The bike arrived and unfortunately there were a couple of shipping scratches. I’ll get those handled after the mechanical going-over is complete. The bike was in very good condition and the only obvious issue is that the tires\/tubes won’t hold pressure for long. Well, they are 30 years old so I really shouldn’t be surprised.<\/p>\n
Taking things apart to check the bearings and adjustments isn’t too difficult, but I wanted to use the correct tools for the job. I purchased tools to remove the freewheel, to remove and adjust the bottom bracket, to remove and adjust the wheel bearings, and the headset.<\/p>\n
I had a good quality grease available, cleaning supplies too. The job went smoothly with the proper tools and soon it was just about ready to ride. I knew the tubes weren’t holding pressure for long so I picked up replacement tubes. When I took the tires off to replace the tubes, the tires were cracked and falling apart. I’m not sure why I thought a 30 year old tube needed to be replaced but a 30 year old tire would be fine. See, I do get smarter as I get older – but it’s a slow process. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
Anyway, I replaced the tires with Panaracer RibMo 700Cx25s and they ride very well. I haven’t had them on wet pavement yet, but they have good traction and ride quality. I’m running them at 90psi front and 100psi rear. For looks, gumwall tires are better(at least on a bike of this vintage), but these are fine and I have no plans to replace them anytime soon.<\/p>\n
I do like the ride of a nice lugged steel frame…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The bike arrived and unfortunately there were a couple of shipping scratches. I’ll get those handled after the mechanical going-over is complete. The bike was in very good condition and the only obvious issue is that the tires\/tubes won’t hold pressure for long. Well, they are 30 years old so I really shouldn’t be surprised. … <\/p>\n