Refreshing an older Mountain Bike

[Nessism1]

The bike is back on the road. Cleaned the new/used DX shifter, and did the same with the XT shifters that I'll hold as spares. I fully disassembled the XT rear shifter, and had a bit of a learning curve getting it back together properly. Also, interestingly, the DX front shifter purchased on eBay is of a different internal design than the original DX part; identical on the outside, different inside. Shimano was busy in those days.

Changed all cables, new chain, new brake pads, and replated several rusty hardware pieces. Also serviced the rear hub, because the freehub is making nasty bearing-grinding noises. Post cleaning and it's still making noises. Research showed that Shimano 105 and DX shared the same freehub body, and I got lucky and found a NOS part on eBay for cheap. I'll change that when it arrives. No hurry on that, though. All good fun!

BTW, the value of old MTB's is shooting up. Specialized Stumpjumpers, one of the segment leaders back in the day, sell for about $700 these days. Seems crazy to me.

 

[wolverine86]

The bike is back on the road. Cleaned the new/used DX shifter, and did the same with the XT shifters that I'll hold as spares. I fully disassembled the XT rear shifter, and had a bit of a learning curve getting it back together properly. Also, interestingly, the DX front shifter purchased on eBay is of a different internal design than the original DX part; identical on the outside, different inside. Shimano was busy in those days.

Changed all cables, new chain, new brake pads, and replated several rusty hardware pieces. Also serviced the rear hub, because the freehub is making nasty bearing-grinding noises. Post cleaning and it's still making noises. Research showed that Shimano 105 and DX shared the same freehub body, and I got lucky and found a NOS part on eBay for cheap. I'll change that when it arrives. No hurry on that, though. All good fun!

BTW, the value of old MTB's is shooting up. Specialized Stumpjumpers, one of the segment leaders back in the day, sell for about $700 these days. Seems crazy to me.

Interesting and great job with that old Nishiki!

We have two old Trek 930's from the mid 1990's (his and hers, we bought them just before we got married). We've kept them in a shed (with a concrete floor) out of the rain and they haven't been ridden much lately. I got mine in pretty good shape now with a new chain, recent new rear sprocket and of course good lubrication elsewhere. The grip shift units on both sprockets still work great. I need to work on my wife's bike; she doesn't ride it hardly at all and it has been neglected. I'd probably prefer to ride hers if I were doing serious offroading, as it's the next frame size down from mine.

 

[gunnellett]

What year is the Nishiki?

 

[gunnellett]

I still have my Gary Fisher Super Cal I bought new in 91, maybe 92. My memory isn't what it used to be!

That bike was my pride and joy. I loved the oversized aluminum frame.

Has the Suntour XC Pro group.

 

[Nessism1]

What year is the Nishiki?

Sorry for the late reply. Just saw this message. Regarding the year, I'm not sure, but I think 1989. It's working well, and I'm riding it every day. I'm doing laps around an industrial park near my house, trying to improve my fitness. Making small steps in that regard. Gotta toughen in my backside, because it starts to hurt a good bit after one hour of riding. I've been exploring modern saddle technology, having bought two different, fairly expensive samples, but they feel no better than my old Avocets, of which I have several.

I've also been servicing one of my road bikes. As soon as my bum gets in shape, I'll start training on it instead of the MTB. The STI shifters went in the ultrasonic for deep cleaning. Changed all cables, and installed a shorter stem. Oh, and new 28 tires. Back when I built this bike, everyone rode 23's, but the modern trend is to go FAT! This frame won't accept anything fatter than 28's, so that's my limit here. I upgraded the wheels a few years ago with modern fat rims, so that's another thing done.

This is an older photo, before some upgrades were done.

 

[853okg]

This made me smile. I remember many years ago my aunt Harumi explaining to me how she was taught to speak English prior to her trip to the states.
One of the phrases she was taught was “Kenai heh poo?” to mean can I help you?
In the same vein one of the most famous Japanese mystery writers used the nom de plume Edo (former name of modern day Tokyo) Gawa (river) Rampo (meandering walk) Edo Gawa Rampo, which when said repeatedly and listened to with a Japanese ear sounds like Edgar Allen Poe.
Anyway, “kenai heh poo” means something like the farmer’s wife passed gas.

 

[buck91]

Late to the discussion but gummed up Shimano trigger shifters are a well known thing in the bike world. Everyone has their favorite way to address them and I've tried many products and techniques. Hitting them with CLP (I use Breakfree) and letting it soak for as long as possible- days to weeks if you have the time- is far and away the most effective technique I have found.


Basically, the grease that Shimano uses (used?) in the small little pivots on the ratchet pawls gums up and turns to a sticky glue after many years. Anything that dissolves this gummed up grease will work, but a lot of solvents flash off long before they can dissolve and penetrate deeply enough.

 

[Nessism1]

Late to the discussion but gummed up Shimano trigger shifters are a well known thing in the bike world. Everyone has their favorite way to address them and I've tried many products and techniques. Hitting them with CLP (I use Breakfree) and letting it soak for as long as possible- days to weeks if you have the time- is far and away the most effective technique I have found.


Basically, the grease that Shimano uses (used?) in the small little pivots on the ratchet pawls gums up and turns to a sticky glue after many years. Anything that dissolves this gummed up grease will work, but a lot of solvents flash off long before they can dissolve and penetrate deeply enough.

Saw a reference in a couple of different places online, where Shimano had some training videos that referenced the use of dry moly lubricant for shifters. Of course, this won't work unless the old grease is removed, thus my use of the ultrasonic. I'm using Triflow in one set of shifters, and Dry-Slide moly in the other. I'm confident that both will work well.

 

[buck91]

Saw a reference in a couple of different places online, where Shimano had some training videos that referenced the use of dry moly lubricant for shifters. Of course, this won't work unless the old grease is removed, thus my use of the ultrasonic. I'm using Triflow in one set of shifters, and Dry-Slide moly in the other. I'm confident that both will work well.

Should work great. I’ve always wondered how often one should reapply oil to prevent wear and corrosion…. But I’ve never seen a “dry” shifter issue either

 

[BISCUT]

Reminds me of Kish gravel frame I have. Modify it to put on some over sized disc brakes. How wide a tire can you get on there?