replacements pieces for it. I literally bought the bike from a roadside dealer in that area who sells leftovers from local auctions. Bike sat outdoors for an apparent long time, but before I the relatives place I had successfully gotten the chain unfrozen and oiled, gear shifters and brakes likewise seemed to be fully functional after working them with WD-40. No idea if the generator is functional or not as both tires were dry rotted to the point rubber was flaking off when handled and didn't help matters that the tubes had Presta valves, for which I have nothing to work with. Should note I had to leave the bike with relatives (in a dry storage building) but am going back in less than two weeks and hope to get it rideable at that time.

Handlebar on the bike is covered in surface rust, the right grip consists almost entirely of duct tape, the left grip is dry rotted and loose, the mirror is shattered, and the front fender is cracked (plan on fixing with epoxy).

At moment I have on hand:

• new rim strips
• new chain (just in case)
• new brake/shifter cables (also just in case)
• new pair of water bottle holders
• new LED/Laser taillight
• new mirror

And at moment I have on order:

• new Schrader-valve tubes
• new 700c x 35c tires
• new Spoke reflectors (just because)

The original tires on the bike were 700c x 37c tires, but my budget was not such that could justify the extra dollars just to have an extra 2cm width. And, I did verify that the rims on the bike are clearly marked as being "700c x 35c" so hopefully this isn't going to be a problem.

This is the first touring-type bicycle I have ever owned and I would love to get panniers for this bike and am curious as to what the experts here would recommend. Also definitely need to grips, duct tape is great for a lowt of things, but not the best choice for hand grips on a bicycle. Any and all suggestions and recommendations are welcomed.

Only picture of the bike I took after buying it. Will doubtless be taking and posting more as I work on it later this month.

I think it would be prudent to inspect for water intrusion/corrosion damage to the frame, bottom bracket (BB), headset and hubs. The seatpost can become stuck in seattube, stem can become seized in steerer tube, water collecting in seattube above BB shell rusts the tubing on the inside, making frame susceptible to failure at a high stress area, BB will seize from bearing corrosion, ditto headset and front and rear hubs.

You may be lucky and everything is in good order, or you may need to replace the BB cartridge, headset, ball bearings, cones, etc etc.

Probably would be a good idea to replace all cables and housing.

If you don't know how to do this, then take the bike to a local bike shop (LBS) for inspection/repairs. They'll do this work for less than the cost of special tools you'd need to do the work yourself. Do this first before you start buying lots of bike parts. I would not trade schrader tubes for presta, nor drill out the rims.

Nice little bike that was pretty interesting when it came out but a bit heavy, according to a buddy who owned one at the time. It was basically a Euro trekking bike of the era marketed in the U.S. One neat feature is the shifter behind the seat tube that engages the generator. I believe they used a Sanyo generator and the one on my bike lasted years.

For grips on a straight bar I like Oury brand but there are plenty to choose from out there.

Mirrycle brand mirrors are still around I may have a couple of good mirror sections hanging around.

Enjoy it!

Overall it looks well-preserved, maybe low-mileage & thus bearings still OK? Maybe rust-remover/sandpaper/polish fixes the handlebar? Generous fork rake looks like it would give a smooth ride.

Thanks for the replies. From what little time I spent with it the frame seemed in good shape but as you, seeker333, have pointed out I definitely need to make certain the frame tubes haven't sustained water damage internally.

Have also picked up, from a yard sale over the weekend, a good condition used seat/saddle about the same size as the one on the bike. Will likely end up installing it as the springs on the underside of the existing seat are quite rusty and recall it not looking very promising that I might be able to successfully de-rust them. Again this goes back to needing to thoroughly inspect the frame for internal water damage. I'll be there next week Monday and will be able to learn more and go over it then.

There is no bike store in that area, literally. If professional servicing is needed I will have to transport it back 200+ miles to civilization (here) where at least one bicycle shop has thus far survived the Wal*Mart presence.

first and most important is is it your size? Second, yeah, check the frame for rust but dont freak out if you see some patina inside. Theres RUST, then their's just rust.

My experience reading the touring forums over the years is that its not the best place for a bring it back to life thread. You did get good advice on checking to see if the stem and or seat post is stuck, but even if they are, its not the end of the world, there are ways to deal with it. You may want to start something over in the C&V.

Transport it closer to the bike shop, if you don't have lots of experience restoring things. Pulling cassettes and cranks will either take tools, or a couple bucks to have done. You want to go through all the bearings, deep clean and lube everything. Some things that need to be replaced will be easier if you have a shop to go to.
Go to the Library and check out some books on Bicycle Maintenance. It will have great tips on what things look like inside.
If the shifters are "sticky", flush them out with some seafoam spray, or BP blaster, both also great for hitting all the threads before you start taking things apart. I find WD forty to be less effective for this stuff.

If I had found it, and it was my size, I would go for a trekking bar with a more adjustable stem. It will be heavy, but a solid rider.

I have fifteen or so riders that all came from yard sales or a dumpster. Its possible, and thats a great looking little bike I would spend time on, again, if it fit.

You Need spacers behind the rack where it is attached to the Mid-fork and longer bolts .

the low rider rack sides need to be parallel to each other .

Take it apart and put it all back together to make sure it's all in good condition,
before taking on any actual Tours. (so it won't break down in the middle of 'nowhere'...

bearings, cables Etc , pull the stem and seat post (may be stuck)

gps, Basically you are going to have to gut the bike to determine where it stands. You will have to drill out the rims for the Schrader valves. Plan on cleaning and greasing both hubs, the headset, and if not a cartridge style, also the bottom bracket. The wheels should be tuned for tension and trueness. Most likely all of the cables and housing will need replacing and if the brake levers are plastic, replace them with metal ones. Some sanding and paint here and there and away you go.

Both of my touring bikes were pre owned and one was a nice surprise, the other, well, not so much when I overhauled them. Your goal is to have an utterly dependable bike.

Brad

Agree. Strip it down to the bare frame and see what you're dealing with. Then you can decide what to do and how far to go with it. That could be anything from just making it rideable again using existing parts, to a full-blown restoration with upgrades. For sure after all these years you will need the bottom bracket, headset, and hubs inspected and serviced.

Are there decals indicating anything about the frame? That will generally dictate how far you go (how much you spend) on a restoration. If that's a full DB chromoly frame and fork, you have something worth keeping and putting money into.

I disagree with this. Why should that be necessary? Far better to just pick up an adapter for the presta's. Prestas are just as easy to find and there will be less hassle and possible weakening of the rim.

Presta or schrader? Whatever you want. But I think presta is better.

OP wants to use Schradar valves, not me.

Brad

I guess I read it as he just does not have any tubes in presta. It's definitely possible to drill and the rims are not to skinny, but still might be better to just get some tubes when shopping for cables and such.

Don't use a drill to widen presta holes for schrader. Buy one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/General-Tools...eywords=reamer

They're at your local hardware store for a few bucks. You'll have much more control and get a cleaner hole. Follow up with some 800 grit sandpaper rolled into a little tube and polish the inside of the hole.

That said, I'm a fan of presta valves and if the wheels are already set up with presta, why switch?

Just for the record, haven't abandoned the topic. I did not bore out the inflator valve holes as that would have narrowed the amount of alloy width in the rims to an amount I wasn't going to be comfortable with. Managed to lose one of the presta valve nuts not sure if a crow stole it because it was shiney or if a relative tossed it thinking it was unimportant, uhg! And I took a ton of pictures, but still not ridden it as I have to order preseta valve tubes. Oddly while down there found and purchased a used presta valve tire pump for the wallet shattering price of three dollars, so that obstacle is out of the way.

Got both rims thoroughly cleaned and discovered that the rim strips already with them cleaned up very nicely and are still perfectly usable, so the new strips I had ordered are just spares now. Still haven;t cleaned the rest of the bike other than beyond removing the partly dissolved and wrapped in duct tape handle grip from one side of the handlebar. The other handle grip is in poor shape, but at least isn't in the utterly nasty state of dissolving the one I removed was in. And handlebar isn't in as bad a shape as had originally thought it to be.

As advised I checked the frame over for rust and have concluded it must not have been in the weather anywhere near as long as I'd previously thought it had been. Pulled the seat post and found only very light trace rust near the frame opening for the seat post, bottom bracket looks great... not that I have tools to open it up with, but from what can be seen of it it looks good. Will post some pics soon.

gps, Use the new rim strips. It would be most aggravating to pump up a tire and the rim strip then failed under the pressure. The only thing on a touring bike that trumps reliability is fitment. Use all of your "just in case" items.

Brad

You need something like these when you get your bike done. I picked these up while repping for Giant in the mid-'90s and used them for the first time this summer on my TransAm attempt. They are not high line but worked great. Wish I was out using them again.

Thanks for that advice bradtx. Uhm, are we missing a picture thumpism? Only ask since you seem to imply a picture of something but there isn't, could be that phantom glitch that others have been experiencing where images uploaded to the site directly aren't displaying.

Just for the record, I've got thirty pictures that turned out decently which I've cropped. As of today have Presta-valve tubes on order. Will be traveling to where the bike is again sometime next week. And thanks to the pictures I am now aware of something I managed to not catch in person, the middle sprocket on the front bracket has broken and badly worn teeth! Worth noting I took the pictures inside, with the bike upside down on a bed due to the outside temperature being a very balmy 101f degrees. Clean rims! And only clean rims as I couldn't tolerate standing outside any longer to clean the frame, which desperately needs cleaning, it even has spider webs!

Do bicycles dream of smooth pavement?


Front fork:


Triple butted, but has only one seat post!


Pay close attention to the middle sprocket.


Not just one tooth on the middle sprocket, several of them!


Brand mark of the front and rear cargo racks:


Not quite sure where I had the camera pointed at for this one.:


The broken fender, thankfully plastic. Forced the two sections apart for the photo to show the breakage better.:


A view of the Union power generator.:


Bottom Bracket and another angle of the Union power generator.:

Last group of pictures.

Another view of the bottom bracket.:


Front headlight.:


Trelock rear wheel lock and Generator engagement lever.:


Up close of the Trelock wheel lock.:


Front break mechanism.:


Another view of the front break mechanism.:


Headtube:


Seatpost and underside of the seat/saddle.:


Front derailleur.:


Rear derailleur/shifter.:

You took pictures of it.. now get to work cleaning it up and replacing rusty stuff..

This is what I do with the nuts on presta valves:

Old P/V rings Useful as spacers too..

I use my Silca Pump since the tire is not glued on the rings go on the p/v stem, so the push on pump chuck is effective..

My Schwalbe A\V stems have rings on them too , Push on inflators at the LBS compressor top off My Brompton

Elderly Thread...

I have not one but two Giant Excursions. One I purchased new and has been fairly lightly ridden. Only modifications were drop bars, brifters and a leather saddle. The other my brother bought new and rode hard for several years. I ended up with it. The game plan is to put the flat bars back on it. Good solid bike that once cleaned up will ride well and last a long time with minimal issues.

This a picture of mine. Don't have pictures of the other one for some reason. But it looks the same except for some minor differences.

As far as the choices for touring bags... I use Ortlieb and Lone Peak. I purchase most of my stuff from Wayne at The Touring Store.

Aaron

Wow, that looks practically new Wahoonc!

Due to a series of issues I haven't been back to where the bike is since September. I did however clean it up some more, installed the new rim strips, presta tubes, and tires. Finished removing the rubber grunge from the partially liquified right handle grip, and even got the generator for the headlamp working again with the aid of WD-40. And yes, lubricated everything... and experimentally installed these reflectors on the front wheel spokes!