restore or sell? - Stella Arctic -

[Marrzipan]

i bought an Arctic over the Summer for a fair price based on its condition. It could use new brakes (brake lines are rusted), and the gears need to be fixed. there's an unexplainable small gash under the shifting lever which worries me about the stability of the frame. is it worth fixing the brakes and the shifter, and maybe welding a plate over the small gash? or should i get rid of it altogether?

here is a pic of an Arctic i found on the web, the only difference is mine is red in color, w/ a black saddle and has north road handlebars. i'm thinking of keeping the handlebars anyway just because they're so pleasant on short leisure rides.

what do you guys think? cheers!

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t326/junktrader/craigs230.jpg

 

[alfeng]

i bought an Arctic over the Summer for a fair price based on its condition. It could use new brakes (brake lines are rusted), and the gears need to be fixed. there's an unexplainable small gash under the shifting lever which worries me about the stability of the frame. is it worth fixing the brakes and the shifter, and maybe welding a plate over the small gash? or should i get rid of it altogether?

what do you guys think?

Yes, before you abandon the bike, try welding the crack, filing it smooth and then welding a gusset over it ...

BTW. I had a similarly old, mid-70s vintage Raleigh which appeared to have a "crack" in its top tube ... when I sanded the paint away to inspectd the crack I found it was simply the paint which had split.

Maybe you will be as lucky when you remove the paint (which you will have to do to investigate the frame) from the gash in your frame's downtube.

FYI. You can either replace the brake cables & housing OR drip some 3-in-1/("household") oil into the housing ... the latter is only if you have a lot of time & oil to expend on the rejuvenation ...

Also, clean off all the grime from the bike's moving parts (including the chain) & re-grease/lubricate, accordingly.

 

[SwissMade]

here is a pic of an Arctic i found on the web, the only difference is mine is red in color, w/ a black saddle and has north road handlebars. i'm thinking of keeping the handlebars anyway just because they're so pleasant on short leisure rides.

I also have an Artic frame the needs to be restored, everything on it is shot but the frame itself. The frame I have is identical to the bike in your picture. I was thinking about bringing it in to my friends Alt Bike shop but didn't want to wait for an extended period of time for it to be fixed. But as far as any information on these bikes I can not find any literature on them.

 

[gpzj94]

I had this same question at one point, and the feedback that I most appreciated was this - sell or give the old bike that needs to be restored to someone looking into getting into biking, but doesn't want/have the money to spend on a new bike. They can fix the bike up and learn about the components, then ride a nice bike to get into riding. You can buy the new bike of your dreams and know that your old bike is still getting a good use.