I thought my freewheel might be toasted due to me soaking it in degreaser. This disolved all the grease inside the freewheel mechanism. I've been trying to keep this bike as thrifty as possible so I aimed to regrease the freewheel, but the damn thing just won't come apart. With some patience I was able to work a lot of triflow lube and eventually some Phil Wood grease in the small gap between the retaining ring and the cogs. Running a lot better now, but not perfect, which is ironic seeing as how it is a "Suntour Perfect" freewheel. Can always replace down the road if need be.
Velo-Orange came back with a shipping quote of $27! I told them to cancel the order, way too much. Fenders are expensive to ship due to their size, I was just hoping for a lucky deal. Luckily I found out that the Halifax Cycle Gallery is a VO dealer! So I went and talked to Roger and it looks like he can order them in for me for under $35, I just hope they fit on Coco.
After work today I decided to throw on the front wheel, try out my recovering freewheel, and take her for a shakedown ride.
Just went once or twice around the block, but it feels like it's going to be a nice ride! I still have to repack the front wheel as it is not feeling overly great (but not awful), and get the wheels trued, they are pretty out from what I can tell.
I've trimmed the budget more by opting to keep the original seatpost and saddle for now.
Another price saving measure is to keep the stock tires. The side walls are pretty dried out, but I'll replace them if they blow. I've also just used a regular short nut and bolt for the seatpost. I was able to save the cable housing as well as the break cables. I gave them a good rub with steel wool and greased them before putting them back through the housing, but they were in good shape! Near new from what I could tell. The brakes also cleaned up pretty nice. I roughed up the pads a bit, but I think they may need replacing as they felt a little dried out. We'll see how I feel about them after a few rides.
So.
-Bike: $40
-Derailleur cables: $6
-BB: $17
-Fenders: $35
Total: $98
Not too shabby at all!
Still waiting on my shifters for Ernie the Colnago Sport... Canadapost/USPS fail. That bike is ready to go except for these shifters!!!
EDIT: Also go check out Bikeforums.net. When it comes to these two '80s bikes the guys in the Classic and Vintage forum have been a great help. Lots of pretty pictures of old steel road bikes too. It's getting added to my links.
Great tradition....naming our bikes. I always give my bikes a name.
ReplyDelete-Trevor
years ago there used to be a tool called a freewheel buddy; it screwed into the threads of the freewheel and had a port to inject grease into it. easy to muck it up if you put in too thick of a grease, but worked well w/ phils.
ReplyDeletedon't know if you can find one anymore, maybe ask around at some older shops.