Restore/Repair it or buy a new one?

[M. Yahya Sonnie]

Hi, bike newbie here 😊

Could anyone please advise if I should repair/restore this bike or if I should get another bike instead. This one still rides but I would not want to do anything more than a few km on it at a time.

My neighbour gave it to me a few years ago, but I was too short to ride it comfortably. Now I have grown and want to get into cycling and I really enjoy the feel of this bike, for the most part. It has some problems such as the back brakes not working and the front brakes barely resetting after engaging, and there is also a scraping sort of sound coming from the back wheel while I’m riding it.

Its super rusty and some parts are broken. So if I should restore it what are the parts that I need to buy? New chain, new brakes etc. (what specific type though) any advice would be appreciated. I will be happy to provide more photos if need be.

Also if I were to buy a new bike, 2nd hand would be a lot better suited and what should I be looking for? 185cm Male, wants a kind of all rounder type bike(or what ever this one is)

Thank you

Edited October 19, 2025 by M. Yahya Sonnie
Added another paragraph

[JoeMerida]

You Could Start by Lubing the Chain and Learning a bit about Bike Maintenance. It's a good platform to practice on the Avalanche. But Yes I would buy something better.

[M. Yahya Sonnie]

6 minutes ago, JoeMerida said:

You Could Start by Lubing the Chain and Learning a bit about Bike Maintenance. It's a good platform to practice on the Avalanche. But Yes I would buy something better.

Okay, thanks for the quick response. Any recommendations for a new bike/what to look for on a new bike if I want something that rides like this? I assume maybe something like a 27inch XL or something like that? I'm, not too sure though

[Eugene]

Keep it...... It is free. You could restore this bike for very little money and you could have something great. 

Once you get more into cycling, then you can look at something else

[M. Yahya Sonnie]

Yeah, definitely going to keep this one

What would be the best way to go about restoring though? Should I maybe take it to a shop to get help/recommendations on what to do?

[Dexter-morgan]

Donate it to a commuter, some good use for it.

[DJR]

If you do a simple clean-up and service yourself and ride it, that would be the first prize. Then, if you enjoy it and you feel justified spending more on cycling, get a better 2nd hand bike from the Classifieds. Do not spend too much money on restoring the Avalanche. Spending too much on new parts and labour will not increase its value when you want to sell it.

[117]

Throw it away. Its not worth anything

[M. Yahya Sonnie]

19 minutes ago, DJR said:

If you do a simple clean-up and service yourself and ride it, that would be the first prize. Then, if you enjoy it and you feel justified spending more on cycling, get a better 2nd hand bike from the Classifieds. Do not spend too much money on restoring the Avalanche. Spending too much on new parts and labour will not increase its value when you want to sell it.

Thank you very much for your input, I greatly appreciate it! What would you say would be the most important parts are to restore/replace on this bike?

[Mamil]

If you are mechanically inclined (which I am not - I walked into the bike shop on Friday afternoon and the mechanic said "Ah, back so soon, have you been playing with the wrenches again") then youtube will be a good place to learn how to replace the gear and brake cables. Then take a chain rings off and the casette and given them a good clean and that creaking from the back might be coming from the freehub or from the terribly rusty chain grinding things down on the sporckets at the back. 

All of those components are likely to need replacing but if you have any mechanical aptitude at all you could restore it to reasonable condition enough to enjoy slightly longer rides. 

If you can learn to do this it will save a lot of money in the long term.

IF you have budget a new bike would be great - this one is never going to be fabulous no matter how much love you give it - the brakes have a fraction of the stopping power and control that new or even newer second hand ones will have - the suspension fork is likely toast and that saddle looks mighty suspicious.

On the upside - if you ride this one for a bit and then get a new one it's going to feel like getting into a mercedes after driving a datsun 120y with badly balanced wheels.

EDIT: Just looking at the photos again - getting this bike roadworthy is actually a huge job - if you keen to ride soon, the sooner new bike day comes the better

Edited October 20, 2025 by Mamil

[Guest Mike Dewing]

When in doubt always buy a new bike🤣🤣

[The Ouzo]

The great thing is there is nothing terribly complicated or expensive on this bike, the bad thing is you won’t recoup any money you throw at it. 
 

it can be fixed with the most basic of tools 

[Colin Cooper]

Hi,

Your bike is very salvageable for a low cost.

Where do you live? I can assist you, probably free, if you are local to me.

[M. Yahya Sonnie]

12 minutes ago, Colin Cooper said:

Hi,

Your bike is very salvageable for a low cost.

Where do you live? I can assist you, probably free, if you are local to me.

Im in Cape Town, Southern suburbs

[M. Yahya Sonnie]

52 minutes ago, The Ouzo said:

The great thing is there is nothing terribly complicated or expensive on this bike, the bad thing is you won’t recoup any money you throw at it. 
 

it can be fixed with the most basic of tools 

Oh cool. How would I go about fixing it though?

 

[David Marshall]

The work on the bike may not be complicated or the parts expensive but things can quickly add up.

A bike shop would charge around R500 for labour (wash, lube, service hubs, headset, bb, replace cables and housing, set brakes and gears).

You are then in for any new parts needed.  Obviously depends on what can be salvaged but its easy to underestimate.  Unfortunately, you can't tell what's needed from pictures.