I've been restoring cheap old bikes into something rideable for people for awhile now. Usually, I have old bikes given to me, or I find bikes that have been thrown away. Typically, I strip the front derailleur / shifter / rear brakes / unnecessary parts off, strip decals and restore the paint, strip parts of rust and grime, then add new chain+pedals+grips. I usually give the bikes away to people who need them, and set them up to suit the needs of those people. You are one of the best out there at what you do.
I love your philosophy (and your channel). I suffer from it as well. I am forever rescuing bikes from the scrap heap. Just started on a dilapidated 1981 Sears Free Spirit 3-speed. Using a low budget and old parts, I plan to convert it to a single speed coaster brake, and giving it to co-worker's young daughter.
watching all these 80's-90's rebuilds really brings me back to all the bikes i have owned since 84' . the component design and placements were crazy on some of them. thanks for all the content.
With you, Eric, Seth, and of course RJ…AMAZING guys and wonderful skills, tips, tricks and reuse of vintage bikes. OH…almost forgot Monkeyshred and Torvii! Thanks to each and everyone of you! Saver of Bridgestone’s myself….but learned so much from you all.
Another awesome video - I recently picked up the Norco version of the Bigfoot from 1993. Thank you for providing so many helpful tips, tricks and all that inspiration!
I have a 80s dawes mountain bike . Great for taller people 6'1 and my friend loved it 6'4 . Great to see one get a rescue saving chain , bearings and lovely handlebars. ❤
Not sure if u will see this but use autosol metal polish to hide those deep frame scratches with a lot of elbow grease it will remove most of them!!!!!!! It's my favorite thing ever to get rid of scuffs scratches marks etc! Love your videos!
Oldshovel is back saving another bike from an early demise. Well done! I just finished restoring a 1991 Bridgestone MB-4 with a white paint job and did something similar in buffing with TruGrit. That stuff is pretty amazing. We took it for a spin at Stub Stewart in Oregon this weekend, so good. But can we talk chains for a moment? Please help me sleep at night and give me a chain wear check. You put in a lot of effort to restore that chain. You did a great job. My experience is that after cleaning them up, they loosen up and need replacing.
That rear brake is crazy! I can only imagine the stress it received under load, not to mention dirt and debris. Love the Evaporust results on the chain 👍
Wow! I appreciate there may have been some “editing out the struggle”, but I’ve never seen a bike that old come apart so easily. It must have been very well maintained. I can’t imagine our climate in the UK allowing it. 😊
Hmm… Oval chainrings it’s as if you’ve created some sort of time machine, and you have! Looks great. Thanks for pointing me toward another good channel! And thanks for sharing!
Awesome job, that must have been a high end bike in its day having one piece bar stem, I thought only klein did that. Love the lego brake blocks. I have to get going on my sympathetic resto of a gt that seems to be 90 percent original. It was left outside a house with the garbage, I saw it as I drove past went and asked they said please take it.
Given the components its reasonably equipped, but not too great. I also wondered why the industry hardly makes them one piece stems. Its such a clean way to do it and on a lot of bikes these two parts are not swapped anyways… Opportunity to save weight and time and have a clean look, not hard to manufacture either…
@@el_micha agreed they look so clean and are lighter and probably stronger. These times there's less choice in stem length so your right you'd think more would opt for it especially on xc bikes
You should track and note how many hours you put into a project like this. It would help people understand when they bring their old bike into a bike shop why it's over $200 in just labor cost alone. I'm guessing you spent at least 15 hours on this one and I'm guessing low because you know your way around a bike! Awesome job 👏 as always!
@8:28 Just curious what OldShovel used...0000 Steel Wool with or without soap? I just cleaned up a crankset this morning using brillo pad and dish soap. After a rinse and wipe down I went to town using Mothers Mag&Aluminum polish. Unfortunately the crankset is a riveted entry level one.
Nice job. Can't say I've ever heard of Sekai before but it looks like a decent bike. Maybe they didn't make it to this side of the Atlantic. My tip for this sort of thing is to touch those little scratches up with an artist's brush and some model paint - it doesn't come out perfect but it does make those high contrast scratches a whole lot less noticeable.
Hi. What about the rust spots, don’t they need addressing? I live in a maritime environment and have a frame that I want to preserve original paint on but that has rust here and there. I am worried that rubbing away at the rust will also destroy the surrounding paint. What do you suggest? Thanks!
I just bought a MT Shasta mountain bike off Craigslist just to get the bikepacking rack and bag which were included. I originally planned on just re-selling the bike after taking off the rack and bag.... Now thanks to Old Shovel, I might be inspired to restore it and keep it...
Oh, the horror that was Bio-Pace chainrings... how DID they get the ovality back to front? I remember thinking that it was bass-ackwards first time I rode the Avanti Ridge Rider that I bought in 1989.
So is it okay to use an old chain and an old cassette thats covered in rust? Why not just replace them? Won't the old chain slip on the old cassette? Im currently doing my first restoration on an old stumpjumper and i just assumed the drivetrain had to be replaced with the cables and housing
Why did you clean up the rusted chain instead of putting on a new one? With it being so rusty and potentially stretched because of that, wouldn't it be better to put on a new chain to prevent wear on the chainrings and cassette?
One of my favorite bikes was an old Meile that we stripped to the metal and had a guy auto fill over the welds and then smooth it all out and painted after removing the middle cable route on top tube. It was the fastest coasting bike I ever owned . I hope it still has the huge Santa Cruz stickers on the sides and my FLIP Cheech and Chong sticker on front as a badge .
Great job. I like to err on the side of originality with patina, or the paint restoration you did in this video. I also like your creativity and skills with the bare frame repaints you do. Fyi plumbers putty can be used in place of clay if needed. Also not as abrasive as clay.
It's to keep the bar end from punching out a hole in the grip if slammed into something. The coin acts as a bar end plug held against the bar end by the grip.
I’ve got a general question. You’re videos really brought up the interested for vintage mountainbikes in me. As I’m pretty tall I found that most of the 26” bikes are very small for me. I’m somewhat familiar with the sizing of road bikes but haven’t found a good translation to the smaller 26” Mountainbikes. Is the a useable chart or something, where I can measure my body height etc and then find out which frame size I need?
The manufacturers usually list size chart on their website. I ride mostly older mountain bikes and a 19-20 inch frame is just the right size for moi being 6' 0"
you must have a 6th sense for picking out bikes where the BB comes off without issues and the headset is not pitted ;) careful with the front brake though, the pulley under the stem is usually where the cable gets weak and snaps so best to mount a cable catcher on the fork to prevent from going OTB 😬 nice work 👍
Wipe and scrub lightly with WD-40 then degreaser like Awesome or Zep then rubbing compound or Mother's. Mother's does a great job on paint. Then use a cleaner wax like Meguiar’s.
Scratches on white paint are very easy to hide. After cleaning the frame just use "Enamel Paint" from Revell, Humbrol or Tamaya. It's an acrylic paint, available in many, many different color tones, matte and glossy, used for model kits (ships, airplanes etc.) Paint chipped spots simply disappear.
@@GNMi79 We have Revell paint everywhere in Europe. They have water-based paint and enamel paint. I use enamel for bikes. Quite often I use nail polish/lacquer from the drugstore which are acrylic paints, but quite soft. Women seem to like endless shades of color and after a few drugstores searching I usually find a color that fits to the frame paint.
Spindatt getting some recognition 🙌🙌
I've been restoring cheap old bikes into something rideable for people for awhile now. Usually, I have old bikes given to me, or I find bikes that have been thrown away. Typically, I strip the front derailleur / shifter / rear brakes / unnecessary parts off, strip decals and restore the paint, strip parts of rust and grime, then add new chain+pedals+grips. I usually give the bikes away to people who need them, and set them up to suit the needs of those people. You are one of the best out there at what you do.
I love Spindatt, so happy to see him get some love from Oldshovel!
fr. i saw that zach gallardo mentioned him and got so excited. dude needs more exposure and support. such great content
I concur with both of you!
spindatt is a hidden gem in the youtube bike community. such entertaining and informative content he really needs some more exposure
Agreed
@@oldshovel its also great to see that youre using your large following to help support smaller chanels
I am happy to see You and Eric pickin of ideas from each other.
You Both are were fun to watch. Keep on riding and stay healthy.
I like so much when you keep the original derailleus. These Shimano Deore works very well. Thanks for our dedication.
I love your philosophy (and your channel). I suffer from it as well. I am forever rescuing bikes from the scrap heap. Just started on a dilapidated 1981 Sears Free Spirit 3-speed. Using a low budget and old parts, I plan to convert it to a single speed coaster brake, and giving it to co-worker's young daughter.
who here forgets this guy exist but when he uploads you get so happy
watching all these 80's-90's rebuilds really brings me back to all the bikes i have owned since 84' . the component design and placements were crazy on some of them. thanks for all the content.
This old bikes were made with blood, sweat and tears ...not like today ...seeing this coming back to life makes me happy ! Well done Oldshovel !
With you, Eric, Seth, and of course RJ…AMAZING guys and wonderful skills, tips, tricks and reuse of vintage bikes. OH…almost forgot Monkeyshred and Torvii! Thanks to each and everyone of you! Saver of Bridgestone’s myself….but learned so much from you all.
Garys projects are great too. And there is a Comet restoration channel. I like those.,
you have the best taste in bike-tubers
I follow the same on youtube, taught me a lot, thanks to all of you.
Another awesome video - I recently picked up the Norco version of the Bigfoot from 1993. Thank you for providing so many helpful tips, tricks and all that inspiration!
I have a 80s dawes mountain bike . Great for taller people 6'1 and my friend loved it 6'4 . Great to see one get a rescue saving chain , bearings and lovely handlebars. ❤
I love that snapping sound bolts make.
I love seeing the bikes in action once you finish them... that's so heartwarming :)
I love the Spindatt channel, I have been watching his channel for a couple years now. I like his old 26" mtb to gravel builds alot.
Spindatt's cool. If you're into 26" gravel conversions check out Toasty Rides!
Eric is a legend!! That frame looks very similar to an early 90’s muddy fox
The trails you're riding are always so cool! Not too dangerous or crazy but stunning views in the mountains!
I like how you kept is so original, I'd be tempted to go with a 1X and other more trendy stuff. Even reused the chain, nice.
Not sure if u will see this but use autosol metal polish to hide those deep frame scratches with a lot of elbow grease it will remove most of them!!!!!!! It's my favorite thing ever to get rid of scuffs scratches marks etc!
Love your videos!
Great to see you take the restored bike for a spin. It brings the bike truly back to life.
Oldshovel is back saving another bike from an early demise. Well done! I just finished restoring a 1991 Bridgestone MB-4 with a white paint job and did something similar in buffing with TruGrit. That stuff is pretty amazing. We took it for a spin at Stub Stewart in Oregon this weekend, so good. But can we talk chains for a moment? Please help me sleep at night and give me a chain wear check. You put in a lot of effort to restore that chain. You did a great job. My experience is that after cleaning them up, they loosen up and need replacing.
Greater than I expected small, compacted, easy to use
Huge admiration for your patience and attention to detail
That rear brake is crazy! I can only imagine the stress it received under load, not to mention dirt and debris. Love the Evaporust results on the chain 👍
Why in the heck did they do that? I have a Bridgestone with same thing
Yo a sekai?! I restored an unassuming 80s Sekai roadbike and that was one of the best riding bikes ive ever ridden
Works great...rides great & feels great...restored by a great guy...well done
Wow! I appreciate there may have been some “editing out the struggle”, but I’ve never seen a bike that old come apart so easily. It must have been very well maintained. I can’t imagine our climate in the UK allowing it. 😊
So good. So rewarding to watch. What a transformation.
Oldshovel and Spindatt. A match made in heaven.
Hmm… Oval chainrings it’s as if you’ve created some sort of time machine, and you have! Looks great. Thanks for pointing me toward another good channel! And thanks for sharing!
They were called Bio-Pace.
They still make oval chain rings.
those tires have a satisfying crunch
Omg my favorite Cantis and I love those bars!!
This channel is bike therapy
Awesome job, that must have been a high end bike in its day having one piece bar stem, I thought only klein did that. Love the lego brake blocks. I have to get going on my sympathetic resto of a gt that seems to be 90 percent original. It was left outside a house with the garbage, I saw it as I drove past went and asked they said please take it.
Given the components its reasonably equipped, but not too great.
I also wondered why the industry hardly makes them one piece stems. Its such a clean way to do it and on a lot of bikes these two parts are not swapped anyways… Opportunity to save weight and time and have a clean look, not hard to manufacture either…
@@el_micha agreed they look so clean and are lighter and probably stronger. These times there's less choice in stem length so your right you'd think more would opt for it especially on xc bikes
Love it 😀😀😀
Would’ve love to tried on white tires for this colour scheme.
Awesome restoration old shovel like the bike
You should track and note how many hours you put into a project like this. It would help people understand when they bring their old bike into a bike shop why it's over $200 in just labor cost alone. I'm guessing you spent at least 15 hours on this one and I'm guessing low because you know your way around a bike! Awesome job 👏 as always!
@8:28 Just curious what OldShovel used...0000 Steel Wool with or without soap? I just cleaned up a crankset this morning using brillo pad and dish soap. After a rinse and wipe down I went to town using Mothers Mag&Aluminum polish. Unfortunately the crankset is a riveted entry level one.
That Deore system came out in ‘87 and was used ‘87 and ‘88, same with u-brakes. Wow, super clean bottom bracket!
Do you have any tips for restoring sun faded paintwork without respraying? 91 orange marin forks and bars for full resto... cheers 🍻
Remarkable. Thanks for taking the time to post this.
I love continental tires!! Great video 👍🏻
Nice job. Can't say I've ever heard of Sekai before but it looks like a decent bike. Maybe they didn't make it to this side of the Atlantic. My tip for this sort of thing is to touch those little scratches up with an artist's brush and some model paint - it doesn't come out perfect but it does make those high contrast scratches a whole lot less noticeable.
The thrift stores by you have such nice bikes! The ones around me have super cheap department store bikes. Super nice find tho!
Really clean looking bike!
Those lovely gear shifters.
unbelievable difference! can't believe the chain was salvageable
Hi did not apply any coating as protection to the paint after cleaning?
Another great one love watching you at work
Great choice of bike that many would overlook.
Hi. What about the rust spots, don’t they need addressing? I live in a maritime environment and have a frame that I want to preserve original paint on but that has rust here and there. I am worried that rubbing away at the rust will also destroy the surrounding paint. What do you suggest? Thanks!
I love the patina on the older bikes.
I just bought a MT Shasta mountain bike off Craigslist just to get the bikepacking rack and bag which were included. I originally planned on just re-selling the bike after taking off the rack and bag.... Now thanks to Old Shovel, I might be inspired to restore it and keep it...
@spindatt ehhhhhhh omg!!!! This is so exciting !! A crossover between channels I love!! Thank you so much to both of you!
Oh, the horror that was Bio-Pace chainrings... how DID they get the ovality back to front?
I remember thinking that it was bass-ackwards first time I rode the Avanti Ridge Rider that I bought in 1989.
Great job!!
That bike came out very nice
Awesome work, thanks for sharing! I love your videos... 👍🏻
That under mount brake is a sweet design.
Such a cool bike, given a new life yet again. Do you not find that components such as the chain and cassette need replacing from wear?
Spinndat is one of my favorite bike youtubers definitely top notch content
Can you share your camera setup during your ride? Was really cool to see from that perspective
Great video! I don't think i have ever seen rear brakes on the bottom like that... Do they not get dirtier down in that position?
yeah it's a u-brake. I think the dirt was one reason why they aren't around anymore.
I have a 1988 Bridgestone CB1. Sell or restore?
What’s up with brakes on bottom of frame 😮
Perfect djob 👍😉
sekaiというブランドは初めて知りました。日本ではほとんど知られていないブランドですね。
日本語にもsekaiという言葉があって、意味は世界です。
いい自転車ですね。
hi! I would send you a bicycle from the USSR times from Russia for restoration! you are doing very well, I look at it with pleasure every time 👍
So is it okay to use an old chain and an old cassette thats covered in rust? Why not just replace them? Won't the old chain slip on the old cassette? Im currently doing my first restoration on an old stumpjumper and i just assumed the drivetrain had to be replaced with the cables and housing
Awesome work!!! 👏👏👏
Thats the easiest retro bike BB removal I have ever seen. They usually require a quick trip to hell and back!! 😀
I am going to try and fill all the scratches and match the paint because the paint is still amazing it was stored inside just regular use scratches
Why did you clean up the rusted chain instead of putting on a new one? With it being so rusty and potentially stretched because of that, wouldn't it be better to put on a new chain to prevent wear on the chainrings and cassette?
My favorite cantilever
S!
Nice job.loved it.
Wow! Is that really the same chain?
I see you wearing Altra shoes here. Is that what you normally ride in?
One of my favorite bikes was an old Meile that we stripped to the metal and had a guy auto fill over the welds and then smooth it all out and painted after removing the middle cable route on top tube. It was the fastest coasting bike I ever owned . I hope it still has the huge Santa Cruz stickers on the sides and my FLIP Cheech and Chong sticker on front as a badge .
Great job. I like to err on the side of originality with patina, or the paint restoration you did in this video. I also like your creativity and skills with the bare frame repaints you do. Fyi plumbers putty can be used in place of clay if needed. Also not as abrasive as clay.
sir, I'm wondering why you put coin in oury grip?
It's to keep the bar end from punching out a hole in the grip if slammed into something. The coin acts as a bar end plug held against the bar end by the grip.
@@chrisoliveira2038 understand. tq for reply :)
I’ve got a general question. You’re videos really brought up the interested for vintage mountainbikes in me. As I’m pretty tall I found that most of the 26” bikes are very small for me. I’m somewhat familiar with the sizing of road bikes but haven’t found a good translation to the smaller 26” Mountainbikes. Is the a useable chart or something, where I can measure my body height etc and then find out which frame size I need?
The manufacturers usually list size chart on their website. I ride mostly older mountain bikes and a 19-20 inch frame is just the right size for moi being 6' 0"
Excellent job! What tool did you use to remove the freewheel?
Buen trabajo, saludos desde Argentina
you must have a 6th sense for picking out bikes where the BB comes off without issues and the headset is not pitted ;) careful with the front brake though, the pulley under the stem is usually where the cable gets weak and snaps so best to mount a cable catcher on the fork to prevent from going OTB 😬
nice work 👍
Very nice, but the weight distribution would be better if you had replaced the plastic freewheel guard. I'm inspired to build up an '80s MTB.
Nice find....i would leave it as it is.....just basic maintenance :). I would change crank and bottom bracket only.
Collab with Seth is needed
Good job 👍
A new chain would have been a nice idea!
Wipe and scrub lightly with WD-40 then degreaser like Awesome or Zep then rubbing compound or Mother's. Mother's does a great job on paint. Then use a cleaner wax like Meguiar’s.
Me gustan tus restauraciones excelentes
...looks great, nice work, stay safe...
Excellent job,.as always,!!! There's no other chanel wich captivates me as this one. I will love to see an 80's BMX 20 in bike resored bu you..!👍
Try harvester bmx, he built a lot of 80s bmxs
Great result! I love how you brought that bike back to life with just a good thorough clean. Another job well done. 👍
2:20 -- Oh! This bike has golden chain?.. Cool! ^-)))))
Great stuff
Scratches on white paint are very easy to hide. After cleaning the frame just use "Enamel Paint" from Revell, Humbrol or Tamaya. It's an acrylic paint, available in many, many different color tones, matte and glossy, used for model kits (ships, airplanes etc.) Paint chipped spots simply disappear.
@@GNMi79 We have Revell paint everywhere in Europe. They have water-based paint and enamel paint. I use enamel for bikes. Quite often I use nail polish/lacquer from the drugstore which are acrylic paints, but quite soft. Women seem to like endless shades of color and after a few drugstores searching I usually find a color that fits to the frame paint.
If you are doing spindat style you need to slam some drop handlebars. And put on some gravel kings.
I like that zach gallardo dude though...
Proper retro machine.