A little while ago Cess and I decided we would try to acquire a couple of bicycles to allow us to run errands downtown and go for an occasional bike rides. Having said that, we didn't want to have to worry about the bikes being attractive to bike thieves so we opted to look for used bikes.
After some initial research, it turned out that my father in-law had an old Sears Free Spirit city bike in his garage. We're not sure how old it is, but it's likely between 20-30 years old. It's going to require a restoration effort to get it into good working condition. It hasn't been used in many years and it shows.
So far, this has been a learning experience, but I'm fairly happy with my progress. Thankfully between some of my friends and my Dad I've got some good resources to lean on for advice. To date, I've done the following:
- Completely dissassembled the bicycle down do the frame
- Revitalized the front brake calipers, cranks, front cog
- Stripped the handlebar of all rust
- Sanded the fork in preparation for a new paintjob
- Started sanding the frame
Here are a few photos to illustrate the original condition of the bike and how the restoration is going.
Stem:
Brake calipers, one arm in original condition, another restored:
Handlebar, before and after stripping:
Front cog and crank in their restored glory:
Paint:
