Yep, you are right, I've been watching the Tour de France. Wanted a bike for a long time, but they are really expensive nowadays. Remember my childhood bike, simple, no gears... So I ran into this bike - an old Schwin road bike, 10 gears, 200 miles on it (it's got a speedometer), 10 bucks, overall good shape.
I need your help guys to see if I can do something with it. I figure out it's a good place to start, and if I keep on it, I can upgrade to a more sofisticated bike. The bike is a road/track bike I guess, 27" Schwinn weals, 10 speed Shimano derailers, friction gear shifters (I think that's what they are called). It's got an old speedometer (mechanical too), a small generator attached to the rear wheel that makes energy for a front and rear light. I would like to tear it appart, repaint it, clean it, change some parts, and bring it back to life. What do you think? Is it worth it. I figured I have about 100 bucks to put in it.
Is it worth trying to upgrade it, like switch the rear cassette, change to quick fire gear shifters, and what else... A guy I talked to said changing the gear system would cost me as much as a new bike. What if I go cheap to start with. Like Walmart sells a Schwinn seat that looked ok for like 16 bucks. I'm looking for a starter bike, take it out to the country on the weekends, and maybe get into the stream little by little.
Any ideas would be welcome... Help...