Several weeks ago we had a customer come by the bike shop to donate an old Univega that dated back to her college days. She hoped that we would make use of it, and we assured her as much. It’s the objective of this post to show the process we go through to refurbish good-quality older bicycles here at Pedal Rev.
The Univega as it looked when it arrived: old and definitely pretty tired.
To be a reliable and comfortable bicycle for the next rider, this Univega really needed everything. This started with removing all components from the frame and determining which parts could be re-used.
Though it might have stopped the bike well enough in the 1980’s, this old Dia-Compe brake caliper isn’t really up for tackling San Francisco hills. Note extensive rust on spokes as well
The new Tektro dual-pivot caliper. New, much more powerful, and high-polish silver finish.
The bottom bracket cups, complete with grease dating back to the Reagan/Thatcher years…
The bottom bracket spindle, again gummed up with late Cold War-era grease…
Amazing what some steel wool and a little buffing can achieve: under all that old grease the bearing races were still in very nice shape, so I repacked the cups with new 1/4″ ball bearings and fresh grease…
The original Shimano 600 front derailleur, featuring the unique “Arabesque” font, after a good detailing…
The fork crown and lower headset cup…a bit on the rusty side of things
After being given a ‘lil Tri-Flow/steel wool love…
Original sticker, which I left on. Always interesting to consider the bike’s history. This shop no longer seems to be in business, but it was originally founded by Czechoslovakian pro road racer Otto Rozvoda in the 1960’s.
Our sticker, affixed to the downtube
Ready to get built up with all the new/refurbished components
The original stem/handlebar. Not the most comfortable setup for riding around the city.
Retro-style brake levers, modern indexed Shimano bar-end shifters, and cork bar tape finished off with some burgundy Newbaum’s.
A new derailleur mated to a 9-speed wide-range cassette and original crankset. Got some new MKS Sylvan Touring pedals on there too!
The final product, featuring a new Shimano/Mavic wheelset, Panaracer Pasela 700 x 32 tires, Velo Orange stem/Soma Oxford Bar. Ready for all the urban jungle has to throw at it!
She’ll be a good fit for somebody in the 5’3-5’7″ range. Come take a test ride!
$700
SOLD!!!!