Vintage Raleigh Road Bike I Refurbished for a Friend.
Trued the wheels, new tubes and tires. Cleaned and greased the wheel bearings. Couldn’t save the cables and housing, so those got replaced. New chain, adjusted the derailleurs and shifter. Lubed the freewheel and the posts for the brakes. Greased the seat-post so it wouldn’t seize. Removed some bad spray paint from the frame and cleaned everything up. Just your typical refurbishing, and now my “customer” has something just as useful for a fraction of the cost.
The bike was free to me and parts costs to my friend were around $70. Charged him another. $50 for labor because he got his last bike stolen and I’m a charitable soul. I value my labor, but you can’t kick one of the homies when they’re down. Even gave him a used LED light from my parts bin for free. Can’t have a friend getting creamed on a bike I fixed.
If it wasn’t for working in my backyard, and having two free hours of daylight every afternoon to work in, I would have finished this a lot sooner. I get disappointed in myself when things take longer than a few hours of labor. I just have to remind myself that late is temporary, bad craftsmanship leaves an impression forever.
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Vintage Raleigh Road Bike I Refurbished for a Friend.
Trued the wheels, new tubes and tires. Cleaned and greased the wheel bearings. Couldn’t save the cables and housing, so those got replaced. New chain, adjusted the derailleurs and shifter. Lubed the freewheel and the posts for the brakes. Greased the seat-post so it wouldn’t seize. Removed some bad spray paint from the frame and cleaned everything up. Just your typical refurbishing, and now my “customer” has something just as useful for a fraction of the cost.
The bike was free to me and parts costs to my friend were around $70. Charged him another. $50 for labor because he got his last bike stolen and I’m a charitable soul. I value my labor, but you can’t kick one of the homies when they’re down. Even gave him a used LED light from my parts bin for free. Can’t have a friend getting creamed on a bike I fixed.
If it wasn’t for working in my backyard, and having two free hours of daylight every afternoon to work in, I would have finished this a lot sooner. I get disappointed in myself when things take longer than a few hours of labor. I just have to remind myself that late is temporary, bad craftsmanship leaves an impression forever.