i just got a road bike for free...

lightingfarts

lightingfarts

Member
my friend had this old road bike he wasn't using and offered it to me. i hopped on the opportunity and now have this decent bike for some fun. i'm not real knowledgable with bikes, so i'm looking for some opinions that know what they're talking about. the frame is light and looks to be in good condition, same with the handles and all that bumbo jumbo. i think it may need new brakes, if so, i'm thinking all i want is a rear brake. would i ever be in a situation where i'd need a front brake, too? i pretty much only use a rear brake when i ride bikes. i also want a nice seat so that my ride will always be comfortable. do they make grips for the handles? i'm pretty sure the tubes are pooped, so i plan on picking up some new tires and tubes. i may possibly need a new chain, but i may be able to get away with greasing the current one. any suggestions? tips?

 
the nice thing about having 2 brakes is that if one fails on you (cable breaks, calipers wet, whatever) you still have the other one... otherwise you speed down the hill to your DEATH, which is something we all try to avoid.

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yeah, i was just messing around with it, both brakes seem to work good, the chain looks fine, and a put this old seat i had on it...its real comfortable now. i know i need new tires and tubes, anyone know how much that would run me? are there any places online to get that stuff for cheap?

 
no, you need front brakes. cantilever brakes like the ones on road bikes arnet all that strong to begin with. obviously noone could help you much here, cause we cant see the bike. but take it to a shop and have them go over it. if you know someone with basic bike skills, you should grease the bearings in the headset and bottom bracket, and really clean the gunk out of the rear derailleur. check the shifting, make sure it doesnt skip in any gears under power (this could throw you off) make sure the wheels are true, and if it doesnt have clipless pedals, get some and a set of shoes. clipless pedals actually are the ones that your shoe sclip int. you can get crappy ones for like 20 bucks. they help a ton for pedalling effeciency.

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get both front and rear brakes. 70% of your stopping power comes from your front brakes, if you only got rear ones youll just be skidding everywhere (im assuming youve got road tires and might be movin pretty fast.)

 
they aren't called grips on a roadbike, it's bar wrap. tubes are usually $4 each, and tires are anywhere from $15-50. it won't take that much to get it running

 
tires run anywhere from 10 to upwards of 50-60. tubes are next to nothing. again, go to a bike shop. they will be more helpful than even the best bike tech over the internet.

opps Wow Suprise!

I.L.I.A.G.A.
 
def give business to the local shops...all that mail order is junk...my shop is going out of business partly cause we can't compete with mailorder

 
yah, mail order wont work for yah unless you know exactly what you want/need.

opps Wow Suprise!

I.L.I.A.G.A.
 
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