Sears Free Spirit BSO

So rather than spending some time fixing up the Schwinn that I posted about months ago, I took a couple of hours to take care of most of the rehabilitation of a pretty green Sears Free Spirit 5 speed.   The bike is a ‘classic’ department store junker, complete with the BMA6 sticker on the seat tube.  The other decals make it look classier than it really is, which is a plus in my book.

Unlike most department store clunkers, this one has 27″ wheels on it.  Sure they are chrome steel and have really low quality hubs, but they are true old school road bike size.  I felt the bike should have wider tires, befitting its highest and best use, as a neighborhood cruiser happy to speed up a trip for a cup of joe from the neighborhood caffeine dispensary,  I thought wider would be better, and found some high pressure (85psi) Kenda K40 27 x 1 3/8 tires at Niagara Cycle Works.  

http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_info.php?products_id=13971

The tires are cheap and the widest size available for the old 27″ size rim.
The old tires were horribly hard to remove.  The rubber had deteriorated and had sort of glued itself to the metal of the rim.  After about 10 minutes of muscle, tire levers and the strategic use of a pair of channel locks, the old rubber was off.  The new tires mounted with a bit of effort and looked good.

As the wheels came off, I noticed how tight both the front and rear hubs were.  I opened them up and gave a very healthy squirt of grease.  They were pretty dry and I did not do the clean up that a better bike would get.  They adjusted surprisingly easily and both wheels now spin free and smooth.  Well cheap smooth not Shimano XT or Campy Record smooth.

After that I opened up the headset.  I have never seen bearings so dry and sitting in a bits of rust from the races.  I cleaned it out quickly and globbed in the grease.   The action was smooth and serviceable.   I repeated the same steps with the bottom bracket so all the bearings (except for the pedals, but they are good enough) were now happy and sitting in the luxury that is Park grease.

So I had hoped to be ready to go, but in taking the headset apart the brake hanger had to come off and the front brake cable came off and was too frayed to be reused.   I had hoped to pick up a cheap Bell cable set at Walmart today, but they were out.   So this one thing still needs to be done.

When I got home from running errands, I opened the garage door and at the moment, heard the sound of air rushing out.  The front tube on the bike (I had replaced the tires and rim strip but not the tubes as they had been holding air for over a week) sadly deflated.

So two things to do to finish up the bike.  Well, I also want to do a quick Brillo Pad cleanup of the rear chrome fender and a quick wipe down of the rest of the bike.  Oh, and a picture or two to post.