in message <[email hidden]>, Paul
Hutchings (') said:Not ridden for years and had been toying with getting a new bike
because I'd (foolishly it now appears) assumed that mine was too old
to bother overhauling.
It's a GT Karakoram, frame is kind of flame orange/yellow with black
"crackly" sort of paintwork. It's got a Deore XT rear mech & combined
break/shift levers.
I'm hoping that I can give it a _really_ bloody good clean and get it
serviced and have something useable, however -
As most companies change colour schemes every year can anyone take
even a
wild guess as to how old the bike is? I've had it for around 7-8
years and when I tried to sell it six or so years back (I've found the
usenet post) I had concluded around 1990?
Around 1988-90 Shimano made gear shifters which had two grey buttons,
one larger one smaller, for the thumb - so you pushed with the thumb to
go up a gear and pushed with the thumb to go down. These were the first
generation rapidfire. After about 1990 you got the second generation -
push with your thumb to go up, and click with your pointer finger to go
down. Much before 1988 and you just have thumb levers.
Quoted message said:Secondly, and I appreciate this is a piece of string question, I'm
hoping that everything works but will need a bloody good servicing -
what might I expect to pay for this.. just a ballpark assuming no
major parts are needed?
Doing it yourself you're almost certainly going to have to replace the
chain and cables; replacing the chain it's usually a good thing to
replace the cassette and, if the chain is really worn, the chainrings
as well because a worn cassette or chainrings will greatly accelerate
the wear on the chain. You'll probably also have to replace brake
blocks as well. You should not (unless the bike has had a great deal of
abuse) need to replace the mechs, but you might need to replace jockey
wheels.
So: about £15-20 for a new 7 speed cassette;
about £10-12 for a new chain;
about £10-15 for new jockey wheels (if needed);
about £15 for new cables;
about £10 for brake blocks (if needed).
Get someone's opinion on your chainwheels before you replace them
because depending on the spoke pattern on your crank that could get
complex and more expensive (like £50).
Strip, inspect, replace any dodgy balls[1], grease and reassemble your
wheel bearings. If your pedals are serviceable strip, inspect, grease
and reassemble them. If your bottom bracket feels OK it may be best to
leave it alone unless you're confident, although if it isn't a
cartridge type it isn't that difficult to strip and would probably
benefit. Same with the steering head (headset) bearing.
Replace all cables anyway just on principle.
If you do it yourself it's going to cost under £100 - probably well
under - and one Sunday afternoon. Obviously if you spot anything nasty
like really pitted bearing cups then that may mean another trip to the
bike shop and another Sunday afternoon, but if the bike's just been
lying in a shed that isn't very likely. If you pay someone else to do
it you're going to be charged about two hours workshop time in addition
to the parts.
[1] I used to just replace balls on principle on the basis that they're
very cheap, but it's rarely really necessary
--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; MS Windows: A thirty-two bit extension ... to a sixteen bit
;; patch to an eight bit operating system originally coded for a
;; four bit microprocessor and sold by a two-bit company that
;; can't stand one bit of competition -- anonymous
