24" Kids Bike Gearing & Maintenance Advice

dubninja

After some help really, I purchased a Decathlon RR5.0 24" bike second hand for my daughter as it was very cheap, after a quick inspection the Bottom Bracket had had it (Was an old VP-BC55 Cup and Cone Type) so I replaced it with a Shimano UN26 68x113 unit. I popped it all back together and now I have noticed more things wrong & needs further Maintenance.

-Chainring is Bent (Single Speed Markings 9809-164-106-36t) (Crank Arm Marked as Pro-170-4P)
-Rear Derailleur is Bent (Falcon 5AO?)
-Rear Hub Bearings shot along with the Falcon Freewheel 5 Speed also marked 5A0

it had a single SRAM MRX Comp 5 Speed Gripshift.

My questions are really do I just bin it or shall I try and fix it up as its going to need a fair amount of parts. If I fix it up undoubtedly I think its going to need a new (Crankset, rear derailleur, rear wheel with new freewheel) I just havent got a clue what stuff I can mix together to get it working? can someone advise, seems hard to find parts for kids bikes.

craker

I'd personally be trying to fix up what you've got, depending on what tools you can lay your hands on
- Bearings are an easy one - cup and cone? Repack and tighten.
- Bent rear mech - bend it back again. If you can't do it by eye so that it indexes properly then you may want to invest in a mech alignment tool (I have, glad I did) , LBS or put up with it.
- Is there something wrong with the freewheel? Not so sure about that, Sheldon Brown's website is a good place to start. 5 speed cassettes or wheels are cheap on ebay.
- You may be able to straighten the chainring with an adjustable spanner.

It depends what standards you've set yourself and your daughter - mine is perfectly happy on a bike I got for £5 (24" Apollo rigid ATB), it's good enough mechanically for what we do.

dubninja

I can probably bend back the chainring that's not a problem, I can probably also regrease the hub but I'm sure the ball bearings will have had it like the bottom bracket they feel really gritty. The freewheel has play in it but I have only got an 18 piece shimano toolkit for my road bike, haven't got the freewheel tool so I'll have to invest.

I did wonder if I could fit a 6/7 speed in there as I've found a brand new rear wheel with 6 or 7 speed shimano freewheel fitted for £31 delivered, I'd then need a new dérailleur (not sure which one) and a new grip shift again there pretty cheap just not sure what will fit.

The Rookie

New ball bearings are cheap as chips!

Freewheel removers aren't expensive, or if you have a decent LBS they'll often do it for free/very little, no tolls required to fit a new one.

dubninja

decided I am going to convert it to a 7-speed shouldn't be too much hassle I found a new wheel for £30 delivered comes with new Shimano 7-Speed 14-28 Freewheel, going to then change the derailleur Shimano ones can be had for less than £10 (just need to figure out which one front chainring is a 32t) then replace the front RH gripshift with a Shimano Revoshift SL-RS35 all for less than £50.

Managed to lever the front chainring pretty much straight now as-well. 99% better anyway.