Today a brother deacon brought me his adult daughters bike
to get in shape. Had not been ridden in years. It is a
Specialized Allez with 8 speed triple crank some version of
Shimano.
Tires were shot basically dry rot but the tubes still good.
I put a set of new tires on it and both wheels check true in
the stand. Then I cleaned chain and lubed it not wore at
all. Went through the gears and amazingly it shift fine in
every gear and combination. No problem cross chaining the
triple even. No need for cables I adjusted brakes and pads
are fine.
In my way of thinking if it is not broke don't fix it. These
bikes with exposed cables and the basic stuff work quite
well, I saw no reason to put ne cable on the bike if it
shifts perfect. Granted I am not a shop but why? I was happy
mechanic today to get this done this fellow helped me when I
took my crash with other stuff.
On 5/9/2026 2:13 PM, Mark J cleary wrote:If the bike was carefully assembled by the original mechanic and the bike wasn't abused 8 x 3 shiftes worked very well.
Today a brother deacon brought me his adult daughters bike
to get in shape. Had not been ridden in years. It is a
Specialized Allez with 8 speed triple crank some version of
Shimano.
Tires were shot basically dry rot but the tubes still good.
I put a set of new tires on it and both wheels check true in
the stand. Then I cleaned chain and lubed it not wore at
all. Went through the gears and amazingly it shift fine in
every gear and combination. No problem cross chaining the
triple even. No need for cables I adjusted brakes and pads
are fine.
In my way of thinking if it is not broke don't fix it. These
bikes with exposed cables and the basic stuff work quite
well, I saw no reason to put ne cable on the bike if it
shifts perfect. Granted I am not a shop but why? I was happy
mechanic today to get this done this fellow helped me when I
took my crash with other stuff.
Yes, some of those are quite straightforward and simple.
On an older bike (3x8), you may want to open the front hub
and evaluate the lubrication. Grease does not last forever,
so if you find it's dried, hard and pushed away from the
balls, a clean and relube is in order for both hubs.
On Sat May 9 14:34:17 2026 AMuzi wrote:
On 5/9/2026 2:13 PM, Mark J cleary wrote:
Today a brother deacon brought me his adult daughters bike
to get in shape. Had not been ridden in years. It is a
Specialized Allez with 8 speed triple crank some version of
Shimano.
Tires were shot basically dry rot but the tubes still good.
I put a set of new tires on it and both wheels check true in
the stand. Then I cleaned chain and lubed it not wore at
all. Went through the gears and amazingly it shift fine in
every gear and combination. No problem cross chaining the
triple even. No need for cables I adjusted brakes and pads
are fine.
In my way of thinking if it is not broke don't fix it. These
bikes with exposed cables and the basic stuff work quite
well, I saw no reason to put ne cable on the bike if it
shifts perfect. Granted I am not a shop but why? I was happy
mechanic today to get this done this fellow helped me when I
took my crash with other stuff.
Yes, some of those are quite straightforward and simple.
On an older bike (3x8), you may want to open the front hub
and evaluate the lubrication. Grease does not last forever,
so if you find it's dried, hard and pushed away from the
balls, a clean and relube is in order for both hubs.
If the bike was carefully assembled by the original mechanic and the bike wasn't abused 8 x 3 shiftes worked very well.
As Andrew noted the original wheels probably had caged bearings in them
and the lubrication of them is vital, but cleaned and lubed they roll
better than sealed bearings.
On Sat May 9 14:34:17 2026 AMuzi wrote:
On 5/9/2026 2:13 PM, Mark J cleary wrote:
Today a brother deacon brought me his adult daughters bike
to get in shape. Had not been ridden in years. It is a
Specialized Allez with 8 speed triple crank some version of
Shimano.
Tires were shot basically dry rot but the tubes still good.
I put a set of new tires on it and both wheels check true in
the stand. Then I cleaned chain and lubed it not wore at
all. Went through the gears and amazingly it shift fine in
every gear and combination. No problem cross chaining the
triple even. No need for cables I adjusted brakes and pads
are fine.
In my way of thinking if it is not broke don't fix it. These
bikes with exposed cables and the basic stuff work quite
well, I saw no reason to put ne cable on the bike if it
shifts perfect. Granted I am not a shop but why? I was happy
mechanic today to get this done this fellow helped me when I
took my crash with other stuff.
Yes, some of those are quite straightforward and simple.
On an older bike (3x8), you may want to open the front hub
and evaluate the lubrication. Grease does not last forever,
so if you find it's dried, hard and pushed away from the
balls, a clean and relube is in order for both hubs.
If the bike was carefully assembled by the original mechanic and the bike wasn't abused 8 x 3 shiftes worked very well.
As Andrew noted the original wheels probably had caged bearings in them and the lubrication of them is vital, but cleaned and lubed they roll better than sealed bearings.
| Sysop: | Amessyroom |
|---|---|
| Location: | Fayetteville, NC |
| Users: | 65 |
| Nodes: | 6 (0 / 6) |
| Uptime: | 10:19:01 |
| Calls: | 862 |
| Files: | 1,311 |
| D/L today: |
3 files (7,546K bytes) |
| Messages: | 265,185 |