Why am I watching you hour after hour? There is nothing like the reality of struggling with simple mechanics and fixing things. Your cleaning is the icing on the cake ;-) Thanks for the entertainment!

For rusty fasteners, I mount a drill wire brush in my vise and mount the screw in my drill. Just jam that fastener into the wire brush a few times with the drill going and it cleans out the head of the screw nicely while also polishing up the cap.

@racerx8410712

Ай бұрын

I was literally just about to post the same thing! Add a little oil, works great!

I just love your videos, between the soft music, the narration, and learning a few tricks to keep my old bikes on the road it's actually very relaxing and informative

@bkefrmr

Ай бұрын

That’s my goal! Thanks for saying so!

@joew717

Ай бұрын

@@bkefrmr Greetings from South Florida!

BikeFarmer more like BikePhilosopher :D

Great job again! I think the loudness of the voice-over in comparisson to the background music, is a little bit low, in this video.

@tblakemusic

Ай бұрын

yeah, music is a bit too loud starting around the Aristotle rant lmao

@bkefrmr

Ай бұрын

I wonder if I missed turning it down on a few section…bummer!

@rainerunsinn4808

Ай бұрын

@@bkefrmr Yeah that happens sometimes. If you always use the same loudness setting for your microphone and only the music is the variable, use the freeware programm "mp3 gain" (not sponsored ;) ) to set the loudness to a specific, consistent level every time.

@alanwasono

Ай бұрын

Great videos, appreciate your work. Saw you on path less pedalled when you mentioned that you watch luthier videos. Do you play the music on your videos? I can recommend twoodfrd - another great luthier KZreadr. Similar humour & wit as your handsome self. Cheers!

If I wasn't perfectly confident doing all my own maintenance, I'd certainly have no issues trusting my fancy bikes to you! The care and attention to detail you put into basic bikes makes me totally confident that you'd do the same thing with any bike, no matter how advanced.

The optical illusion of the cogs spinning counter to the wheel at 24:00 is very satisfying

try using a small piece of brake wire in a drill spinning the direction of the twist in the hex screws

@rainerunsinn4808

Ай бұрын

But wear an apron and googles for this hack! These single wires can break and fly through the air with high speed (same for these cheap-o wire brushes for your drill). These will go deep into your skin (ask me how I found out... )

I have a ladies model bicycle, mountain bike, in the same configuration as the one in this video. It has a used Trek pannier rack on the back, and it's my grocery getter. When I have that rack stacked up high, with my load by the time it's all said and done in town, and I'm heading home, that step through frame is pretty handy.

@hungrybraineater2

Ай бұрын

I managed to use one of those old Schwinn ladies frames to carry a 2 stack tall bike. My friends tall bike had no wheels so i used his girlfriends ladies bike to move my friends 2 frame high tall bike to a new location. Think i was wheeling around maybe 40 pounds of bike on that damn thing.

@davidhakes5141

Ай бұрын

@@hungrybraineater2 40-50lbs. Yeah, those old bikes had some heft to them. I have 2 steel frame mountain bikes, a ridgid frame, and a full squish, as they call it, a full suspension mountain bike, and that one is heavier than the previously mentioned bike, with the wheels off. Both are department store bikes. The ladies model came with a child seat, which meant that when ever you get on and off, you're in danger of kicking the kid.

@hungrybraineater2

Ай бұрын

@@davidhakes5141 I had a suspension fork on a dept store mountain bike schwinn. I weighed it was at least 13 pounds if i remember correctly. I put a chrome fork from a Ross mount Whitney on it and put a full Shimano mountain bike gruppo on it. The schwinns from the 70s were built like trucks. I put a schwinn frame on the bottom of the stacked bike and put a Huffy on the top. Welded them together so then you had a tall bike.

@davidhakes5141

Ай бұрын

@@hungrybraineater2 I went and had too many birthdays to be messing with those outlandish frame bikes, but, I don't knock them, because I don't make it a practice to judge other people, and what makes them happy. I've seen those tall bikes all over KZread, and TikTok, and the crazy ways people decorate them. If I don't fall off of the thing, if I were to try to ride it, I'm liable to catch a power line, where I live. Have fun, stay safe, and God bless.

@hungrybraineater2

Ай бұрын

@@davidhakes5141 I am a cyclist the tallbike creation is probably the most embarrassing thing ive built. its like that child i dont want to admit that exists lol.

Looks like that freewheel doesn’t have any shift ramps on it, old school friction freewheel. Ran into same issue last week, new Shimano freewheel fixed the issue right up.

Dorked disked this vidja all the way to the end! Wearing my eclipse sun glasses at night too!!! Happy Eclipse Day! 4/08/2024

I like the music so you are correct about opinions! ☺️

Finally an explanation of Einstein's theory of relativity that I can follow! Thank you so much! Your explanation of Newton's law of gravity is shorter though: Ope! By the way your enthusiasm re cantilever brakes is contagious. I was playing with the thought of converting my steed from canties to V-brakes. Now I won't lose any sleep over that anymore.

Another home run, ladies and gentlemen, B. Kfrmr knocks it out of the park. Seriously though, this video made for a very relaxing tail end of the weekend. Thanks!

This one is very similar to my wife’s Diamondback Crestview. Hers is a 7 speed and it has twist shifters. It was literally a free bike, we snagged it off the curb during our local spring clean up. I tore it all down and gave everything a good cleaning, greased everything, and she rode the hell out of it for the last few years.

I’ve been doing basic maintenance and some repairs on my 2 old diesel trucks and various family cars for decades, but a seasonal bike tune up intimidates me. Not any more. This is awesome! Thanks!

@hungrybraineater2

Ай бұрын

Dont feel intimidated. I knew a guy who was a very good mechanic who did transmissions. Also a great bike mechanic as well rode a very nice raliegh steel frame road bike. Alot of the stuff you know from diesel motors will transition over.

@No_ReGretzky99

Ай бұрын

I got very bad ADHD I lose shit 😅

@hungrybraineater2

Ай бұрын

@@No_ReGretzky99 i had like one of those magnetic trays that would keep bolts from running off from you. But to be honest i did not use it as much for fear of magnetizing some of the bolts and screws. But a good tray will solve the issues of you losing stuff.

Ive commuted on a few diamondbacks, my main commuter right now is a diamondback union 2. It’s my car. Unfortunately I haven’t seen a new model out of diamondback in like 4 years. Old diamondbacks are solid choices.

I am very impressed by your cleaning methods.

That laugh sound at 41:27 is killing me 🤣

I bought my wife this exact bike 31 years ago. Each of our three children used it for a while as well. My wife still uses it to ride around the neighborhood, local bike path, and the local CicLAvia. $5 tacos? Those are some fancy tacos!

Man it’s sooooo great watching these videos. Thanks Bike Farmer!🚴

In another video you told us that Dawn is just dish soap + water + isopropyl alcohol. While we don't have the product here in Germany, I mixed those things myself into a spray bottle. It's sadly not foamy but cleans extremly well without a need to wash it down. Awesome, thanks for the tip! Update: It's the spray bottle head. Used one from a bath cleaner and it foams perfectly!

The green stuff is probably genuine slick snot (from a doorknob) for lubrication, of course. A poor pheasant probably owned the bike and made do.

Used your cleaning method for the first time this weekend & it worked really well! I washed the wheels using a garden sprayer, but it was great to not have to deal with a wet frame & chain.

I still have the exact same bike from new. Well... in red, men's frame and I had to replace the front forks because my son though it would be just as good on jumps as a full suspension MTB. I still have it though.

Good effort. Nothin wrong with that bike.

I believe the bike is called a step through and them term women’s bike is no longer used. Take a at Lotte Kopecky’s bike. It has a high top tube. She just won’t the Pairs-Roubaix. I like the step through because I lack the flexibility to throw my leg over it.

I sense a sorta Gestalt therapy to all this. The various components move in their own direction but the individual parts are responsible for their own actions...

I always watch.. all the way through.. good stuff man👍🏻 Im going to listen to a little Madonna now😁

Hey BikeFarmer, love your laid-back style of presentation and nice to see a test ride as part of your rubric. I like your Lemon Pledge tip as well as the spoke tucked into the truing stand to allow you to work with one arm at a time.

Thanks!

@bkefrmr

Ай бұрын

Thanks hey!!

I actually love those friction shifters

At 8:55 wouldn't the grease in the brake post threads be a problem in the not too distant future, says Calvin at Park Tool?

The ol' retwisting the cable trick.

How about video that gives tips for bike comfort in the tems of seat height/position etc?

It took me 3 days to finish the video, but I felt obliged to your request 😉

Just done up a bike for my girlfriend with a similar frame. Had the same trouble with the rear canti pads going back to their original crooked orientation. The cable routing adds a ton of friction as well, going to install a pulley at the seatpost clamp. Those breaks really cost me some nerve...

Wow! From Zero to Hero!

I like that you test ride them…some shops don’t. If you were able to shorten the chain, would it bring the derailleur closer to the freewheel and cause the bike to shift sharper?

Whole lotta wisdom in this one.

Well done sir

I very much enjoy your videos. could you leave a link to the screw holding players? Thanks for what you do. I’ve learned a lot so far and not done yet.

What do you think about running a cable liner over the bare cable between the stops on the downtube? Worthwhile to keep the dust out?

I have a very rusty never used chain. What do I do to free it up and keep it lubed properly? Thanks so much.

Okavango Delta, Botswana, pretty neat . Cheers

@bkefrmr

Ай бұрын

I’ll bring a bike!

Sounded like date night in Sheboygan at about 13 minutes in…

That was the EXACT bike I had to sell when I moved into a too hilly neighborhood. 'Twas fun to ride and bike-walk my dog with. Another good video...except the one part where the music drowned you out. Very slick to turn it down without us noticing. 😉

Great video! I’ve always wondered if you add toe to the pads, won’t they eventually wear flat again?

Could sluggish rear derailleur index shifting also be due to the rear derailleur hanger misalignment? Since I use friction I never have this issue.

Dawn Power Wash also works V E R Y well helping with stubborn tires going on the rim.

@zenicfox

Ай бұрын

Huh, the other day I spent an hour trying to install a tire. Just bought some dawn power wash so ill try that next time

Don't the brake bolts back out if you grease them? I know some bolts that come with threadlock pre applied on them.

A nice simple bike, some good maintenance and a bit of jazz? Oh yeah

fraid cable can be tinned with solder. is what have done for years. those cable end crimps to fast

Watch out for getting slippy silicone polish on the brake pads at 29:42.

@bkefrmr

Ай бұрын

You’re messin’ with me, right?

Love fact/opinion discourse.

OK, OK ...Your good.....😊

I tried the file trick on old brake pads and they stopped like a champ...once... after that back to lackluster performance. Canti brake pads are cheap new I say just replace them.

I wish my old father would run his bike too...

Howling brakes and taco seepage. What a show thx

@ByronAllis

Ай бұрын

You would have loved my chirping plastic pedals. It literally sounded like I had a bird nest in each foot.

With a canti brakes, put a rubber band with a knot (so it can sit tight against the pad and put it on the back side of the pad makes it toe in and get rid of the squeak

Thanks

@bkefrmr

Ай бұрын

Thanks hey!

The gunk stuck to those rear sprockets bothers me. Soak 'em down with de-greaser and give 'em a little scruby scrub with the wire. But hey, it's working and that's the main thing.

I like the music!

@bkefrmr

Ай бұрын

Thanks! Lots of comments mentioning the volume is wonkey. Too loud apparently…

Evapo rust works wonders on rusty bolts…check it out!

What’s that applicator for the triflow? Just some fine tubing? Nice vid

@staticdisaster

Ай бұрын

The tube comes with the bottle (it's taped)

If you get tired of paying for Tenacious Oil, chainsaw bar oil is basically the same stuff but costs less for a quart than the tiny bottle of Phil's.

@DorkDiscFanClub

26 күн бұрын

I've been thinking about trying 90w gear oil however my tenacious bottle is still quite full

I laughed when you said it's a girls bike. They originally came about when girls used to wear long dresses. Nowadays they don't, but they should be mens bikes, slide off the saddle frontally on an incline, well there goes the wedding tackle..... Oh wait, I'm on a girls bike, missed me!

OH yeah I've watched it all the way

A 'Stepthru' frame aka a Mixte.......

@bkefrmr

Ай бұрын

Not exactly

One sticker says USA... The other China.... HA! Nice job, like your channel.

Can I ask what the green-grease is that you are using? I'm used to using 'Lucas X-Tra Heavy Duty' but am fairly devastated that they no longer sell it in Europe anymore (I'm in the Scottish Highlands).

@Dickmanthetard

Ай бұрын

I could be wrong but in other peoples videos I see the green grease all the time and pretty sure it's the stuff from Park Tools.

@TedAndkilde

Ай бұрын

Looked like Phil's Waterproof grease to my eyes. Another good one is Motorex 2000, which is translucent green and looks like the stuff Shimano used BITD.

@mattcameron9349

Ай бұрын

​@@TedAndkildeExcellent, thank you!

Hey Brian K. - Newbie U. Guy here. How do you handle old freehubs that have gummy engagement pawls? I've had success using a heat gun to melt the old grease, but IDK if that will persist.

excellent watch, great bike, the music is a little loud and kinda drowns out your voice a bit but quite relaxing ! just letting you know

@bkefrmr

Ай бұрын

I had some audio issues with this one…

How much will you end up charging for the cleanup/tuneup on this bike?

@bkefrmr

Ай бұрын

$100. Not enough, tbh, but that’s how it goes sometimes

Do you ever encounter some seriously seized seat posts? I can’t get one out of an old bike of mine and it’s driving me nuts

@themoodyteam

Ай бұрын

There’s loads of videos on this. In my experience heat and soaked in WD-40 works best.

Holdup, are 14mm kickstand bolts standard across the pond? Wild! I think I've only ever seen 17-s

@bkefrmr

Ай бұрын

I use Greenfield kickstands. They’re still made in the USA. 14mm since forever. Super common here.

@inconspicuous-nobody

Ай бұрын

@@bkefrmr Neat! I like my 17-s here, they're hard to strip or break, and the damn things tend to come loose unless really cranked down :)

Seems like a good job relaxing work by yourself. Like to see the customer pick up the bick. I just got back into bicking. Got a single speed road bike off facebook 100$ good shape. Don't like the big seat. I agree with you just casually ride not like pro bikers spend lot of money . were stupid tight clothing. Lol

I think it’s almost always better to get to the bottom of things than having faith. People are just afraid of the unknown.

Can i ask something. Considering that I live in a country where the average hourly wage is about 3-4 dollars, and materials are about the same as they are in US, and i always replace rusty bolts. I assume that the majority of the price of service there is in the labor. How it is more profitable for you and for a customer to spend time half-successfully restoring the shine to the bolts than to replace them. The screws cant be more than 10-15 cents a piece. Same question for shift/brake cables that are about 1 or 2 dollars ( or original shimano that are like 5 bucks).

His daughter is going to want it back now.

I watched til the end😊

@bkefrmr

Ай бұрын

Without sleeping!?

@johnkorpics5155

Ай бұрын

@@bkefrmr yea, broke it up in more than one sitting...plus I'm a pretty big bike nerd when I'm not wrenching I'm watching you guys

Do you have an uncle in St Cloud Minnesota? Rod of Rod's Bikes is you in Minnesota. I've been going there for decades. One big room of used bikes and bikes with repair tags, and KHS's hanging from the ceiling. He doesn't even have a website and believe it or not, no business answering machine. PS I grew up in Waukesha. Most of my family still live there. Politics here is as grungy as it is there so yeah, I'd move back. PSS Used to work for Gordie and Frank Boucher...

Thank you for another great video. Andy, what you think about bamboo frames?? 😂😂, did you ever ride one? Just curious

I thought you are supposed to flare out these cantilever arms as far as possible in order to increase leverage on the rim, maximizing braking power

@wolfgangweber9924

Ай бұрын

The one thing I saw on the rear brake is that anchoring the straddle cable a little shorter could result in very slight and not worth the effort improvement of brake performance. Ideally you like the straddle cable to make a 90 degree angle when the brake is applied. Harris Cyclery has a piece on that on the web site.

Green ick is goose poop? Guessing.

Man, you´re so good!

Good to see you purchased the screw pliers! Game changer

@bkefrmr

Ай бұрын

Thanks for the tip! I love ‘em!

Fancy boy 😂.

Wild wood music??

For now all I can give is a like and a subscribe..will buy you a coffee one day though.

my belief is that gary is very secure in himself to ride a girls bike

I probably would have shortened the straddle wires, especially the front one. Great work getting this old bike working well again!

I still don't understand why you have issues with disc brakes. Would rather bleed a disc brake then mess with cantilevers.

@bkefrmr

Ай бұрын

I knew you’d say that, lol

@AstralS7orm

21 күн бұрын

Remind me of the squeek you get from angled disc. Yes they're good. No they're just as painful to set up due to tight tolerances. No your slow acoustic bike you don't ride downhill at 30 mph doesn't need them. It needs multiple compound pads to handle rainy weather instead.

My Gatorade would leak and leave a sticky residue on the underside of the down tube. It would get pretty nasty if it didn’t get cleaned on a regular basis.

Decent folding workstand for a kind of heavy ebike? The stand needs to fit into a pretty confined space when not in use, and I know you'll recommend something good enough for who it's for! Thank you.

Taco time!!!

I have to 2nd it about the music, although I prefer none at all. I think it's easier to concentrate on what you say and do if it at all makes sense?

Andy, your slightly rambling philosophical commentary set to this music is making my day.

My neighbour came to me with his 3 month old Specialized racing bike. A beautiful thing. A spoke had come loose from one of the nipples and when I went to check the wheel it was clear that the spoke tension was never adaquate, also on the front wheel. I said I could true the wheels and finish the wheels properly but suggested he returns to the shiny shop where he bought it and complain given the spokes had come loose because they wereall poorly tensioned to start off with. The wheels were terribly untrue, I'd be embaressed to build wheels like that and sell them. They charged him 40 euros for the pleasure. I play guitar and bought a Gibson that was also poorly set up when bought new. The setup of high quality parts are often poorly done even in the high end shops, you don't always get what you paid for.

@steelisreal4313

Ай бұрын

Was always under the impression wheels were setup tension wise at the factory. Granted it's the job of bike shop to check the wheels...

@hungrybraineater2

Ай бұрын

​@@steelisreal4313 Yes and No. Sometimes people order a frame and then specc it out to the gruppo set they want so that means the shop has to assemble the bike to that specc. Surprised this happened at a shop that was selling specialized. A good mechanic knows how to true wheels that has always been kind of the skill that really marked you as a mechanic that knew what they were doing. Alot of shops dont do wheel trueing because its time consuming and more of an art then a science.

@steelisreal4313

Ай бұрын

@@hungrybraineater2 seems this day and age everyone is rushed and in a hurry. Things get overlooked idk..

@MumfordJim

Ай бұрын

I don’t think he should have paid the $40. If they don’t check them when they sell him the bike.

@hungrybraineater2

Ай бұрын

@@steelisreal4313 Its not that its just labor cost is time. Is it worth it for me as a shop owner to have a guy true a wheel or is it better if he is doing another tuneup in that time he spent getting that wheel to be perfect for that other bike he is tuning up. Think of it as he could be doing another tuneup or lookover or something like that which means more money into the shop. Alot of shops wont touch the department store bikes because they know they lose money on trying to fix those bikes. It takes alot of time to get those really old broken huffies to a condition where they are adjusted right. But neglecting that customer base can you really call yourself a bikeshop if you cant fix some average joes bike? And some are just snobs there is always that to.