Search the Community

So I have been off the bike for a long time due to travel and illness. My trusty stead has been sitting in the bike/laundry room gathering dust up until recently when I decided start riding again. I went out into the rain (It never really stops here) and so mucked up the bike right and proper. When I wash the bike, on close inspection I had notices spots of rust on the chain and cassette. Both are still in good nick, rust aside. Should I just replace both chain and cassette?

Hey guys, I was visiting my grandparents over the weekend and after chatting to my gran about my Mongoose MTB I was building, she decided it's time to hand her childhood bicycle down to me to give some much needed love to. It's a Raleigh bomber (not sure what year model it is yet), mostly surface rust and alot of dirt but the bike is solid! Back then there were no "Girl bikes" and my gran is a short lady, they decided to manually convert the bike to a ladies bike by cutting, inverting and re-welding the top tube back on. The original mount is still there with the marks the grinder left and the bar has it's (now upside down) "bomber" logo on it. The welds were left untreated and has some significant surface rust. Bike is mostly chrome, I suspect the handle bars aren't original as the interweb pics don't show a center stiffening bar like the bmx's have and mine does have. So I've opened up the crank, the front and rear hub, scrubber the bearings, re-greased and refitted the lot, she actually freewheels now and rides quite nice. So I'm wondering, full restore (including fitting the top tube back to it's original position) or partial restore which entails a wire brush, rust killer and maybe a clear coat to keep that patina old school look, this way the bike keeps it's story. The components I will strip down, refinish and replace where necessary but I'll keep the old look? So I need help (as usual): 1. Where do I get old school parts (brakes, handle bar, seats, rims, hubs etc) 2. What clear-coat can I get (rather cheaply) that will stick to the metal as is? 3. Where can I find old school (preferably slick white-walled tyres)? 4. Where can I get new (but old looking) decals? I'll pop some pics up for you guys.

Hi there guys and Gals, My neighbour (elderly Lady) has seen me fiddling with my bikes, and has asked me to find her an old broken bike, with or without wheels (preferably with) She wants to do some flower arrangement in her garden with it, can be rusted or what ever state by the sound of it :-) Thanks, would appreciate any help. Glen

We went down to the Eastern Cape over December and had some wonderful rides on the MTB trails. I picked up some rust on my Scott Spark 920 chain and cassette despite all of efforts due to the excessive rain we had and the bike sleeping outside on my car locked away a few nights. Can anyone help me with a solution please? you can post on this treat or email me at cbk64@telkomsa.net God Bless Charl