[gentlepuma]

Okay, so I've decided to take this poor rusty bike and get it rideable again. Its got lots of dryrot and some rust. The grips with the gear changers are completely seized. Brake pads definitely need to be replaced, and tires and tubes a must.

What are essential tools for bicycle maintenance...besides beer.

Any suggestions on where to start would be great as well. Thanks.

[Industry_Hack]

Park Tools website.
Sheldon Brown's website.
Double your initial estimate.

If this is for a Huffy, you really need to determine if you're spending more than the bike will ever be worth. On the plus side, decent tools are worth every penny.

[retromike3]

When I start a major project like that the first thing I do is get a good sized box (about two by tree feet). Then I check to see I have all of the tools for the job. Wrenches, tire irons, allen wrenches spoke tools (don't forget zip ties for things like head sets) . Next do you have a place you can work on it and leave it there over night? a project that big will take more than a day.

I like to work with my bike hanging off the ceiling with a block and tackle. Lately I have been using a repair stand I got from Performance Cycle. Park makes a good home one also but even there "cheep" on is more than you will pay for a overhaul.

Next step is to take it down to the frame. What you are doing is what I used to call is a complete overhaul. You will need to have some other boxes and some mid size zip lock bags. Make sure they are pretty strong. So when you take the Derailleurs off you can put it in its own bag. same thing with all of the parts.

Sheldon's web-sight can give you the particulars. Harris Cyclery-West Newton, Massachusetts Bicycle Shop

Next, take a old tooth brush and some cleaner and spend a hour or two cleaning up all of the parts you just took off and bagged. After they have been cleaned they should be lubricated with ether grease or teflon based spray(NOT WD40) replace the parts that are worn or broken and reassemble.

or you can take it to a local bike shop or buy a new one and have the local shop assemble it and tune it up in about thirty days.

[retromike3]

Its very nice to have a bench with a vice and a axle vice. cone wrenches are also a help with hubs.

[gentlepuma]

I know it's definitely going to cost more than the bike is worth. For me, its the challenge that counts at this point. My husband has decided that he is going to buy me a new bike and (gasp) one for him too!

Being an auto enthusiast, I've got plenty of tools. I guess I was wondering if there were any specialty tools needed.

Retromike: Yes I have the space and the time, and I'm a perfectionist. Taking the whole thing down to the frame never occurred to me. I guess I thought I'd try to fix it enough to ride it until I could fix all the non essentials. Considering what you said, safety, time and economics, overhauling is the smartest way to go.

I spent hours cleaning valves, pistons and other parts when I was a kid, so scrubbing parts is expected. I've got the vice, the axle vice I'll need to get and a set of cone wrenches. This is beginning to sound like fun

[joelseph]

sheldonbrown.com is a good place to start, if you're having trouble figuring out what he's talking about bicycletutor.com has how to videos. cone wrenches are nice to have and you will probably need a freewheel extractor. If you huffy is anything like mine that's all the specialty tools you'll need.

[photosbymark]

With the auto tools you have a good start, but there are some tools that are designed to do bike stuff. Cone wrenches, a good pedal wrench, crank pullers and the like, are bike related. You can pick them up one at a time as needed, or there are a couple of kits that have many of the most common tools bundled together. The larger kits are likely to have almost everything you will ever need.

The first thing you need though isn't a tool, but a book. With you and your husbands mechanical background, you should have no trouble. Get I think its the Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair. I think its a Park Tool Book. Its really a total maintenance manual for everything on most bikes. When you need a special tool, it will tell which one and of course the Park tool number to order it. You won't go wrong with Park Tools (the Mac or Snap On of bike tools) and the procedures are very clearly spelled out where you won't have any problems.

[gentlepuma]

BBB ordered this morning. Thanks for that tip! I just hope it's not like Chilton's auto books. They are awful. Coming from someone who compares bike tools with auto tools like Snap-on, I trust your judgment

Little joke about my hubby: He's one of those people that pulls stuff out of the box and starts fiddling with it while the instructions are laying on the floor. Me, on the other hand, will spend an hour reading instructions before I touch it. Drives him nuts! That's why he has his projects, and I have mine.

I'll get some pictures together, so you all can watch the transformation. That will keep me moving too

[photosbymark]

Park tools are some I have never had an issue with at all. Never was a huge fan of Chilton's books not because of what they told you, but the one thing that they left out you needed to know that they didn't. The Park Tools bike book is about as step by step for just about everything for every bike. You will find it useful. Hubby will look at the pictures and figure out how it goes from there. Both are helpful, especially if you have never seen that particular section of the bike taken apart before.

Park tool was smart. They figured out that the more people that knew something about working on a bike, the more tools they could sell. Good business all the way around.

Check out Sheldon Browns site too. Lots of really good stuff there. I hope they keep the site going

[gentlepuma]

Just had lunch with a friend of mine that has a stand, wrenches, and other bicycle tools he'd be willing to share with me for my project. He hasn't used them in years. He rebuilt a bike when he was a teenager. All thats left to do now is wait for the book. Come on UPS!