Fixing Bike 41, Malvern Star

 

Hi

This bike was delivered to me by Stu a couple of doors down. In terms of actual wear it is almost new, with no wear on the front tyre, but it had been left outside and so had rusted. Some bolts had rusted more than others and this shows where cents had been saved on the quality of fasteners. There are salt spray tests which deliberately accelerate rust, and bike fasteners should have survived some form of salt spray tests.

I suspect the bike had been out of use since the derailleur had a bash and stopped working. Anyway, here is a list of things I fixed:

Remove and spray handlebars black.

Replace 1 rear spoke nipple, it had split.

Clean front hub, this included a rusty / stuck quick release bolt.

Replace rear derailleur, the cable tension adjuster is essential, I tried one without it and couldn't get gear changing right so couldn't use it.

Replace bell, I busted the original when removing the handlebars.

Rusty chain, soak in vinegar, then clean and oil. There were still many stuck links and they were fixed laboriously by oiling, waggling the links with pliers, and bending the chain in its non-flexy direction until it was ok. Probably not worth the time and effort really, about 1 hour to fix a part that could cost around $5.00. But satisfying!

All those things fixed, the bike rides well, and I will deliver it to Wecycle this morning.

Regards

Steve Nurse