I'd check if the alloy seatpost or stem are stuck in the frame. Sometimes that can be an absolute pain. It would suck to get through fixing the whole bike and then find out you can't get the seat and handlebar position in the optimal position for yourself. I'd also check the rims and see if they're steel. Haven't ridden steel rims for quite a while. Just can't do it honestly. If it's a bike I'm personally fixing it for myself all the consumables get replaced, bar tape, all cables and housing, all bearings, brake pads, and probably tires. I also clean and polish the bike frame.
I would add, replace the rim strips. Just like the tyres, the old rubber strips disintegrate. If they are not already broke, a new tube and tyre under riding pressure may just put them over he edge. Thats 32 or more potential puncture points. Not fun out on the road.
Hey! I found one! I was walking down the street and I saw a pristine Cervelo S5 leaning up against a fence, obviously just discarded. The first step in restoring it was to cut off the U-lock the previous owner had put around it that was tangled up with the fence. There was a cable through the wheels, to. I came back with my cordless angle grinder and got them off pretty quickly. I didn't want to disturb anyone, so I waited until a truck had parked in front of the bike to help screen the noise. The tires were still full of air. I rode it home! Thanks GCN! This video made me realize how important it is to keep my eyes open for those 'hidden gems'. They're out there!
The guy àcross the road put a OCR 1 giant out for council collection last week. I grabbed it and moved to my driveway. No rust except a dusting on the chain. Front tubeless tyres is leaking air. It will do as a spare bike.
Once on the free section of craigslist I got a hardtail giant rincon that only needed air in the tires. Too small for me tho so I gave it away. Just gotta be on the lookout.
it is my experience that friends who don't ride bikes are happy to call you when they want to find a good home for a bike which they happen upon for any of a number of reasons.
I found a late "90s Kona road bike with 9 spd Ultegra like that once. I replaced the cables, tires and bar tape and then flushed the shifters (which had seized) with silicone lube and had it up and running in no time.
@Jon-Cannings's-comment "Maybe....": It better not have been. I would be *pissed off* if that ever happened. Plus: a woman [and/or a wife/girlfriend] getting rid of a bicycle is like us the guy getting rid of one of their Gucci, Fendi, Dolce-Gabbana, Cartier, Carolina-Herrera, [and/]or Versace[,] purses. In her ("her" as-in "the woman's") own words: "NOT *GONNA* HAPPEN!!!!".
You may be on to something there... women rarely bother to value mens toys. If not his wife, then some other chap is coming home from a business trip to reel at his wife's craven behavior smashing future dreams and small pleasures - like celebrating spring.
I wish they would take this concept and do a competition like their cheap ebay bikes awhile back. Everyone finds a bike out of the trash or thrifting or ebay, they show what each one needs to get working, show how they can be fixed cost effectively, do whatever challenges, and best bike per pound gets the win.
Cup and cone bearings are great! Service them regularly and they will last forever. If I intended to ride the bike, I would disassemble, clean, grease, and adjust all bearings - BB, hubs, headset, and pedals. Clean and lube the pivots in the brakes and derailleur. Also, changing the brake and derailleur cables to new stainless steel ones will make everything smoother.
noname here My "daily driver" is a 1979 Raleigh Super Course. Very similar to the bike in this video. It has cup and cone bearings in the headset and bottom bracket. I've replaced the bearings and keep on top of cleaning and repacking with fresh grease. Bike still going strong after almost 40 years.
Definitely remove all old grease and replace it with new. If you are of a certain age, you will remember how to do this! There is a certain satisfaction in setting up cup and cone bearings so they run sweet an smooth.
This is pretty much what happened to me, there was spring cleaning here where i'm at and this older guy was getting rid of his entire collection, I was 15 at the time and had little money so I would go around this time of year and see if there were bikes being left out. This older man had a old spray painted frame he was giving away, along with a groupset in a box that I didn't know about at the time. So I picked it up and did my research. Turns out it was a '81 SR gran course and the groupset he gave me in the box was an old shimano 600 arabesque groupset. Put the bike together, and freshened it up with some new pads, chain and a good cleaning and painted it. For me being that young it feels good to find a rescue bike and give it life. I'm 27 years old now and I still have the bike. Good memories.
This is what I love about GCN is you never look down at older bikes and bikes riders are so proud of, and you personally inspire them... In other words, you are not modern, hi-tech snobs (even though your dam good at it), Ha ha ha haha. You guys have real golden hearts, keep up your wonderful work.
I've just bought a new road bike and was about to give away my old Marin single speed, but I decided to check out renovation videos first and I'm glad I did. I couldn't stand the thought of someone having the same reaction as you to seeing my bike being given away for free. She's my bike and I love her.
Always check if the seat post and stem are not stuck. If one or both of these components is corroded in place you might be looking at significantly more work to get the bike to fit you properly. Not a deal breaker but for sure will alert you to future headaches.
I hang out at a bike co-op, so I've done this a lot. I usually repack the bearings, even if they feel ok, because grease is cheap and you can (almost) never have to much grease. I also change the brake pads, as those are close to 30 years old and are hard as rocks. New cables and housing always, unless I'm feeling really cheap. If I do just lube the cables, I use molybdenum powder in the form of Dri-Slide. I also remove the chain and and give it a thorough cleaning and lubing, although if it's a personal bike I wax it (1/2 hour in ~250F wax + Teflon).
Congratulation, you found a beautiful bike! And fixing an old bike can be a satisfying job. A colleague gave me the old trekking bike of her dead father as a gift. I decided to fix it and turn it into a randonneur with a drop bar. I often ran into a dead end, and have to change components, but in the end I get a beautiful bike and learned a lot about bicycles, for example that there are different types of front derailleurs (mtb/trekking vs. road). 😉😂
I had a similar find about 10 years ago. Replaced a cable, tires, tubes, brake pads, and cleaned/lubed the remaining cables and chain. Bottom bracket had a little play, but making sure it was torqued down helped. Then a few weeks later the play was back, and a grinding sound. Had to swap out the parts for new ones, and my free bike was now about 150$ in parts. I still consider it a great find. I saved so much on fuel, lost some weight, and started a new hobby because of it.
This was a really fun feature! It's great to see you diagnose the problems and go about solving them. I just wish there was more wrong with the bike. You should absolutely do more of these videos!!
But as you said, Jon, this bike was in pretty good shape all things considered. How about taking a classic that's REAL rough and restoring that? Or even modernizing it a bit, say downtube shifters to STI levers or something. Loved the video BTW!
The Hypnotoad I’m in the process of this myself, picked up a Steve Bauer bike that was doomed for death, restored it last year but this year I’m planning on brifters, maybe dirt drop bars, little chunkier tires, more modern crankset. I went from 5 speed to 9 speed, 700c magic Aksium race wheels and couple other things. I’m excited to start. Feel free to subscribe to my channel, I’m going to start vlogging with that stuff:)
John's bike collection is so vast, he didnt even realise that this was actually his own bike that his wife/partner had removed from the loft to try and make a bit of extra space. ;)
have just ressurected my 1980s dawes super galaxy, the comfort riding it compared to my "thoroubreds" is just incredible, maybe its an age thing. thank you for all your videos, regards from dublin
I can't believe Jon didn't go into the bearings. I have reconditioned many old bikes, and the first thing I do is all the bearings. I got an old Trek for my wife at a thrift shop. I paid $5 for for it. When I got it home, I got into it, and was pleasantly surprised that it had been well taken care of. Always, always repack all the bearings.
It finally happened to me… Many years ago my dad found a pair of rollerblades in the nearby recycling area… and I always wished I would find something myself from there. Specifically a bicycle. I have genuinely DREAMED of it happening so many times, but all my bicycles have either been bought or gifted to me. A couple of hours ago I found a steel touring bicycle shaped exactly like this one… it says LONDONER and is a Dawes one. It’s so pretty and I love the breaks. The gear shifters are the same as the ones in this video… and I’m up for the challenge of renovating it the best I can. I have so far taken everything apart ready to be washed properly tomorrow… and I’m off to decathlon to find a new chain, some wheels and tubes for this Madame. I’m super happy, she was just left there ready to be trashed by the bin men… with a pannier rack and two bags. 💚
I cycled 3 miles and walked home to collect a FREE BIKE. I was so surprised when I came home with a 1985 Vitus 979 racer. The bike is perfect having been kept indoors (wheels were in the garden for some reason but were perfectly ok). It's a lovely anodised blue colour, has a 2kg frame & the styling of a Spitfire - what a freebie!
Throughout my working career people that I have worked with have asked how they could get a good bike to ride for a reasonable price. I would agree to help out and after finding a good deal at a garage sale or something like that. After new tires and tubes, maybe a new chain. Most of these bikes ended up hanging in a garage for years living their second life the same as their first life. As they say, "You can lead a horse to water".
I know this been iver a year of this video but now i´m curious. My father moved to Spain and left an Univega Sports touring in my grandma's house, I didn't know how rare the bike was until I saw this video and somebody riding one. Should I check the bike to see if is worth fix it or should I just leave it at the basement? Best regards from the Dominican Republic.
What a peach of a find - you're lucky to find a Reynolds 531ST sticker on it! I have a v small cycle business which is mainly concerned with fixing up this sort of bike, often in about this sort of condition, often quite a lot worse. There are some good tips there, but I don't think you went far enough! That bottom bracket is probably all dry and crusty - for reliability and in the interests of preserving the components, you'd be better off dismantling it, cleaning it and re-packing it with fresh grease. Same with the headset, which TBH in my exprience anyway, don't tend to suffer much from pitting, but more from the bearing races failing and falling apart. There ain't usually enough torque going through a headset to seriously damage the bearing surfaces if you think about it. With the wheels, you can't really tell what the bearings are like by spinning the wheel - at the edge of a wheel, you get too much mechanical advantage to feel anything. Much better to remove the wheel from the bike and spin the axle. I bet they're rough! Just like the BB - dismantle, clean and re-grease. You can also then satisfy yourself that there's no pitting or failed bearings. Also check spoke tension, by the sound of the spokes when you ping them if you don't have a spoke tension guage. Cables-wise, I think it's a false economy to keep the old ones or bother to lubricate them. They're so cheap and make such a difference - just replace them. Old cables stretch in use anyway (they don't just get longer over time, but become stretchy like elastic) so new ones will give a much more positive feel. Brake blocks and wheel rims: check both and note that on vintage rims without wear indicators, rim wear can be hard to detect. The brake blocks are probably hardened with age and for a few quid change them. Finally, treat the brake pivot bolts, chain and derailleurs to a bit of lubrication, even if you can't be bothered to clean them up. Send me your bike and I'll have it feeling like new again ;-) Cheers, Simon (of Kinglite Cycles)
Definitely repack the bearings: wheel, headset and bottom bracket and replace the ball bearings. On some older bikes the bottom bracket or headset bearings may be in a retainer ring; if the bearing races are worn and can't be adjusted to move freely without play, repacking with fresh, loose bearings will often restore perfect operation.
Haha - I didn't mean literally as stretchy as a piece of elastic, but stretchy rather than pre-stretched. This effect means that old cables don't enable you to apply brakes as hard or sharply as new ones because the harder you pull the lever, the more the cable stretches. If you think about the length of a rear brake cable - e.g aprox 1000 mm, and the amount of travel that the brake lever causes i.e. about 25 mm, you're not talking a huge amount in terms of percentage stretch before it makes a very noticable difference. This problem also affects indexed gear systems. Happy Cycling!
Unless you are superman, there's no way you are stretching any cable a significant amount relative to the magnitude of the working motion of the brake mechanism. There's no doubt that old cables can produce a spongy feeling, but it's almost certainly NOT because they are behaving like elastic bands. I think what actually happens with old cables is that they get less bendy, either through work hardening or corrosion. New cables definitely feel more supple. I think the spongy feeling you get from old cables is that they don't bend as nicely around the curves in their housing as they used to. It's a lot like if you routed your housing with a sharp kink. There'd be a noticeable delay in brakes engaging when you squeeze the levers and a noticeable delay disengaging when you release the levers.
Good call on all of the above, but I'd also do something about that rust. I got my old 531 stripped and powder coated for £110 locally, was in a terrible state and now looks ace.
My new father in law has a 1967 Schwinn Continental. This has nearly convinced me to give it a good look over next time I visit. I'd love to get it working again.
My suggestion is to just buy some new cables even if they look fine. It is worth £5 and you are almost certainly going to be replacing the old cable with something better.
@@M440iUK My vintage Raleigh Corsa racing bike (1984) has rubbish breaking even with new brake pads. It's just that these "road brake pads" that push against your rims are rubbish, especially when you're riding in the wet.
With Reynolds 531 tubing and a fairly decent groupset, this was easily a £100+ bike as it was received, IMO. Would have tried to have gone for amber wall tyres, to keep the retro looks.
Basically nailed it. Id check the seatpost and stem and make sure their not seized into the frame and fork. Also id replace all the cables. Housing. Brake pads, tires and bartape. I may also replace the rim strips. Id also scrub everything down and relube all the pivots of the mechs and rebuild the brakes. Honestly. That bike looks a bit to good to been free. Maybe it was an ebay bike?
Just got a miyata eighty se that’s been in storage for decades for only $80. Bike was inherited just wanted to get rid of it. It’s in amazing condition. Not Free, but feel very blessed to have it.
I have picked up many bikes off the side of the road over the years, including my main mountain bike which is a 1993 Specialized Rockhopper FS, I've also got lucky with parts from the side of the road including some campy hub, Mavic rim tubular wheels on an emmelle! I always give the bike a full strip down and rebuild, cleaning and regreasing everything, installing new brake and gear cables, usually new tyres, new brake pads, new grips / bar tape and new chain.
Great video. I just finished restoring and old Koga Miyata for commuting. Took off the dysfunctional front mech (who wants a triple crankset anyway) and converted it to 1x. I did, however, have to replace headset (cartridge) bearings. No easy job because the inside of the old bearings had become rusty and stuck to the fork. The outside was stuck in the frame. In the end I resorted to a screwdriver and a hammer for taking them out. I’m happy with the way it turned out. Had some good fun at low cost and I have a practical commuter bike now that can just get scratched or (god forbid) stolen. I’m happy to leave my Oltre xr2 in the garage when there’s a chance of that happening.
You forgot one very important check. Can you move the seat tube? If you can't, you will never me able to get the saddle at the right hight and the whole bike is useless to you.
I floated this idea due to the same situation I was suffering from and the mechanic at the shop was leery because the original aluminum + the seattube would prevent the new. smaller diameter seat post to be tightened properly. I would rather mechanically remove it as RJ bike guy showed with a reciprocating saw + rust remover spray + a air hammer.
Yepp. Back when I worked as a mechanic we had a customer build a full custom setup, basically Dura ace everything and every best component, but he failed to check the seat post. We soaked it for weeks, he has to invest in a new frame to say the least.
A few years ago, I got given a battered old Claud Butler mountain bike with alu frame and Rock Shox Metro fork - it had different sized wheels and needed lots of components replacing, but the frame and fork were sound, so it was worth putting some effort into. I had a blast rebuilding it and it's still going strong.
When I find a bike on the side of the road the first thing I check for is to make sure the owner is reasonably distracted and that I have a clean getaway path.
Jon spending so much on bikes that he cannot actually afford a decent pair of pants without any holes in them. This is what obsession looks like, folks!
I love this bike. I mean, what's not to like? Reynolds 531 tubing. Cantilever brakes. All cross bikes had these brakes a few years ago. It's well worth renovating.
This video makes me want to sort out my dads old raleigh europa. He gave it to me a year ago and after stripping the bike and loosing half the bearing out the bottom bracket its currently sat in the roof of my garage though i still plan to rebuild it
Secret Sam999 was originally team colours, dad did a cheap very poor respray on it so plan is to put it back to how it was in the shop and just enjoy riding it round cornwall though the leather break blocks are staying in the garage as i still have the scars caused by them 30mph into the hedges avoiding a busy road junction, no fun.
Jesus Christ, mate. I haven't seen anyone do the string ting for ages! That trick hack with the C spanner took me a long time to learn, and you're just giving it away on here. Madness. A truly unbelievable find of a bike too...
I got the exact schwinn i rode in high school and college for cheap. Still looking up videos for what i need to double check on it. Thanks so mucj for sharing.
I picked up a Bianchi Specialissima in a garage in South London off FreeCycle - it had been there twenty years. Unlike yours, it was a total mess: It was my Covid Lockdown Project. I stripped, rebuilt and polished : stem, headset and forks, wheel axles and bearings, bottom bracket, seat post, cranks (cottered!), brakes (Weinmanns), mechs, downtube shifters, pedals I stripped frame down to bare metal (Columbus tubing), prepped, primed and hit it with Bianchi Celeste (of course!) and four coats of lacquer. I replaced : ball bearings, wheel axles, tubes, tyres, saddle (2nd hand Brooks), bar tape (leather to match the Brooks), seat clamp, all cables, cable housings and ferrules. Wheels i just polished using the string and toothpaste method on the spokes and gentle wire wool on the rims. Yours looks like it took an hour, mine took me on and off three months but I wouldn't part with it for the world. I had a guy offer me £500 for it.
Very helpful! i am restoring a 1973 road bike i got for 50 $, i want to use it as my commute/going around the city /"leaving it locked for more than 5 minutes" bike this summer when i can't use my expensive road bike! It does need a lot of love , but i think working on a bike i so fun , also not trying to make it into a perfect , or very powerful bike , just a good alternative!
I did exactly same thing. Found a Peugeot record du monde super competition racing bike by a lamp post in Amsterdam with a take me for free card. I restomodded it to perfect weekend ride.
Restoring old classic bikes. What a great way to help the environment! Got a used Raleigh bike from ebay. Good shape and rideable but would need some cosmetic work.
My mate was close to chucking out a mid 80's Olmo complete with Columbus tubing, Camp record chainset, Cinelli bars, the works. £400 later and with much elbow grease it has been reprayed, new decals, forks rechromed it is an absolute gem and I have to say the sun tour superbe rear derailleur is easily a match for the Campagnolo super record equivalent. It is a bit of a dark art finding and restoring old bikes but I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in finding themselves a quality bike for fraction of the cost for similar quality brand new. I found wheels at cycle jumble for £10 that have been over the Col de Galibier, Telegraph, Ventoux, Tourmalet, and Iseran.
Found a folding bike in a bush a couple of weeks ago that looks like it had been there for at least a few months. Stripped it down to components and gave all the rusty bits a nice bath in citric acid and coated them in hammerite. Replaced some parts, and got me quite a nice cheap bike 👍
Excellent checking, maybe I would also like to check seat post, axles and will dismantle completely to overhaul.. Thumbs up. Thank you for your expert advise. And I love this channel
Already I have a city-bike I picked up on the trash. It was just lef there. It as that classic look of an 'unisex' 70's-80's frame. But it's old owner got it absolutely unattended, so it's an utterly mess right now. I'll try to do my best to rescue it from the critical state in which it is now, and see if I can give it a second life. It would be amazing.
Chain, teeth, cables, bearings, fork and stem, wheels, seat tube and pedals that are probably stuck inside, and the frame itself. There's too much to inspect. I'm almost sure I'd end up dumping everything but the frame in the trash if I find one. The ones that are taken care of go for a few thousand pounds more than what I can afford. I'd advise against getting any second hand bike unless you're a mechanic or want to learn how to assemble and service a bike, but not ruin your carbon baby, a retro bike that was probably on its way to smelting will do just fine.
It's got indexed gears and the style of sticker on the frame indicates less than 30 years old, many of the parts seem fine. If you're handy with a spanner, and indeed own many spanners, you could fix it up for buttons. Time, that's the main investment.
What absolute nonsense. I can't even be bothered going point by point on what you've just gotten wrong, because all of it is wrong. It'd take too long.
I've serviced a lot of corroded bike found in the trash and I use some of them. The bike in the video is in top condition, i barely see any scratch on it (hard to believe it was actually dumped on the street). It's worth to inspect and I would expect very few problems with seized components.
I work at a charity that rebuilds bikes for the working poor. I had a running commentary on how lucky you were with that bike. Great find, great video!
Watching this video GCN & Jon made reminded me of the bicycle I've heard my dad tell others he used to have: a "Benotto" bicycle with "Campagnolo" components and "Nissin" (I hope I spelled that correctly) tyres. I wish I could find it so that I could buy it back from whoever owns it (or at-least, find one similar (if-not the same) as the one he used to have) and restore it and give it [back] to him. [as a surprise.] Watching this video gave me hope [and/or knowledge] as to what to do (and how to do) to restore the bicycle. Thanks Jon & GCN :-)
Two weeks ago I picked up a trek (my size) on the side of the road for free. After replacing the chain and tuning it up, I am back to one of my all time favorite pastimes. It feels so good to be riding a bike again.
I recently got a Btwin bike for free. It was discarded in a garage and completely unloved. It needed a good service and new tyres and a lot of cleaning. But in mint condition in terms of usability!
I still ride an American made Huffy Scout 10 SPD mountain bike that I bought in 1990. It has had an overhaul once, new cables and adjustments, straightened rim, new tires and tubes, new seat but still rides well. Built to last.
Thank you for the video...recycle is a good thing :) I have found great bikes on the curb in WI and restored and rode them and then sold them...from Miyatas to Raleighs to Treks...its great fun to restore them... the challenge and the excitement to maiden ride them afterwards :)
Clean, clean, clean. I always clean the everything thoroughly after disassembly then start the restoration process even if the bike appears to be in good repair.
I very recently (only a couple of weeks ago) found an absolute bargain for a road bike. Not free but really incredibly good price. Bike is one of the Giant TCR Advanced T-mobile team bikes. This video has been really helpful. I had figured because of how cheap it was, it would have a lot of problems but actually there is very little that needs sorting. Frame is in excellent condition. Chain is rusty but I can either attempt to clean or it’s easy to replace. And otherwise it was just new brake pads and new inner tubes. I even checked to make sure it was genuine and not a stolen bike. Everything came back clear so I managed to get myself a beauty of a road bike. I had been wanting a road bike and had been saving up. The saving on the bike means I can put the money towards other things.
I'm currently doing a very light refresh on a 2000 Specialized 415 Fatboy that my son pulled out of a dumpster on the campus of Bryant University in the state of Rhode Island about 15 years ago. It has been taking up space in my basement ever since. As far as I can tell, someone mal-adjusted the "dia-compe" hombre U style brakes and did not know how to make them work, so they just pitched the entire bike into a dumpster.. I'm putting a new single speed free wheel and a new chain, adjusted the brakes and gyro, cleaned it up that's it. Good to go!
Found a 1987 Trek 520 at a dumpster with race numbers still on it a year ago. Got some new tubes, tires, bar tape, greased the bottom bracket. My first Road bike :) I've since put 500 miles on it.
Was driving through the neighborhood a month or so ago when I ran across a Rossin SLX with Ultegra. Such a beatuiful bike! I was about to stuff it in the car when I decided against it. Too many bike projects already waiting on me in the basement. Plus, it was probably a 61-63cm. But man I'm kinda regretting not grabbing it. Oh well, I'm sure someone else is appreciating this treasure of a find!
It happened to me about 10 years ago. A basic Hi Ten steel MTB, lady frame, 3x7 speed. Perfect condition, I only inflate the wheels. I used it in the Boom Festival 2016.
My bike was bolted to some railings at the bottom of my apartment. The people who lived there previously moved and I walked past it every day for 3 years and it never moved. Some people before me tried to steal it for scrap metal and sadly bent the rims beyond repair. After 4 years of sitting and never moving I finally got it for free and replaced the rims. To this day it’s still as straight as a dye!
I'll always take a free or even a $5 bike if it has even one part I can use, such as a seat or brake levers. There is always some value to every bike I pick up. I own 9 complete bikes at present, however only 6 are in rideable condition. I haven't counted my parts bikes lately......... Thanks for making this video. It's nice to see others are enthusiastic about fixing up old classics.
The majority of my bicycles growing up and grown up weren't free, but pretty darn cheap. A $5 Schwinn Stingray when I was eight. A Concorde with Dura-Ace for $200 when I was 22. Plus a few others that aren't memorable brands. I have an old Norco touring bike kitted up a lot like this one I got for $50 15 years ago. Clean and tune it once a year, and it doesn't wear out.
I got a raleigh bike from late 70s/early 80's and it was like it had never been ridden. I watched the guy carry it out and toss it in its side on the curb and went to get it right away, it's been a pretty good bike
What would you check on a bike you found? Let us know below. 👇
GCN Tech I’ll check first if the bike was stolen.
I'd check if the alloy seatpost or stem are stuck in the frame. Sometimes that can be an absolute pain. It would suck to get through fixing the whole bike and then find out you can't get the seat and handlebar position in the optimal position for yourself.
I'd also check the rims and see if they're steel. Haven't ridden steel rims for quite a while. Just can't do it honestly.
If it's a bike I'm personally fixing it for myself all the consumables get replaced, bar tape, all cables and housing, all bearings, brake pads, and probably tires.
I also clean and polish the bike frame.
If it was locked ...
I would add, replace the rim strips. Just like the tyres, the old rubber strips disintegrate. If they are not already broke, a new tube and tyre under riding pressure may just put them over he edge. Thats 32 or more potential puncture points. Not fun out on the road.
Usually, I just check if I have room in my house for another bike
Hey! I found one! I was walking down the street and I saw a pristine Cervelo S5 leaning up against a fence, obviously just discarded. The first step in restoring it was to cut off the U-lock the previous owner had put around it that was tangled up with the fence. There was a cable through the wheels, to. I came back with my cordless angle grinder and got them off pretty quickly. I didn't want to disturb anyone, so I waited until a truck had parked in front of the bike to help screen the noise. The tires were still full of air. I rode it home! Thanks GCN! This video made me realize how important it is to keep my eyes open for those 'hidden gems'. They're out there!
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😆🤣😎
😮
The guy àcross the road put a OCR 1 giant out for council collection last week. I grabbed it and moved to my driveway. No rust except a dusting on the chain. Front tubeless tyres is leaking air. It will do as a spare bike.
😂😂😂
This was the best maintained “free bike” in the history of the bicycle. Nobody is ever that lucky.
Once on the free section of craigslist I got a hardtail giant rincon that only needed air in the tires. Too small for me tho so I gave it away. Just gotta be on the lookout.
I've been this lucky many times with free and cheap bikes.
it is my experience that friends who don't ride bikes are happy to call you when they want to find a good home for a bike which they happen upon for any of a number of reasons.
Every bike is free if you own bolt cutters.
I found a late "90s Kona road bike with 9 spd Ultegra like that once. I replaced the cables, tires and bar tape and then flushed the shifters (which had seized) with silicone lube and had it up and running in no time.
Hey Jon, Are you sure it wasn't your wife that was trying to get rid of an old bike from your own attic?
Maybe....
@Jon-Cannings's-comment "Maybe....":
It better not have been. I would be *pissed off* if that ever happened.
Plus: a woman [and/or a wife/girlfriend] getting rid of a bicycle is like us the guy getting rid of one of their Gucci, Fendi, Dolce-Gabbana, Cartier, Carolina-Herrera, [and/]or Versace[,] purses. In her ("her" as-in "the woman's") own words: "NOT *GONNA* HAPPEN!!!!".
Would be a cause for divorce 😂
You may be on to something there... women rarely bother to value mens toys. If not his wife, then some other chap is coming home from a business trip to reel at his wife's craven behavior smashing future dreams and small pleasures - like celebrating spring.
😂😂😂
So this should be called, "Hey look it's an old bike that's perfectly fine."
Sure
I wish they would take this concept and do a competition like their cheap ebay bikes awhile back. Everyone finds a bike out of the trash or thrifting or ebay, they show what each one needs to get working, show how they can be fixed cost effectively, do whatever challenges, and best bike per pound gets the win.
So top gear on bicycles
@@lincolnlu9869 that's what GCN has been since forever
a la top gear!
that sounds awesome. i also thought it would be cool if they like a biker build off have 2 or 3 builders build their own custom bike
scrapyard wars but for bikes would be wonderful tbh
Cup and cone bearings are great! Service them regularly and they will last forever. If I intended to ride the bike, I would disassemble, clean, grease, and adjust all bearings - BB, hubs, headset, and pedals. Clean and lube the pivots in the brakes and derailleur. Also, changing the brake and derailleur cables to new stainless steel ones will make everything smoother.
No, no they are not. Cups get damaged after time; adjusting for right torque (friction/play tradeoff) is PITA.
noname here My "daily driver" is a 1979 Raleigh Super Course. Very similar to the bike in this video. It has cup and cone bearings in the headset and bottom bracket. I've replaced the bearings and keep on top of cleaning and repacking with fresh grease. Bike still going strong after almost 40 years.
Biff is correct. Bikes that have been sitting for years need cleaning and fresh grease.
Definitely remove all old grease and replace it with new. If you are of a certain age, you will remember how to do this! There is a certain satisfaction in setting up cup and cone bearings so they run sweet an smooth.
I would also strip, clean everything, repack with grease and replace cables. A bit of time and energy will make a bike a 50 year bike with ease.
This is pretty much what happened to me, there was spring cleaning here where i'm at and this older guy was getting rid of his entire collection, I was 15 at the time and had little money so I would go around this time of year and see if there were bikes being left out. This older man had a old spray painted frame he was giving away, along with a groupset in a box that I didn't know about at the time. So I picked it up and did my research. Turns out it was a '81 SR gran course and the groupset he gave me in the box was an old shimano 600 arabesque groupset. Put the bike together, and freshened it up with some new pads, chain and a good cleaning and painted it. For me being that young it feels good to find a rescue bike and give it life. I'm 27 years old now and I still have the bike. Good memories.
This is what I love about GCN is you never look down at older bikes and bikes riders are so proud of, and you personally inspire them... In other words, you are not modern, hi-tech snobs (even though your dam good at it), Ha ha ha haha. You guys have real golden hearts, keep up your wonderful work.
Next video should be "GCN presenters go cyclotouring on old bikes"
I've been wanting to see this for a long time now.
Definitely
Yeah! across Europe on this thing and back again
Been waiting for these guys to do L'Eroica for a while.
I'd like to see some Top Gear style challenges on used bikes!
I've just bought a new road bike and was about to give away my old Marin single speed, but I decided to check out renovation videos first and I'm glad I did. I couldn't stand the thought of someone having the same reaction as you to seeing my bike being given away for free. She's my bike and I love her.
Always check if the seat post and stem are not stuck. If one or both of these components is corroded in place you might be looking at significantly more work to get the bike to fit you properly. Not a deal breaker but for sure will alert you to future headaches.
I hang out at a bike co-op, so I've done this a lot. I usually repack the bearings, even if they feel ok, because grease is cheap and you can (almost) never have to much grease. I also change the brake pads, as those are close to 30 years old and are hard as rocks. New cables and housing always, unless I'm feeling really cheap. If I do just lube the cables, I use molybdenum powder in the form of Dri-Slide. I also remove the chain and and give it a thorough cleaning and lubing, although if it's a personal bike I wax it (1/2 hour in ~250F wax + Teflon).
Congratulation, you found a beautiful bike!
And fixing an old bike can be a satisfying job. A colleague gave me the old trekking bike of her dead father as a gift. I decided to fix it and turn it into a randonneur with a drop bar. I often ran into a dead end, and have to change components, but in the end I get a beautiful bike and learned a lot about bicycles, for example that there are different types of front derailleurs (mtb/trekking vs. road). 😉😂
I had a similar find about 10 years ago. Replaced a cable, tires, tubes, brake pads, and cleaned/lubed the remaining cables and chain. Bottom bracket had a little play, but making sure it was torqued down helped. Then a few weeks later the play was back, and a grinding sound. Had to swap out the parts for new ones, and my free bike was now about 150$ in parts. I still consider it a great find. I saved so much on fuel, lost some weight, and started a new hobby because of it.
This was a really fun feature! It's great to see you diagnose the problems and go about solving them. I just wish there was more wrong with the bike. You should absolutely do more of these videos!!
But as you said, Jon, this bike was in pretty good shape all things considered. How about taking a classic that's REAL rough and restoring that? Or even modernizing it a bit, say downtube shifters to STI levers or something. Loved the video BTW!
The Hypnotoad I’m in the process of this myself, picked up a Steve Bauer bike that was doomed for death, restored it last year but this year I’m planning on brifters, maybe dirt drop bars, little chunkier tires, more modern crankset. I went from 5 speed to 9 speed, 700c magic Aksium race wheels and couple other things. I’m excited to start. Feel free to subscribe to my channel, I’m going to start vlogging with that stuff:)
Keep the downtube shifters!!! They’re easier to maintain and repair yourself I found
This is a good meme, you’re doing all that. I got give a vintage bike, pumped the tires up and then just set out on the road with it lol
John's bike collection is so vast, he didnt even realise that this was actually his own bike that his wife/partner had removed from the loft to try and make a bit of extra space. ;)
I thought it looked familiar
Always remember, the number of bikes you're allowed to have is x-1, with x being the number your wife throws them ALL out ;)
have just ressurected my 1980s dawes super galaxy, the comfort riding it compared to my "thoroubreds" is just incredible, maybe its an age thing. thank you for all your videos, regards from dublin
First HD footage of a Suntour Accushift system functioning correctly.
Published just as I'm finishing my 1981 Trek overhaul. New paint job, wheels, and drivetrain have it running like a dream.
I can't believe Jon didn't go into the bearings. I have reconditioned many old bikes, and the first thing I do is all the bearings. I got an old Trek for my wife at a thrift shop. I paid $5 for for it. When I got it home, I got into it, and was pleasantly surprised that it had been well taken care of. Always, always repack all the bearings.
I did it also, replacing to bearing BB.
It finally happened to me…
Many years ago my dad found a pair of rollerblades in the nearby recycling area… and I always wished I would find something myself from there. Specifically a bicycle. I have genuinely DREAMED of it happening so many times, but all my bicycles have either been bought or gifted to me.
A couple of hours ago I found a steel touring bicycle shaped exactly like this one… it says LONDONER and is a Dawes one. It’s so pretty and I love the breaks. The gear shifters are the same as the ones in this video… and I’m up for the challenge of renovating it the best I can.
I have so far taken everything apart ready to be washed properly tomorrow… and I’m off to decathlon to find a new chain, some wheels and tubes for this Madame.
I’m super happy, she was just left there ready to be trashed by the bin men… with a pannier rack and two bags.
💚
I’m currently building a single speed from an old road bike so this was perfect timing!!!
Building a single speed bike from a steel racing bike is evel...preserve it and don't follow the hipster path!
i think it is olright, if the frame is nothing to special. got an ss build on a budget gitane frame aswell
I cycled 3 miles and walked home to collect a FREE BIKE. I was so surprised when I came home with a 1985 Vitus 979 racer. The bike is perfect having been kept indoors (wheels were in the garden for some reason but were perfectly ok). It's a lovely anodised blue colour, has a 2kg frame & the styling of a Spitfire - what a freebie!
Throughout my working career people that I have worked with have asked how they could get a good bike to ride for a reasonable price. I would agree to help out and after finding a good deal at a garage sale or something like that. After new tires and tubes, maybe a new chain. Most of these bikes ended up hanging in a garage for years living their second life the same as their first life. As they say, "You can lead a horse to water".
Good video ,I also will invest in set of new break pads the originals maybe dry up and check the freewheel or cluster
I know this been iver a year of this video but now
i´m curious. My father moved to Spain and left an Univega Sports touring in my grandma's house, I didn't know how rare the bike was until I saw this video and somebody riding one. Should I check the bike to see if is worth fix it or should I just leave it at the basement?
Best regards from the Dominican Republic.
What a peach of a find - you're lucky to find a Reynolds 531ST sticker on it!
I have a v small cycle business which is mainly concerned with fixing up this sort of bike, often in about this sort of condition, often quite a lot worse.
There are some good tips there, but I don't think you went far enough! That bottom bracket is probably all dry and crusty - for reliability and in the interests of preserving the components, you'd be better off dismantling it, cleaning it and re-packing it with fresh grease. Same with the headset, which TBH in my exprience anyway, don't tend to suffer much from pitting, but more from the bearing races failing and falling apart. There ain't usually enough torque going through a headset to seriously damage the bearing surfaces if you think about it.
With the wheels, you can't really tell what the bearings are like by spinning the wheel - at the edge of a wheel, you get too much mechanical advantage to feel anything. Much better to remove the wheel from the bike and spin the axle. I bet they're rough! Just like the BB - dismantle, clean and re-grease. You can also then satisfy yourself that there's no pitting or failed bearings. Also check spoke tension, by the sound of the spokes when you ping them if you don't have a spoke tension guage.
Cables-wise, I think it's a false economy to keep the old ones or bother to lubricate them. They're so cheap and make such a difference - just replace them. Old cables stretch in use anyway (they don't just get longer over time, but become stretchy like elastic) so new ones will give a much more positive feel.
Brake blocks and wheel rims: check both and note that on vintage rims without wear indicators, rim wear can be hard to detect. The brake blocks are probably hardened with age and for a few quid change them.
Finally, treat the brake pivot bolts, chain and derailleurs to a bit of lubrication, even if you can't be bothered to clean them up.
Send me your bike and I'll have it feeling like new again ;-)
Cheers,
Simon (of Kinglite Cycles)
Definitely repack the bearings: wheel, headset and bottom bracket and replace the ball bearings. On some older bikes the bottom bracket or headset bearings may be in a retainer ring; if the bearing races are worn and can't be adjusted to move freely without play, repacking with fresh, loose bearings will often restore perfect operation.
"Old cables... become stretchy like elastic"
No they don't, that is ridiculous. But the rest of your advice is just what I was thinking.
Haha - I didn't mean literally as stretchy as a piece of elastic, but stretchy rather than pre-stretched. This effect means that old cables don't enable you to apply brakes as hard or sharply as new ones because the harder you pull the lever, the more the cable stretches. If you think about the length of a rear brake cable - e.g aprox 1000 mm, and the amount of travel that the brake lever causes i.e. about 25 mm, you're not talking a huge amount in terms of percentage stretch before it makes a very noticable difference.
This problem also affects indexed gear systems.
Happy Cycling!
Unless you are superman, there's no way you are stretching any cable a significant amount relative to the magnitude of the working motion of the brake mechanism. There's no doubt that old cables can produce a spongy feeling, but it's almost certainly NOT because they are behaving like elastic bands.
I think what actually happens with old cables is that they get less bendy, either through work hardening or corrosion. New cables definitely feel more supple. I think the spongy feeling you get from old cables is that they don't bend as nicely around the curves in their housing as they used to. It's a lot like if you routed your housing with a sharp kink. There'd be a noticeable delay in brakes engaging when you squeeze the levers and a noticeable delay disengaging when you release the levers.
Good call on all of the above, but I'd also do something about that rust. I got my old 531 stripped and powder coated for £110 locally, was in a terrible state and now looks ace.
My new father in law has a 1967 Schwinn Continental. This has nearly convinced me to give it a good look over next time I visit. I'd love to get it working again.
My suggestion is to just buy some new cables even if they look fine. It is worth £5 and you are almost certainly going to be replacing the old cable with something better.
Brake pads as well, modern day pads have much better stopping and it's piece of mind.
Cables don't cost more than $1/metre.
Maybe for you!
@@M440iUK My vintage Raleigh Corsa racing bike (1984) has rubbish breaking even with new brake pads. It's just that these "road brake pads" that push against your rims are rubbish, especially when you're riding in the wet.
@@Oscar-if6lq do you have chrome steel rims?
Jon,,,,you hold this channel together,,,,,,,GCN is meat to be a bicycle information channel and you are doing an excellent job......
With Reynolds 531 tubing and a fairly decent groupset, this was easily a £100+ bike as it was received, IMO.
Would have tried to have gone for amber wall tyres, to keep the retro looks.
Found a Trek 970 for 25€ in front of my door. Triple butted chromoly, old Shimano xtr group,... As solid as it can get! Catch of the year!
Basically nailed it. Id check the seatpost and stem and make sure their not seized into the frame and fork. Also id replace all the cables. Housing. Brake pads, tires and bartape. I may also replace the rim strips. Id also scrub everything down and relube all the pivots of the mechs and rebuild the brakes.
Honestly. That bike looks a bit to good to been free. Maybe it was an ebay bike?
Decided to check the seat post on a dumpster bike, I just learned aluminum can grow fungi
Just got a miyata eighty se that’s been in storage for decades for only $80. Bike was inherited just wanted to get rid of it. It’s in amazing condition. Not Free, but feel very blessed to have it.
“How to fix free bike”
“Actually its all good.”
“How to fix free bike”
“Find one that doesn't need fixing"
I have picked up many bikes off the side of the road over the years, including my main mountain bike which is a 1993 Specialized Rockhopper FS, I've also got lucky with parts from the side of the road including some campy hub, Mavic rim tubular wheels on an emmelle! I always give the bike a full strip down and rebuild, cleaning and regreasing everything, installing new brake and gear cables, usually new tyres, new brake pads, new grips / bar tape and new chain.
Are there any update videos on this bike? I would love to see how it's getting on
Great video. I just finished restoring and old Koga Miyata for commuting. Took off the dysfunctional front mech (who wants a triple crankset anyway) and converted it to 1x. I did, however, have to replace headset (cartridge) bearings. No easy job because the inside of the old bearings had become rusty and stuck to the fork. The outside was stuck in the frame. In the end I resorted to a screwdriver and a hammer for taking them out. I’m happy with the way it turned out. Had some good fun at low cost and I have a practical commuter bike now that can just get scratched or (god forbid) stolen. I’m happy to leave my Oltre xr2 in the garage when there’s a chance of that happening.
You forgot one very important check. Can you move the seat tube? If you can't, you will never me able to get the saddle at the right hight and the whole bike is useless to you.
Or you saw off the old seat tube right over the frame and insert a new one of smaller diameter. Hey presto, problem solved
I floated this idea due to the same situation I was suffering from and the mechanic at the shop was leery because the original aluminum + the seattube would prevent the new. smaller diameter seat post to be tightened properly. I would rather mechanically remove it as RJ bike guy showed with a reciprocating saw + rust remover spray + a air hammer.
@@joonkeum9457 yeah that would be the proper way if you have equipment, strength and/or money for doing it at the bike shop.
Good point, also worth checking stem isn't seized either.
Yepp. Back when I worked as a mechanic we had a customer build a full custom setup, basically Dura ace everything and every best component, but he failed to check the seat post. We soaked it for weeks, he has to invest in a new frame to say the least.
I'd love to see more of these bike restoration videos, or fixing up used bikes
Okay that was my bike... give it back. I was only joking with that sign....
A few years ago, I got given a battered old Claud Butler mountain bike with alu frame and Rock Shox Metro fork - it had different sized wheels and needed lots of components replacing, but the frame and fork were sound, so it was worth putting some effort into. I had a blast rebuilding it and it's still going strong.
When I find a bike on the side of the road the first thing I check for is to make sure the owner is reasonably distracted and that I have a clean getaway path.
Same here. I also check if it is locked or "free"
Not funny
If I found a bike as beautiful as this for free, I'd cry. I'm not even kidding, I'd get on my knees and weep.
Jon spending so much on bikes that he cannot actually afford a decent pair of pants without any holes in them. This is what obsession looks like, folks!
Yep...
Same thing! I thought he must have picked those jeans off the sidewalk on his way to the bike!
@@edmarkey4057 send me some money via PayPal for new ones 😉
He only puts those jeans on when he's filming youtube stuff. Wardrobe tells him what to wear.
Do your friends at Wiggle sell jeans?
I love this bike. I mean, what's not to like? Reynolds 531 tubing. Cantilever brakes. All cross bikes had these brakes a few years ago. It's well worth renovating.
This video makes me want to sort out my dads old raleigh europa. He gave it to me a year ago and after stripping the bike and loosing half the bearing out the bottom bracket its currently sat in the roof of my garage though i still plan to rebuild it
Raleigh '80s team colours? Pretty, but not worth much, plain steel frame so pretty boggo. But if it works, ride it!
Secret Sam999 was originally team colours, dad did a cheap very poor respray on it so plan is to put it back to how it was in the shop and just enjoy riding it round cornwall though the leather break blocks are staying in the garage as i still have the scars caused by them 30mph into the hedges avoiding a busy road junction, no fun.
Jesus Christ, mate. I haven't seen anyone do the string ting for ages! That trick hack with the C spanner took me a long time to learn, and you're just giving it away on here. Madness. A truly unbelievable find of a bike too...
Jon does RJ The Bike Guy :.)
I got the exact schwinn i rode in high school and college for cheap. Still looking up videos for what i need to double check on it. Thanks so mucj for sharing.
I also got a 1984 Schwinn Mountain Bike Hybrid Technium with a stiff fork for free on a wealthier street.
In America people throw out bikes.
Good man and stupid people.
I picked up a Bianchi Specialissima in a garage in South London off FreeCycle - it had been there twenty years. Unlike yours, it was a total mess: It was my Covid Lockdown Project.
I stripped, rebuilt and polished : stem, headset and forks, wheel axles and bearings, bottom bracket, seat post, cranks (cottered!), brakes (Weinmanns), mechs, downtube shifters, pedals
I stripped frame down to bare metal (Columbus tubing), prepped, primed and hit it with Bianchi Celeste (of course!) and four coats of lacquer.
I replaced : ball bearings, wheel axles, tubes, tyres, saddle (2nd hand Brooks), bar tape (leather to match the Brooks), seat clamp, all cables, cable housings and ferrules.
Wheels i just polished using the string and toothpaste method on the spokes and gentle wire wool on the rims.
Yours looks like it took an hour, mine took me on and off three months but I wouldn't part with it for the world. I had a guy offer me £500 for it.
Jon make his grubby little hand dirty 👍
Very helpful! i am restoring a 1973 road bike i got for 50 $, i want to use it as my commute/going around the city /"leaving it locked for more than 5 minutes" bike this summer when i can't use my expensive road bike! It does need a lot of love , but i think working on a bike i so fun , also not trying to make it into a perfect , or very powerful bike , just a good alternative!
"I can't believe how lucky I've been" Lol No one does mate:P
Great video though!
I did exactly same thing. Found a Peugeot record du monde super competition racing bike by a lamp post in Amsterdam with a take me for free card. I restomodded it to perfect weekend ride.
A cable lock is NOT a take me for free card!
I’m ashamed to admit how much I have overspent in restoring two vintage bikes.
That just sounds like money well spent.
Restoring old classic bikes. What a great way to help the environment! Got a used Raleigh bike from ebay. Good shape and rideable but would need some cosmetic work.
The bike look too good. It might be a cursed! 😬
Just received a vintage trek 530!! Not in bad shape. Eager to bring her back to life!! Wish me luck.
Pretty sure that's the bike that was used to take Si's KOM 😏..... I jest 😉😅
lovely bike, I love the Touring look and price is hard to beat!
If I found a nice frame I'd just strip old components from it and install modern groupset and wheels, maybe used ones
Great video, my bike is an older one so really enjoyed seeing GCN giving some classic/vintage rides the spotlight in a vid.
My mate was close to chucking out a mid 80's Olmo complete with Columbus tubing, Camp record chainset, Cinelli bars, the works. £400 later and with much elbow grease it has been reprayed, new decals, forks rechromed it is an absolute gem and I have to say the sun tour superbe rear derailleur is easily a match for the Campagnolo super record equivalent. It is a bit of a dark art finding and restoring old bikes but I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in finding themselves a quality bike for fraction of the cost for similar quality brand new. I found wheels at cycle jumble for £10 that have been over the Col de Galibier, Telegraph, Ventoux, Tourmalet, and Iseran.
Found a folding bike in a bush a couple of weeks ago that looks like it had been there for at least a few months. Stripped it down to components and gave all the rusty bits a nice bath in citric acid and coated them in hammerite. Replaced some parts, and got me quite a nice cheap bike 👍
Inch and a half?
We went metric January 1971
1965
My apologies decimal 71 metric 65.
theyre trying to get in on that American action. Really, not surprising since it's easy and extremely profitable if successful.
Hey, it was a vintage tape measure, for a vintage bike. The jeans were faux, however.
Suntour 1980s 6 or 7-speed drivetrains. Now you’ve got to do a special on that. They were surprisingly good for their time.
Nice vide, Jon! However this niche is already taken by RJ The Bike Guy
Check out Andy @ Bikeit uk. Absolute vintage bike guru!
Yep, seen his videos. These are nice. However I like more "in depth / howto" style of RJ.
Team RJ, assemble! That man is pure gold when it comes to vintage. Also, he answers questions PRONTO, even on ancient old videos
Yep, RJ gets my vote.
Excellent checking, maybe I would also like to check seat post, axles and will dismantle completely to overhaul.. Thumbs up. Thank you for your expert advise. And I love this channel
Already I have a city-bike I picked up on the trash. It was just lef there. It as that classic look of an 'unisex' 70's-80's frame. But it's old owner got it absolutely unattended, so it's an utterly mess right now. I'll try to do my best to rescue it from the critical state in which it is now, and see if I can give it a second life. It would be amazing.
Chain, teeth, cables, bearings, fork and stem, wheels, seat tube and pedals that are probably stuck inside, and the frame itself. There's too much to inspect. I'm almost sure I'd end up dumping everything but the frame in the trash if I find one. The ones that are taken care of go for a few thousand pounds more than what I can afford. I'd advise against getting any second hand bike unless you're a mechanic or want to learn how to assemble and service a bike, but not ruin your carbon baby, a retro bike that was probably on its way to smelting will do just fine.
It's got indexed gears and the style of sticker on the frame indicates less than 30 years old, many of the parts seem fine. If you're handy with a spanner, and indeed own many spanners, you could fix it up for buttons. Time, that's the main investment.
What absolute nonsense. I can't even be bothered going point by point on what you've just gotten wrong, because all of it is wrong. It'd take too long.
I've serviced a lot of corroded bike found in the trash and I use some of them. The bike in the video is in top condition, i barely see any scratch on it (hard to believe it was actually dumped on the street). It's worth to inspect and I would expect very few problems with seized components.
I work at a charity that rebuilds bikes for the working poor. I had a running commentary on how lucky you were with that bike. Great find, great video!
Well done Jon bringing a bike back from the dead is always worth while
Watching this video GCN & Jon made reminded me of the bicycle I've heard my dad tell others he used to have: a "Benotto" bicycle with "Campagnolo" components and "Nissin" (I hope I spelled that correctly) tyres. I wish I could find it so that I could buy it back from whoever owns it (or at-least, find one similar (if-not the same) as the one he used to have) and restore it and give it [back] to him. [as a surprise.]
Watching this video gave me hope [and/or knowledge] as to what to do (and how to do) to restore the bicycle. Thanks Jon & GCN :-)
Two weeks ago I picked up a trek (my size) on the side of the road for free. After replacing the chain and tuning it up, I am back to one of my all time favorite pastimes. It feels so good to be riding a bike again.
I recently got a Btwin bike for free. It was discarded in a garage and completely unloved. It needed a good service and new tyres and a lot of cleaning. But in mint condition in terms of usability!
That is a lovely frame. Good find 👍
I still ride an American made Huffy Scout 10 SPD mountain bike that I bought in 1990. It has had an overhaul once, new cables and adjustments, straightened rim, new tires and tubes, new seat but still rides well. Built to last.
Thank you for the video...recycle is a good thing :) I have found great bikes on the curb in WI and restored and rode them and then sold them...from Miyatas to Raleighs to Treks...its great fun to restore them... the challenge and the excitement to maiden ride them afterwards :)
Clean, clean, clean. I always clean the everything thoroughly after disassembly then start the restoration process even if the bike appears to be in good repair.
Hey gcn tech I recently acquired a fully functional 1960 Columbia playbike 88. It only needed a back tire, brakes, new seat , and hand grips
I very recently (only a couple of weeks ago) found an absolute bargain for a road bike. Not free but really incredibly good price. Bike is one of the Giant TCR Advanced T-mobile team bikes. This video has been really helpful. I had figured because of how cheap it was, it would have a lot of problems but actually there is very little that needs sorting. Frame is in excellent condition. Chain is rusty but I can either attempt to clean or it’s easy to replace. And otherwise it was just new brake pads and new inner tubes.
I even checked to make sure it was genuine and not a stolen bike. Everything came back clear so I managed to get myself a beauty of a road bike. I had been wanting a road bike and had been saving up. The saving on the bike means I can put the money towards other things.
I'm currently doing a very light refresh on a 2000 Specialized 415 Fatboy that my son pulled out of a dumpster on the campus of Bryant University in the state of Rhode Island about 15 years ago. It has been taking up space in my basement ever since. As far as I can tell, someone mal-adjusted the "dia-compe" hombre U style brakes and did not know how to make them work, so they just pitched the entire bike into a dumpster.. I'm putting a new single speed free wheel and a new chain, adjusted the brakes and gyro, cleaned it up that's it. Good to go!
Found a 1987 Trek 520 at a dumpster with race numbers still on it a year ago. Got some new tubes, tires, bar tape, greased the bottom bracket. My first Road bike :) I've since put 500 miles on it.
9:59 - Biggest expenditure - the rare obsolete special tools needed to replace the BB!
Thanks, Jon. Would've loved to see the bike in a finished state and you out riding it.
Was driving through the neighborhood a month or so ago when I ran across a Rossin SLX with Ultegra. Such a beatuiful bike! I was about to stuff it in the car when I decided against it. Too many bike projects already waiting on me in the basement. Plus, it was probably a 61-63cm. But man I'm kinda regretting not grabbing it. Oh well, I'm sure someone else is appreciating this treasure of a find!
It happened to me about 10 years ago. A basic Hi Ten steel MTB, lady frame, 3x7 speed. Perfect condition, I only inflate the wheels. I used it in the Boom Festival 2016.
That bike is worth restoring. I've never seen a free bike anywhere near as nice as that! It even has good components.
My bike was bolted to some railings at the bottom of my apartment. The people who lived there previously moved and I walked past it every day for 3 years and it never moved. Some people before me tried to steal it for scrap metal and sadly bent the rims beyond repair. After 4 years of sitting and never moving I finally got it for free and replaced the rims. To this day it’s still as straight as a dye!
Watching this makes me miss my old Schwinn Le Tour. A beast of a bike, but it had character.
I'll always take a free or even a $5 bike if it has even one part I can use, such as a seat or brake levers.
There is always some value to every bike I pick up. I own 9 complete bikes at present, however only 6 are in rideable condition. I haven't counted my parts bikes lately.........
Thanks for making this video. It's nice to see others are enthusiastic about fixing up old classics.
You guys should do a vid on completely refurbishing/refinishing a bike like this one or modernizing a vintage road frame.
The majority of my bicycles growing up and grown up weren't free, but pretty darn cheap. A $5 Schwinn Stingray when I was eight. A Concorde with Dura-Ace for $200 when I was 22. Plus a few others that aren't memorable brands. I have an old Norco touring bike kitted up a lot like this one I got for $50 15 years ago. Clean and tune it once a year, and it doesn't wear out.
I got a raleigh bike from late 70s/early 80's and it was like it had never been ridden. I watched the guy carry it out and toss it in its side on the curb and went to get it right away, it's been a pretty good bike
Very similar style to my vintage Schwinn touring road bike! These old frames are indestructible if well maintained.