A bit of free time

Well, work has finally settled down and I now have some time to ramble on endlessly about bikes and junk pickin'. As I scrolled down my most recent posts dating back as far as April 2012 I realize that all of the projects I  had lined out remain incomplete projects. I've also managed to aquire several new projects. Several of these new projects will be general overhauls, which I tend to enjoy doing and therefore a couple of these have ended up at the front of the line.

The first such project........a 1985 Schwinn Mirada. Prior to taking the initial pics I did do a frame wipedown.

As you can see from the pics it boasts a 4130 chrome-moly main frame and forged dropouts with a derailleur hanger. Some of the earlier Miradas' where fairly unimpressive. This later model has a decent quality frame and components and was extremely clean when I found it. It is what I refer to as a "garage queen".......ie; a bicycle that appears to have been purchased new and hung up or put away in the garage, basement or attic for many years. In this case, 27 years. When a new bike gets ridden it tends to start releasing grease through the hubs, bottom bracket and headset. This Mirada has very little of that and when I put the wheels on the truing stand they needed very little adjustment. The rear wheel was a little off center but I'm finding that to be fairly common.

Last night I removed the crankset, BB, chain, wheels and freewheel for cleaning, regreasing and installation.

I should have mentioned this earlier but I am preparing for another swap meet December 2nd in Milwaukee. I would like to have the Mirada completed within the next week or so, as I only have about 3 weeks to prepare about 4 or 5 complete bikes, 6 or 7 framesets and a slough of parts and accessories.

Fast forward a few days........................and the Mirada is back together. I have replaced the seatpost and saddle with something a bit more modern. Wheels have been trued and hubs rebuilt. Headset has been rebuilt and new tires and tubes installed as well as some different pedals.  I decided not to replace the cables and housings at this point but I do need to do a few more minor adjustments, such as new grips and buttoning up a frayed cable end.