Bringing bike unused for 6 yrs back into use

rdt

I've a bike that was laid up for ~6 years, sat in a shed, which I intend bringing back into use...

From a quick glance, the obvious casualty is a very rusty chain, a KMC X10 SL that had little mileage on it if I recall. Is the chain likely to be salvageable (surface rust only?) or is it likely that it's hosed after this amount of time (ie. rust weakened the links so likely to snap easily)?

What about cables? Visually they all look totally fine.

cougie

Chains probably ok but you've seen it.

Cables might have stretched slightly.
Tyres might have perished or the inner tubes.
Check the brake blocks out too and I'd take it out for a little local ride to see

diamonddog

TBH I would splash out on a new chain they are not expensive and you know it will be fit for purpose.
Agree with all the rest mentioned above and would check settings on brakes to make sure they are not rubbing and just a general check of the quick releases etc.
The gear indexing can be tested on your little ride. Have fun.

rdt

Thanks folks.

Chain looks very ropey so ordered another one. Will give the rest a once over, maybe swap the tyres, and roughen up the brake block surfaces a touch.

For new chains, what's the advice now: wipe off as much of the external protecting surface grease (to prevent it collecting grime from the road), but avoid soaking it in something potent, so as to retain the internal grease? Or what?

Matthewfalle

leave the new chain alone - the factory grease is top.

maybe couple of hundred miles in average conditions before clean and re-lube.

diamonddog

^^This

Nick Payne

I recently rode one of my bikes for the first time in 12 years - it had been sitting in my brother's attic in Switzerland over that time. I replaced the tyres as a precautionary measure, even though the old tyres seemed to have some life in them, and I had to replace all the nipples in the front wheel, as several of them had corroded and broken - I think the reason for that was that the rim (a Mavic MA2) uses galvanised eyelets, and there must have been some galvanic reaction with the brass nipples to cause them to corrode. The rim in the rear wheel was a DT with stainless steel eyelets and the nipples there were fine. The chain and cogs were i good condition so I just cleaned and lubricated the chain. Brake blocks and brake and gear cables were fine.

After those changes I took the bike on a five week tour across to Spain and had zero problems with it.

keef66

I've always thought that the goo on a new chain is mainly to protect it during storage / distribution, and that it can attract and retain a lot of surface filth once you start riding.

I don't bother removing it though; as others say it does also seem to work as a lube, and for quite a while. When it's mucky enough to need a wipe down with a rag and a bit of white spirit I'll then start lubing normally.

I'd agree you can probably rejuvenate the brakes by sanding the blocks clean and flat, and giving the rims a good clean. The tyres and tubes could well be OK still; some of mine are easily that old. Depends on the temps and the amount of sunlight in the shed.

milemuncher1

Cables, anything made of rubber, anything with bearings in, and anything with a thread, will need inspecting, and replacing if there’s any doubt about condition. If it’s got pneumatic suspension, or hydraulic brakes, any fluid will almost certainly need replacing, and seals checking for leaks.
Check all your spokes for fit, tension, and corrosion ( especially at the nipple ends) and check the rims are okay.

Matthewfalle

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Cables, anything made of rubber, anything with bearings in, and anything with a thread, will need inspecting, and replacing if there’s any doubt about condition. If it’s got pneumatic suspension, or hydraulic brakes, any fluid will almost certainly need replacing, and seals checking for leaks.
Check all your spokes for fit, tension, and corrosion ( especially at the nipple ends) and check the rims are okay.

utter, utter bollox.

its a bicycle thats been kept indoors not the space shuttle on Mars.

check tyres and tubes, change that chain and off you go.

milemuncher1

Matthewfalle wrote:

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Cables, anything made of rubber, anything with bearings in, and anything with a thread, will need inspecting, and replacing if there’s any doubt about condition. If it’s got pneumatic suspension, or hydraulic brakes, any fluid will almost certainly need replacing, and seals checking for leaks.
Check all your spokes for fit, tension, and corrosion ( especially at the nipple ends) and check the rims are okay.

utter, utter bollox.

its a bicycle thats been kept indoors not the space shuttle on Mars.

check tyres and tubes, change that chain and off you go.

I think you should never be allowed near a bike, in fact I have a feeling you may never have been. I’ve been a ride leader for British Cycling for a few years. We have to do an ‘M check’ for safety, before any of the Ride Local type rides. You do occasionally get total horror stories turning up. The worst ones have had exactly your totally cnutty apparent attitude to bike maintenance. There’s a simple rule. If the bike falls to bits before we start, you’re not taking part.

imposter2.0

Milemuncher1 wrote:

I think you should never be allowed near a bike, in fact I have a feeling you may never have been. I’ve been a ride leader for British Cycling for a few years. We have to do an ‘M check’ for safety, before any of the Ride Local type rides. You do occasionally get total horror stories turning up. The worst ones have had exactly your totally cnutty apparent attitude to bike maintenance. There’s a simple rule. If the bike falls to bits before we start, you’re not taking part.

How is any of that even relevant to this discussion? Being a 'ride leaderl or doing an 'm check' does not validate anything you said in your previous post. Which - as accurately pointed out - was indeed utter bollox.

keef66

Provided the rubber bits haven't perished I'd say that as long as the steering works, the wheels, pedals and cranks spin smoothly and the brakes and freehub are operational, a new chain could be all you need.

Suggesting the OP needs to be dismantling and inspecting every bearing and threaded component was slightly over the top.

svetty

Lets just say that the suggestion by MM1 was a counsel of perfection. In reality if the wheels spin smoothly, the brakes and gears work properly, the headset moves smoothly and the tyres aren't perished it's probably going to be OK to start riding. Any subsequent issues that arise can be dealt with as needed.

Matthewfalle

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Cables, anything made of rubber, anything with bearings in, and anything with a thread, will need inspecting, and replacing if there’s any doubt about condition. If it’s got pneumatic suspension, or hydraulic brakes, any fluid will almost certainly need replacing, and seals checking for leaks.
Check all your spokes for fit, tension, and corrosion ( especially at the nipple ends) and check the rims are okay.

utter, utter bollox.

its a bicycle thats been kept indoors not the space shuttle on Mars.

check tyres and tubes, change that chain and off you go.

I think you should never be allowed near a bike, in fact I have a feeling you may never have been. I’ve been a ride leader for British Cycling for a few years. We have to do an ‘M check’ for safety, before any of the Ride Local type rides. You do occasionally get total horror stories turning up. The worst ones have had exactly your totally cnutty apparent attitude to bike maintenance. There’s a simple rule. If the bike falls to bits before we start, you’re not taking part.

no you're not and no you haven't.

yet again you are webbo.

stueys

This thread got fun quickly.....

- chain factory grease is indeed shite, it’s designed to protect the chain. Friction facts have proven that it’s high friction and, in my experience, it picks up dirt and crap very quickly. Clean it all off and lube the chain with something decent (squirt is good)
- bearings won’t perish or rust if they are well sealed and sitting in grease. Rubber will though so I would replace anything with rubber in (tyre and tubes)
- I’d also replace anything that will hurt if it breaks, (ie the chain,brakes). It’s unlikely that the brake cables have come to any harm, most of it is sealed. But given it would hurt if they went I’d probably swap them along with pads

milemuncher1

keef66 wrote:

Provided the rubber bits haven't perished I'd say that as long as the steering works, the wheels, pedals and cranks spin smoothly and the brakes and freehub are operational, a new chain could be all you need.

Suggesting the OP needs to be dismantling and inspecting every bearing and threaded component was slightly over the top.

Or ‘best practice’ as it’s known.

milemuncher1

Matthewfalle wrote:

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Cables, anything made of rubber, anything with bearings in, and anything with a thread, will need inspecting, and replacing if there’s any doubt about condition. If it’s got pneumatic suspension, or hydraulic brakes, any fluid will almost certainly need replacing, and seals checking for leaks.
Check all your spokes for fit, tension, and corrosion ( especially at the nipple ends) and check the rims are okay.

utter, utter bollox.

its a bicycle thats been kept indoors not the space shuttle on Mars.

check tyres and tubes, change that chain and off you go.

I think you should never be allowed near a bike, in fact I have a feeling you may never have been. I’ve been a ride leader for British Cycling for a few years. We have to do an ‘M check’ for safety, before any of the Ride Local type rides. You do occasionally get total horror stories turning up. The worst ones have had exactly your totally cnutty apparent attitude to bike maintenance. There’s a simple rule. If the bike falls to bits before we start, you’re not taking part.

no you're not and no you haven't.

yet again you are webbo.

Not what?
Haven’t what?

A B.C. ride leader? Yes I am, I have been for 3 years.

Done lots of guided rides with M checks? Yes I have. Over 110 of them to date.

imposter2.0

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Not what?
Haven’t what?

A B.C. ride leader? Yes I am, I have been for 3 years.

Done lots of guided rides with M checks? Yes I have. Over 110 of them to date.

As I mentioned earlier - being a ride leader is utterly irrelevant in this context and certainly doesn't qualify you to talk bollox on here. Same deal for M checks. No idea why you brought any of that into the discussion. You might as well have said you were a qualified flower arranger for all the relevance it has..

By the way - here's his ride leader profile.. https://www.letsride.co.uk/profile/247856

veronese68

Imposter wrote:

By the way - here's his ride leader profile.. https://www.letsride.co.uk/profile/247856

It's very sweet how you follow him around the internet, maybe you two should get a room. :roll:

I'm also of the opinion that stripping and checking all the components for a bike that has been stored indoors for a few years is completely over the top. Replacing the chain was a good idea, check tyres and tubes as stated many times above then check everything is tight, then look at cables, brakes, spokes, etc.

imposter2.0

Veronese68 wrote:

Imposter wrote:

By the way - here's his ride leader profile.. https://www.letsride.co.uk/profile/247856

It's very sweet how you follow him around the internet, maybe you two should get a room. :roll:

Settle down. I can't claim credit for that. Someone else originally came up with that link, last year in a thread in road general in (unsurprisingly) another thread he was being called out in...

veronese68

Imposter wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

It's very sweet how you follow him around the internet, maybe you two should get a room. :roll:

Settle down. I can't claim credit for that. Someone else originally came up with that link, last year in a thread in road general in (unsurprisingly) another thread he was being called out in...

But you've still shared it, I know you are not the only one. I get that you, and many others, don't like him and some of his, shall we say, flights of fancy. But stalking him around the internet is a bit strange and makes those doing it look like the more insane ones. The get a room comment was a light hearted attempt at saying it's rather strange behaviour, thin line between love and hate.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Last Easter, I took my old Felt F5C for its first rides since ~2010 to see what I made of riding a road bike after my Xmas 2013 RTA, as my lower back had been the best it had felt since my 2008 injury happened for the preceding ~6 months. Not long before it was last ridden, it had a service by a LBS.

So before the first ride, I inspected and inflated the tyres; applied some fresh lube to the stainless chain; checked the gears changed; checked the contact point bolt torques with a torque wrench and off I went.

The bike was mechanically fine for the rides I did over the next few weeks, but I didn't like the low front end and I had very little confidence in the rim brakes (because my RTA wa a rim brake failure), so I bought the Cube and sold the Felt for pocket money.

milemuncher1

Whether certain Cnuts like me or not, is of fcuk all concern to me. That profile link really is the shittest one to use to try and ‘prove’ anything, as it really only deals with the stuff I’ve done on the ‘official’ ‘Ride Local’ part of the site. For anyone who doesn’t know, the BC ride thing is split into ‘ride Locals’ and ‘ride socials’ The Ride Locals, until very recently, have been dished our over a very short few months of the year, and there haven’t ( traditionally) been very many of them. Because of this Shit ness, we ride leaders have just recently been authorised to sort out our own ‘ride Locals’. The majority of the rides I’ve done for BC have been ‘Ride Socials’ and not covered by the bit of the site that Imposter put that link up for. Yet again Imposter has made himself look foolish, what a surprise. “Flights of fancy” do fcuk off

imposter2.0

Milemuncher1 wrote:

The majority of the rides I’ve done for BC have been ‘Ride Socials’ and not covered by the bit of the site that Imposter put that link up for. Yet again Imposter has made himself look foolish, what a surprise. “Flights of fancy” do fcuk off

Actually, I was simply helping you make the point that you are indeed a 'ride leader' as you claimed, because there seemed to have been some doubt earlier.

And now - everyone knows you were correct and that you are indeed a ride leader. I'm thinking of signing up for one of your rides..

Matthewfalle

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Whether certain Cnuts like me or not, is of fcuk all concern to me. That profile link really is the shittest one to use to try and ‘prove’ anything, as it really only deals with the stuff I’ve done on the ‘official’ ‘Ride Local’ part of the site. For anyone who doesn’t know, the BC ride thing is split into ‘ride Locals’ and ‘ride socials’ The Ride Locals, until very recently, have been dished our over a very short few months of the year, and there haven’t ( traditionally) been very many of them. Because of this shoot ness, we ride leaders have just recently been authorised to sort out our own ‘ride Locals’. The majority of the rides I’ve done for BC have been ‘Ride Socials’ and not covered by the bit of the site that Imposter put that link up for. Yet again Imposter has made himself look foolish, what a surprise. “Flights of fancy” do fcuk off

Hmmmmmm.

You’re not selling this whole ride thing to me. Sounds like a slow club run which are appalling enough by themselves.

milemuncher1

Matthewfalle wrote:

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Whether certain Cnuts like me or not, is of fcuk all concern to me. That profile link really is the shittest one to use to try and ‘prove’ anything, as it really only deals with the stuff I’ve done on the ‘official’ ‘Ride Local’ part of the site. For anyone who doesn’t know, the BC ride thing is split into ‘ride Locals’ and ‘ride socials’ The Ride Locals, until very recently, have been dished our over a very short few months of the year, and there haven’t ( traditionally) been very many of them. Because of this shoot ness, we ride leaders have just recently been authorised to sort out our own ‘ride Locals’. The majority of the rides I’ve done for BC have been ‘Ride Socials’ and not covered by the bit of the site that Imposter put that link up for. Yet again Imposter has made himself look foolish, what a surprise. “Flights of fancy” do fcuk off

Hmmmmmm.

You’re not selling this whole ride thing to me. Sounds like a slow club run which are appalling enough by themselves.

Yes you’re right, pace wise, they are normally like ‘slow club runs’ but we are trying to get people out on a bike, and give them as safe an environment as we can, to do so. We get given instructions for target pace, and those targets aren’t very quick, but that’s really not the point. There are different categories, ranging from ‘easy’ to ‘challenge 40’ the challenge 40 rides can hit a heady 14-15 mph pace. The steady ones, usually aren’t even in double figures. ‘Ride Social’ rides are less regulated, but we are still governed by the pace of the slowest rider in the group. As we say, they aren’t ‘club rides’ they’re not intended to be. They are just rides designed to get people out on their bikes, in the hope that they continue to do so, if they want to ‘smash stuff’ and ‘be the ball’ they can go and join a club, it’s their shout. Ride Socials are easier to set up and ride, because there aren’t so many ‘rules’.