mid-80's MTB

I have an old Peugeot Orient Express, a mountain bike I
purchased in the mid-80's. I haven't ridden on it over 10 years, but if I
knock the dirt and dust off it, I think it will be good to go. Honestly, do
you think it is worth restoring? If so, what would be some suggestions on
improvements/upgrades?

On Mon, 16 May 2005 15:37:34 -0800, "Home User" wrote:

I have an old Peugeot Orient Express, a mountain bike I
purchased in the mid-80's. I haven't ridden on it over 10 years, but if I
knock the dirt and dust off it, I think it will be good to go. Honestly, do
you think it is worth restoring? If so, what would be some suggestions on
improvements/upgrades?


Certainly worth cleaning up and riding. Restoring? I guess it depends on what
you mean by that. I don't think it makes sense to do more than fix the broke
stuff and attend to the routine maintenance and replace the wear items. If it
were mine, I'd repack and lube, do tires, brake pads and cables and have fun.

Upgrades is a little tricky - more gears might be nice but would require
changing almost everything in the drivetrain including the rear hub. Front
suspension forks that fit 1" steerers are rare and not especially good.

MTBs of that era make great utility/errand/commuter/bar bikes, add fenders and a
rack and some lighting with smoothish tires. If it's a good light frame
preferably with horizontal dropouts you can convert to single speed for
simplistic trail bashing fun.

It's certainly worth resurrecting and riding in one form or another. Do it and
enjoy.

Ron

I cleaned up and oiled the bike. I replaced tubes/tires front and rear. I
got the wheels trued. I tightened up a loose bottom bracket. The brake
levers & shifters are worn and banged up, but they still work! So, I've
been riding the bike now for about a month, and it is holding up okay...

Where can I find replacement parts for an old bike like this? The
components are Shimano SIS "Exage" (light action). I am on a budget. Used
parts are fine.

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

"RonSonic" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 16 May 2005 15:37:34 -0800, "Home User"
wrote:

I have an old Peugeot Orient Express, a mountain bike I
purchased in the mid-80's. I haven't ridden on it over 10 years, but if I
knock the dirt and dust off it, I think it will be good to go. Honestly,
do
you think it is worth restoring? If so, what would be some suggestions on
improvements/upgrades?


Certainly worth cleaning up and riding. Restoring? I guess it depends on
what
you mean by that. I don't think it makes sense to do more than fix the
broke
stuff and attend to the routine maintenance and replace the wear items.
If it
were mine, I'd repack and lube, do tires, brake pads and cables and have
fun.

Upgrades is a little tricky - more gears might be nice but would require
changing almost everything in the drivetrain including the rear hub. Front
suspension forks that fit 1" steerers are rare and not especially good.

MTBs of that era make great utility/errand/commuter/bar bikes, add fenders
and a
rack and some lighting with smoothish tires. If it's a good light frame
preferably with horizontal dropouts you can convert to single speed for
simplistic trail bashing fun.

It's certainly worth resurrecting and riding in one form or another. Do it
and
enjoy.

Ron

Thanks for the suggestions.

"John Mustarde" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 16 Jun 2005 01:05:28 -0800, "Home User"
wrote:

I cleaned up and oiled the bike. I replaced tubes/tires front and rear.
I
got the wheels trued. I tightened up a loose bottom bracket. The brake
levers & shifters are worn and banged up, but they still work! So, I've
been riding the bike now for about a month, and it is holding up okay...

Where can I find replacement parts for an old bike like this? The
components are Shimano SIS "Exage" (light action). I am on a budget.
Used
parts are fine.

Thanks for your help and suggestions.


As for used parts, the quality is variable, for deraillers and BBs I'd
just get something new, even shifters are fairly inexpensive, heck you
could buy a $48 Walmart 47-pound boat anchor and take the parts off
and do just fine, but the wheels will be a little heavy, what the
heck.

A new BB is about $22 at your LBS, and with a little care you can
install it yourself, remember the right side BB cup removes using
opposite of normal thread rotation, and be careful of the new left
side, it is plastic and you can break off a tooth if using a
screwdriver to tighten instead of the expensive Shimano tool, just go
slow it will tighten fine, and a broken tooth does not affect its
inner workings.

Replacement wheels are best found on a $20 bike at the Goodwill or
similar store, sometimes they come with $30 worth of good tires and
tubes and a kickstand and a light or speedo, making the bike and
accessories essentially "free", just watch for cracks and dry rot on
the tires, it is readily visible if they are bad, they simply look bad
up close.

The best replacement freewheel is the one of the two new Shimano
7-speed MegaRange models (different gear ranges), about $30 at Harris
Cyclery. Most any Shimano indexing rear der from your LBS or Harris
or your favorite online store will work great, there is an inexpensive
MegaRange model that matches well with MegaRange freewheel. I've
refurbished numerous 6-speed 80s bikes, road and mountain, into
wonderful performers (for the casual rider like myself) using 7-speed
and 8-speed parts which are really just as good as 9- and 10-speed if
one is not racing.

--
John Mustarde
www.photolin.com