Spalding Blade ATB 18" bike

[mredzadventure]

Hello to all . I'm new here and have a question I was given this an older Spaulding Blade ATB bike it is set up like hybrid on road or semi off road. I am a casual rider at best. It needs some TLC and the local shop wants $130.00 to fix it up. I am very handy with a set of wrenches I am thinking of fixing it myself. The problem is I don't have a lot of experience with bikes. I need to replace the front and rear brake pads and front cable and the chain is skipping on the sprocket. It looks like the bearings for the pedals will need to be repacked or replaced. I need some resources for parts or a manual for part numbers. Is this thing even worth messing with. The rest of the bike is in good shape. I would like to know who made the frame and brake parts. I can't believe they still make brake parts for this thing and If I just need to replace them with an upgrade. Right now I have zero dollars invested. So I have nothing to loose. I plan on using this old girl just for fun and to get back into shape. Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[vspa]

well the irony is that its easier to find parts for top end bikes than parts for the one you have, at least online. The bike shop might have them because thats what they do, nothing is discarded but kept at hand for being eventually needed. But you don't need a whole lot of stuff so i would say that you can give a shot yourself, adjusting brakes and gears is pretty much trial and error and quite straight forward, as for parts you only need the brake pads and new cable, about the pedals you'll be better buying new ones, p.s. if you get to caliber correectly the chain but it keeps jumping when pedalling hard then that means that it has reach operating life and you need a new one and new sprockets unfortunately ATB is not really a term used in cycling, first time i hear it (all terrain bike)

 

[alienator]

Park Tool has an excellent site which gives tutorials for virtually anything you might need to do to a bike, and it can be found right here. Likewise, video tutorials of all manner of bike repairs can found on YouTube. You can also google a given repair and find links to many blogs and other sites with directions. I'd recommend starting with the Park Tool site.

 

[mredzadventure]

Originally Posted by vspa .

well the irony is that its easier to find parts for top end bikes than parts for the one you have, at least online. The bike shop might have them because thats what they do, nothing is discarded but kept at hand for being eventually needed. But you don't need a whole lot of stuff so i would say that you can give a shot yourself, adjusting brakes and gears is pretty much trial and error and quite straight forward, as for parts you only need the brake pads and new cable, about the pedals you'll be better buying new ones,
p.s. if you get to caliber correectly the chain but it keeps jumping when pedalling hard then that means that it has reach operating life and you need a new one and new sprockets unfortunately
ATB is not really a term used in cycling, first time i hear it (all terrain bike)

Thanks for the reply I'm pretty new to the whole cycling thing I wasn't sure where to post my question I didn't see a broken down old bike category /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

Originally Posted by alienator .

Park Tool has an excellent site which gives tutorials for virtually anything you might need to do to a bike, and it can be found right here. Likewise, video tutorials of all manner of bike repairs can found on YouTube. You can also google a given repair and find links to many blogs and other sites with directions. I'd recommend starting with the Park Tool site.

Thanks for the Info It looks like I have a good place to start.

 

[alfeng]

Originally Posted by mredzadventure .

Hello to all . I'm new here and have a question I was given this an older Spaulding Blade ATB bike it is set up like hybrid on road or semi off road. I am a casual rider at best. It needs some TLC and the local shop wants $130.00 to fix it up. I am very handy with a set of wrenches I am thinking of fixing it myself. The problem is I don't have a lot of experience with bikes. I need to replace the front and rear brake pads and front cable and the chain is skipping on the sprocket. It looks like the bearings for the pedals will need to be repacked or replaced. I need some resources for parts or a manual for part numbers. Is this thing even worth messing with. The rest of the bike is in good shape. I would like to know who made the frame and brake parts. I can't believe they still make brake parts for this thing and If I just need to replace them with an upgrade. Right now I have zero dollars invested. So I have nothing to loose. I plan on using this old girl just for fun and to get back into shape. Any help is greatly appreciated

FYI. 95% of the information you need can be found online ...

1. www.sheldonbrown.com
2. www.parktool.com
3. YouTube

There ARE some bicycle specific tools ... some of the tools are basically thinner-bodied (i.e., stamped steel of varying quality), often over-sized Metric wrenches; but, most of the tools you need are generic ...

BTW. If the outboard end of the pedal has a cap which can be unscrewed, then you can probably just flush the bearings & repack with grease without disassembling the pedals ...

• the body of some pedals unthread from the spindle from the crank side of the pedal ... the driveside pedal's threaded collar has a left hand thread
• the non-driveside pedal's threaded collar has a normal, right hand thread

[*] some pedals cannot be conveniently serviced ​

 

[mredzadventure]

^^^ Thanks for the info That is going to be a big help/img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

 

[Volnix]

Originally Posted by mredzadventure .

1. I need to replace the front and rear brake pads

2. and front cable

3. and the chain is skipping on the sprocket.

4. It looks like the bearings for the pedals will need to be repacked or replaced.

5. I can't believe they still make brake parts for this thing and If I just need to replace them with an upgrade

1. The break pads are pretty easy to replace. You can replace the whole pad, or buy some pad insert replacements etc. Brake pads are usually the same between bikes. There are some main brands like Shimano Campagnolo etc and many other brands make brake pads with the same design. A pair of 4 very good quality ones will cost 30euro max. Its very easy to replace them.

2. The cable you can also buy from a shop. Some cables are more expensive then others. Its again pretty easy to replace but you might want to check about the end-bits of the cable that are securing the cable to the levers. The deraileurs secure the cable with a nut bolt I think.

3. If the derailur is in good condition then all you have to do is to adjust it. There are many directions online in youtube and others on how to adjust deraileurs. Again no speciality tools required.

4. You might want to buy a new pair of pedals. Rebuilding the bearings cage is probably too time consuming, if the pedals are repairable. A new pair of sealed catridge pedals costs something like 20euro in alloy quality.

5.They probably still do make brake parts. In the worst case you might want to buy a new pair of Shimano V-Brake blocks, which are probably 30euro with the pads.

I havent done the calculation but I think its less then 130dollars for the total, plus you get to repair it on your own.

One thing though that might be good to buy is a torque-wrench. Especially if you are planning on securing bolts in the handlebar... You might also wanna be careful with some bolts. You might want to add some bolt securing paste to some (that bluish gel like stuff that secures bolts in place). You might also want to be extra careful with rust in bolts.

Good luck. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

 

[mredzadventure]

Thanks ! That helps a bunch I have most of the tools and The thread compound is a good idea.