Refreshing My Road Bike

I first got the bike for free from the parking garage in my building many years ago, the super was going to throw it out so I took it to fix it up. I took it all apart, repainted it in my one bedroom apartment, got new rims and handlebars as well as a bunch of used parts, put it back together and turned it into my daily commuter.

Jump ahead 10 years and thousands of kilometers it was showing it’s age; some of the paint had scratched and some surface rust had started in a few areas, the back rim had developed a wobble that couldn’t be fixed by adjusting the spokes (in retrospect riding stairs regularly wasn’t the best idea), plus the brakes always were a bit more of a suggestion than anything, and I really wanted more than 7 gears for pulling my daughter in her trailer. Time for a tune up and some new parts.

I picked up some new shifter/brake combos, a new back rim, smaller front sprocket and got to work.

Step 1: Set Your Expectations

I knew there was a good chance I would have some orange peel finish on the clear coat, and that the aluminum wouldn’t be polished to a mirror finish when I was done, there’s a point of diminishing returns when it comes to sanding and cost of paint for something that will usually be covered in some dirt and dust. My main focus was function, I wanted to hide the scuffs and dings, improve the rust proofing, get a wider gear range, better brakes, cleaner shifting, get rid of rust, re-grease and clean the bike, as well as make it ride nice and smooth. Looking good from 5 feet away, or when I was zooming past was good enough.

Step 2: Tear It Down

So finally, we can start on the bike! Take everything off the frame, but take your time, clean as you go. The order of removal isn’t really important but stay organized. Note the orientation of parts as they come off the bike, keep the screws and other parts organized, it’s helpful to have containers for the ball bearings and bolts.

Pay attention to parts that have wear so you can get them replaced; brake pads, ball bearings, hand grips, cables, tires, etc. If you’re repainting the bike, you might want to add some logos that match your bike to your ebay shopping list.

Take notice where there’s rust and apply rust converter to those areas, both on the frame and on any parts, let it dry completely.

Step 3: Get Ready to Paint

If you’re going to repaint the frame you’ll need to peel off any stickers, if you’re just touching up your handle bars and other parts leave them be.

Now it’s time to pick a colour scheme. I suggest spend a fortnight or more looking at bike pictures and your bike at every spare moment. Consider the finish, matt or shiny, look for those perfect shades of red, or green, or maybe blue. I eventually gave up on this and went with flat black. I still wanted to accentuate the lugs and after looking at the bare metal and the bronze welds I found I liked how it looked and decided my paint scheme was done.

I had taken all the stickers off my bike years ago when I first repainted it, I like the no logo look. If you want to put the logo back on your bike I suggest finding logos off ebay, or use a vinyl cutting machine to make logos, or a mask for the paint when you do the layers.

Sand the frame, you don’t need to go to bare metal, but getting the surface area smooth is the goal. Since my re-paint job from years ago wasn’t the best I was sanding through it to metal quickly. The higher grit of sandpaper you go, the smoother the end result will be, however I found that going over 400 grit at this point had diminishing returns, however your mileage may vary.

Wipe down the frame with a slightly damp dust free cloth and once dry, start taping off all areas you don’t want painted, this includes the bottom bracket, steering tube, anywhere there will be ball bearings as well. Screw threads for fender mounts will get filled up with some paint, but can be worked out with a bolt.

Having decided I wanted some areas of the bike to be left bare metal I completely painted those areas with rust converter. Once the converter dried I sanded those areas lightly with 800 grit sand paper and included them when I was taping up.

Step 4: Paint!

You’ll want primer for the bare metal, and paint for your colour coat and a clear coat. I suggest buying all the same brand and maybe reading reviews before purchasing. I went with very inexpensive paint, looking for durability vs finish.

Find a way to hang or suspend the bike frame and other parts for painting, there will be no place to touch it once the paint starts to fly. Find a place to paint, and a place let the bike sit to dry; it doesn’t need to be where you’re painting, but make sure to have a plan move the bike and parts from paint area to the drying area.

Once you’re sure you’ve sanded everywhere, and you have ALL the oil, dust, and lint off the bike you’re ready to actually start painting.

Paint as per the spray can’s instructions. Light even passes, build up the layers. Too much and the paint will run and you’ll have to sand it and re-paint. Spray from too far away and it won’t coat evenly and you’ll have to sand it and re-paint.

Spend days sanding and re-painting and going back to the store for more paint when you didn’t buy enough, and again when the clear coat goes on unevenly, and also bubbles because the bottom layer didn’t cure due fully to temperatures and humidity, or maybe that was just me.

Step 5: Get Busy...on Something Else

That mid-project lull hit around this point, the paint was taking a lot more time and effort than expected to get a good coat. My work was getting a lot busier, I was limited to when I could paint, so I was starting to rush, and the quality of the painting was suffering. Additionally I had other projects that were starting to creep in and I couldn’t keep my workshop a paint booth.

So...get working on another quick project, dump the carefully sorted parts and screws in a box that you’re pretty sure doesn’t have holes to get it the hell off the workbench so something else can get done real quick, hang the frame in the back part of the workshop with the tires and other bits to get them out of the way too.

Step 6: Now Where Were We?

Almost 2 years later, things aren’t as busy and I caught my eye on the frame that’s been haunting me hanging in the back of the workshop, I decide now’s the time and dust it off to finish that problematic paint job so I can go for a ride.

Step 7: Back at It - Painting Part 2!

So I cleaned and sand the frame again and re-painted it, having more experience painting with spray paint since last time, I followed my own advice; smooth, thin, and even coats. I used about 2 cans of colour and 3 cans of clear coat, I got about a full coat per can.

Check your cans of paint for drying times and re-coating times. I’ve found that regardless of what the cans say, waiting 24 hours or more is best, but follow the instructions for the brand you bought.

If you’re doing any multi-colour painting, do the 2 coats of colour, wait until the bike cures for at least 24 hours and then do your taping, or vinyl masking, and re-spraying. Once the colours are dry to the touch remove the tape. Wait a full 24 hours again and clear coat everything.

Take my advice for what it’s worth, I was using inexpensive paints know that my paint finish would probably not be perfect, but it’s pretty good. I could keep sanding and trying for a mirror coat instead of some orange peel, but every fresh coat risks a run or a streak, my aim was for a bike that looked good from a few feet away, or as I’m riding past, besides it’ll all be covered in dust and dirt soon enough and I want to get riding.

Step 8: Parts Cleanup

Now that the frame is curing and ready for parts, it’s time to get the parts ready. Dump the box of parts out and organize. If anything’s still dirty, or rusty, now’s the time to get it clean and shiny.

Anything that still looks rusty, or just metal, should get painted with Rust Converter and wiped down again after 24 hours.

A small rotary tool and sanding disks, buff pads, polishing tools worked great in getting dirt off and providing a brushed metal finish to the scratched and rough looking aluminum parts (and took the black paint off the new front sprocket). I DIY’ed some buffing pads by sandwiching some plastic scrub pads between some sanding disks when the one that came with my kit wore out in the first 2 minutes.

Pay attention the finish that will be left by the tool your using and test before you actually do anything to your bike that you can’t undo with hours of work. I wanted brushed aluminum so the scrubbing pads and sand paper were just fine – going to polished would be hours of work that I didn’t care to put in at this time, it’s a matter of working to finder and finer sand paper then switching to polishing compounds. My perspective was that anything was better than what it was, and I wanted to get riding!

Step 9: Straighten the Tires

By looking at the new back tire I thought I would need to center it on the hub, fortunately when I put it on the truing stand it was fine, just a minor wobble. I corrected the wobble, and did the same on the front tire. There really wasn’t much to fix on either one, but I had a couple of hours planned to try and center the back tire so I figured I might as well get as close to “perfect” as possible.

If you don’t have a truing stand you can do this on the bike with the brakes or a zip tie to measure any movement in the rim. Put a bit of oil on the nipple (yes, they're called nipples) and adjust about a 1/2 turn at a time until the wheel gets straightened out. Youtube is your friend here, it's not complex, but it is difficult to explain.

I had an unexpected expense here when I realized I had purchased a cassette hub instead of a free-wheel. A used cassette was only about $15, installed on the wheel, and next time I’m near a community bike shop I’ll sift through their used gear bin to customize the gearing, but this was perfect to get me going.

Step 10: Put the Pieces Back Together

With all your clean parts out and organized, double check make sure you have everything you’ll need so the assembly will go quickly. If you have a bike stand or can find some way to hang up your frame, the setup will go a lot more smoothly, you need to be able to turn the pedals and have the back wheel spin freely to adjust the shifting.

I started my assembly with the fork, then bottom bracket (to get the greasy and easy stuff out of the way), then I fit the brakes, fenders, tires, derailleurs, chain, headset, handlebars, brakes, shifters, and the seat.

I put loose bearings in the bottom of my fork instead of the caged because I had some that would fit and rolling resistance is supposed to be reduced, and did the same for the crank. If the cages holding your bearings are in good shape, put them to use, don’t make a trip to the store to replace them, the difference is minimal in my experience.

Do your best to line up your front derailleur with the front gears when you install it, the less you need to move it the more your paint will thank you.

Now that there are parts to run the cables to, it’s time to get the cockpit adjusted and feeling comfortable. Install your brakes and shifts, but leave them a little loose. Sit on the bike and get everything adjusted to where you want it, be sure that you can reach the brakes and shifters then tighten them down.

Next it’s time to get the cabling figured out. You want it neat and tidy, but don’t leave any cable housing so short that you don’t have full range of motion for your steering. So double check that you have tested the full movement of your steering BEFORE you cut the housing, measure twice cut once. Expect to run each cable at least twice, a dry run to make sure everything fits together nicely, then the real thing. When you do the real thing, add a couple of drops of oil in the housing so water can’t get in. Don't connect the cables yet, we'll do that when we set up the brakes and shifters.

When you cut the brake and shifter housing, it’s helpful to have an awl and a file handy, you can file off any sharp edges from the metal in the housing, and the awl will help to open up the plastic center if it’s been pinched closed.

And careful when putting the wheels back together, my front tire is difficult to get on the rim and while I'm usually good with the pry tools, this time I caught the tube and got the chance to do that tire a second time!

Step 11: Set the Brakes

I like to do the brakes first, mostly so I have something to stop the wheel with when I’m testing the shifting. Install the brake pads if you haven’t already, installing with a slight “toe-in” will help prevent any squealing when you go to stop. Adjust the fine adjustments for the brakes to about ¾ of the way in, sqeeze the brakes against the rim, pull the cable tight with a pair of pliers, and tighten the nut to hold the cable tight. Yes, 3 or 4 hands are helpful here, but I did manage it with 2.

Give the tire a spin and check for rubbing, the brakes should be close but not touching. If needed use the fine adjustment, but if that’s not enough you may need to loosen and re-tighten the cable. When you’re checking for rubbing on the rim, be sure the pads aren’t rubbing on the tires either, especially when you’re braking.

If one brake is touching or they’re not centered you’ll need to adjust. Some brake types have a couple of screws for this, mine are old and incompetent so they need to be rotated and re-tightened.

Step 12: Tune the Gears

Last thing is to set up the gears. Have a look at your rear derailleur and locate the two limit screws on it. Look closely and see how the interact with the derailleur, the set the left and right limits of movement for the derailleur, and subsequently keep your chain from coming off the gears. Before you connect the cable to the derailleur, set the lower limit screw. Adjust the screw until the derailleur looks to be directly below the lowest gear. Turn the pedals and listen for clicking, adjust the screw until it doesn’t click any more and runs smoothly – your lower limit is now set.

Put the fine adjustment for the derailleur and the shifter about ¾ of the way in, pull the rear derailleur cable tight with a pair of pliers and tighten the cable to the derailleur. Shift up one gear and listen for clicking. If there is clicking adjust the fine adjustment until the clicking stops (usually turning it out to tighten the cable will fix it), then continue to shift up to the largest gear.

Adjust the other set screw on the derailleur until it starts to move the derailleur, then turn it back a ¼ turn. Try to shift past the largest gear while pedaling, there should be no clicking. If there is clicking and the derailleur still moves, adjust the set screw until there is no clicking and the derailleur is in line with the gear.

The process is the same for the front derailleur, however when installing the front derailleur be sure to set the height carefully, you only want it to be a few mm higher than your largest gear. You can use a 3mm or 4mm hex wrench to easily judge the gap between the gear and the derailleur.

Step 13: Conclusion

What I didn’t expect was mostly around the painting; how long it would take, how easy it was to put on too much paint, how hard it would be to spray one areas without over-spraying others, how easy it was to do a second coat at the wrong time due to temperature and humidity causing a longer cure time, then causing bubbling and peeling.

Why all the time and effort into this bike? The frame fits me really really well, I like the look of a lugged frame bike, and well, it was free. So why replace something I like when I can make it better?

While I’ve done this all before, I watched a few youtube videos to refresh my memory, and found very helpful, the Park Tool channel in particular. In some cases, they gave me a better order of operations than I had been using before and reminded me to take my time and work with patience.

I hope you found my Instructable helpful and find some inspiration to bring life to a old bike!