On a side note, does this 90 degree weather seem strange for a Memorial day? I thought it was state law that all Memorial Days had to maintain a temperature of 42 degrees and rain?
Bike Before Overhaul and Polishing. Not bad looking.
Before Front View
Before Rear Brake
Before Rear Components
Looks like the only replacement I will need so far are new brake cables. I start by tearing the bike down to a bare frame. I then clean and Polished out the frame. This frame polished out better then the day it came from the factory. Those factory robots don't spend much time polishing the paint. :)
Cleaned and Polished Frame
First thin I do after polishing the frame is to clean and polish the Bottom Bracket Components and Head Set Components. These really did not have much grease, a lot of dirt, but hardly any ware. Perfect time for the overhaul.
Bottom Bracket & Headset Cleaned & Polished
Next I install the cleaned and polished Bottom Bracket. I do this before anything else. At this point it is a lot of room to work with a bare frame and its easy to get in there. I pack the bearings with grease first. I then install the drive side bearing cup. Always grease the threads of the cup, this will keep it a little cleaner, and keep the bearing cup from rusting into place.
Drive Side Bearing Cup Installed. Look at that shine!
Next I grease the bracket, a coat of grease should cover the entire axle to help prevent rust and corrosion. I put a lot on to show up in the photo. With the axle greased I slide the non drive side bearings into place and then slide the entire assemble into the drive side cup. I install the none drive side bearings at this time to help hold the axle in place. I then Grease the non drive side cup threads and screw in the cup. Must always be careful here. It can be easy to cross the threads, then you are in trouble. After hand tighten I use my bottom bracket tools for this particular style and tighten the lock ring.
Greased Bracket Axle
Installing Bracket Cup and Bracket Axle
Bottom Bracket Tools
Finished Bottom Bracket. Nice shine.
Next I install the head set. I have added a picture of a Bearing Cup Ram or Punch. This makes removing cups very easy. And with the cups out they are easy to pass over the bench buffer for a quick shine. I then install the cups back into the frame with a cups press. The press makes this so simple.
Bearing Cup Ram
Bearing Cups Pressed Into Place
Next I pack the bearings with grease and put them into place. I replaced one set of bearings on this headset. I was not happy with the condition they where in. I then take the fork, after cleaning and polishing of course, and apply a thick coat of grease on the fork tube to prevent rust and corrosion. With the fork put into place I then screw the bearing cap, spacers and Headset Nut into place. What a difference it makes with all that chrome buffed out!
Fork Tube Greased
Fork Installed
With the fork installed, I then turned my attention to the Crank Set. I first gave the chain rings a thorough cleaning. This takes a little elbow grease and some dish soap in hot water. Some bike mechanics prefer a strong grease cleaner, but I don't mind the extra work to avoid using those strong chemicals around my body. With the crank and pedals cleaned. (Clean pedals sure make a difference, its all in the details.) I then slide the crank side into place over the square taper and install the crank nut. I always grease the threads, because I am sure someone in the future will want to get that nut off. With the crank side in place I flip the bike around and do the same with the crank arm on that side. Last I install the dust covers over the crank nuts.
Cleaned Crank Set
Sliding Crank into Place
Crank Installed and Nice and Clean
With the crank and fork installed I move on to the first steps of cleaning and polishing the brakes. These brakes where pretty dirty and the brake arms where starting to stiffen up. I always lay the brake parts in an explode view type of way. That way I know exactly the order the parts go back together. These brakes cleaned and polished up wonderfully. The shine will stand out on the bike. With the brakes cleaned I just temporarily re install them with no grease and no pads. I will do all that alter when I install the new brake cables. I do this so I do not have them laying around getting parts lost. I will then move onto cleaning and oiling the derailleurs.
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Dirty Rear Brakes
Dirty Front Brakes and Dirty Fork
Exploded View of Cleaned & Polished Caliper
Temporary Install. They are Shining!
Temporary Install Polished Front Caliper.
The derailleurs where pretty dirty and need of some lubrication, but still working nicely. I started with the rear derailleur. I removed the jockey wheels, cleaned and lubricated them. I then turned my attention to the rest of the derailleur. I cleaned it with a large brush and soapy water. I then oiled the pivot points. When that was done I installed the jockey wheels back into there place. Over all the rear derailleur cleaned up beautifully, I am very happy and I think the photo shows why. The front derailleurs took a little more elbow grease then the rear. Again, I cleaned it with soapy hot water and then oiled the pivot points. I then use a aluminum and also a chrome polish on it. It took a while but the results are well worth it. It shines wonderfully. I then installed the trailer back on the frame.
Jockey wheels
Rear Derailleur Overhauled. Very Happy.
Dirty Front Derailleur
Cleaned and Polished Front Derailleur
With the derailleurs cleaned, polished and installed I got to work on the handlebars. These handlebars has a lot of parts. It is a heavy duty adjustable stem to adjust as your child grows. A water bottle cage is also built in. There is some grime, grease and a slight amount of rust on them. I started by disassembling all of the parts and hand polishing each part my hand with Turtle Wax Chrome polish and rust remover. My hands where a little sore after all that hand polishing. I then reassembled the handlebars and greased all the thread of the bolts and nuts. I also heavily greased the handle bar stems. I really put a lot of grease on. I am so tired of older bikes that there was no grease at all or it all dry up and the handlebar stem is rusted into the head tube. I have spent a lot of my time removing them, and it is not fun. I then installed the handle bars back on the bike. The handlebars cleaned up very nice, all that polished metal looks really nice. I kind of like the bottle cage.
Handlebar Before Photo - Lots of Dirt & Grime
Disassembled Handlebars
Heavily Greased Handlebar Stem
Handlebars Installed. Nice Metal Shine
With the handle bars installed it was time to give the brake levers a once over of cleaning and oiling and also the twist shifters. They all cleaned up nicely. I did a little extra work tightening up a brake lever. With the brake levers and shifters lubricated cleaned and polished I installed them on the bike. before I removed them from the handlebars I took careful measurements of there location. This always works better then trying to remember later on how they where set up on the bars. Below is a picture after installation. I thought I had a picture of the brake lever overhaul, but it must be lost in the cloud.
Brake Levers & Shifters Installed
At this point, the bike is really starting to come together. I moved on to overhauling the wheels. I started with the front wheel. It was just about the right time for an overhaul, the grease was dirty but was not dry yet. I gave the front wheel a good cleaning and it only need a little polishing. For some reason the bike gods where going to give me a hard time with the front wheel overhaul, I kept dropping the bearings, even with my magnet wound. besides the bad hands, the front real overhaul went very well. There is no wear to the bubs at all. I then put the front wheel on the wheel Truing stand. The wheel was already very straight. Only turned 2 or 3 spokes barley a 1/4 turn. Below are photos of the before hub, cleaned hub, adding grease with a grease pump, and a photo of the wheel on the wheel stand.
Before Cleaning
Cleaned and Polished
Grease Pump
Bearings Packed
Axle Parts and Bearings Before cleaning
The rear wheel took a little more work. I cleaned it with soapy water and needed no polishing. I disassembled the axle and had to remove the cassette to get to the drive side easier, but that is ok, because the cassette gets a good cleaning then. When all reassembled the rear wheel spins very nice. Spins for a very long time on the wheel stand. I also trued the wheel, but again it was very straight, just minor tweaks. I guess I forgot to take more photos.
Rear Cassette Removed
Rear Wheel on Wheel Stand.
Bad Photo of Rear Bearings Greased - Sorry
Its starting to look like a real bike again. At this point I cleaned & lubricated the brake and gear cable housings. On older bikes I just replace all the cables & housings, but these are in such good shape I decided to reuse the shifter cables and all of the housings. I always replace brake cables no matter how good they look. I also cleaned up the seat collar, and greased the seat post and installed the seat. Below is a photo of the bike up to this point and the new brake cables run. I am going to call it a day. This was suppose to be a one day overhaul, but like always, I get going on a bike and want it all to be perfect. Maybe an hour more in the morning and it will be better then new and ready for a new owner.
Looking Like a Bike Again!
New Front Brake Cable
New Rear Brake Cable
Dirty Seat Collar
Good Morning. I fished up the Trek 200 this morning. Did not take to long. I started with cleaning the tires. On older bikes I always replace the tires. On this bike I did not. They are not to old and have very little wear on them. After cleaning them up they looked new. I did replace the front tube. The tires are Bontrager 24" x 2" mountain tread tires.
Rear Tire Cleaned and Installed
Front Tire Cleaned and Installed
Bontrager Tire Logo
Next I finished off the brakes. I greased the studs and the rest of the brake parts that need grease. From there I put a very small dab of Loctite on the brake caliper bolts. This makes sure the brake bolts do not vibrate out on there own. Next I installed new Bontrager brake pads in the front. On the back I reused the old pads. The old pads where in really good shape, hardly any wear at all. I then finished and tuned the brakes.
Greasing the Brake Studs
A little Loctite
New Front Brake Pads
After the brakes where fine tuned, I moved on to cleaning the chain. The chain cleaned very nicely, I then checked it for stretch. No stretch on this chain. I installed and oiled the chain and tuned the gears. The gears shift very nicely. Very easy for twist grip shifters. I then polished and installed the rear derailleur bash guard. Always nice to have a bash guard on a kids bike since they ride lower to the ground. Finished up a few small details and gave it one last going over with a soft buffing cloth.
Finished Bike Side View
Finished Bike Front View
Finished Bike Rear Detail
Finished Bike Bash Guard
The bike is finished and in very, very nice. Looks better then new, minus a few small scuffs. I know it runs better then new. The bike will be going up for sale shortly. For my next project I am going to restore a 1980s Nishiki and an idea on Modernizing a Schwinn Continental I found in good shape and a really good price. Have a good Day.
