13 year old bike ?worth re fettling

inaperfectworld

i started off with an entry level mountain bike 13 years ago; used it on a few local trails but as i don't drive i was a bit limited in routes. toured on it a couple of times as it had eyelets for rack and guards and then went on to road bikes. i then used it occasionally for a bit of local off road and commuting. it had a new bottom bracket but not long after the middle chainwheel jumped and is done for; the bike has done nothing for 3 years. i wondered if it was worthwhile (doing the work myself) to get it going . i am thinking about using the train to get further away with a view to doing mountain biking to see if i get into it; so at the moment i don't want to spend on a new bike, and i suppose i like getting things going when they are broken.
my only query is whether the frame is still good as i heard aluminium is likely to suffer fatigue crackingl after 10 to 15 years. i suppose there are plenty of 2nd hand bikes out there but i imagine there are lots of neglected ones and i could buy and find i've gort to replace bits anyway

nicklouse

so what is the bike?

supersonic

What bike is it, and spec? Any pics?

If it just aneeds a couple of parts and a service I would probably go ahead. You can check the frame for fatigue and cracks.

inaperfectworld

sorry yes overlooked the obvious; it's a univega; "aluminium 700se" is the only thing written on the frame and i can't see any cracks. it hasn't had hard use so it sounds as if it will probably be ok (and it won't be too attractive to theives either)
would post a pic but the camera software has gone haywire.
i like the idea of doing some mountain biking but not driving seemed a bit limiting. to get further afield by bicycle it was mostly on the road (which is how i ended up road cycling) but have travelled a bit on trains with a bike so happier about doing that now

nicklouse

this spec

http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/Bike ... &Type=bike

inaperfectworld

thanks nicklouse; it's the first one