MarkKBike
Finally riding a big boys bike
I had this bike posted elsewhere on the site, and the cabe member "Sven" asked me to post it here. I picked it up at goodwill a few days ago for $40 minus a 5$ coupon, so ended up dishing out $35. I wanted to try out the 29" wheels, as I have never owned a bike with that wheel size before.
The Bike is a Wallmart Sold Genesis GX7. That looks like this when new. (It had chrome fenders, A different aftermarket rear rack, and also a aftermarket led headlamp. The wheels look slightly different as they do not have machined braking surfaces). The chain guard also had a huge dent and was rubbing on the chain. It looked like someone stepped on it by mistake.
The first night I removed the tacky looking accessories, and I took it for a spin. The pedals and saddle were replaced. One of the pedals had some bad bearings, and clicked every time the crank turned over. (My first thought was shoot, the bottom bracket is blown, but it ended up being just the pedal).
The 2nd day, I took a heat gun to the decals and pulled them all off, The seat post and saddle was replaced with a another, and all the bearings were cleaned and lubricated. The handlebar was replaced with a aluminum race face mountain biking riser bar. The bike then got taken out for another test ride.
The cables still need to be trimmed back to a shorter size and the stock v-brakes work, but have a lot of play and squeak pretty loud. Once I mess with the cables they will be replaced.
I also think I might replace the twist shiftier, with a vintage friction thumb shifter and maybe find a lighter stem, and possible upgrade the crank someday with one that has a larger ring to get some more speed. (A suitable sized single ring crank, is probably the only part I do not already have laying around somewhere).
The bike is lighter than it looks, and much of the weight is in the in-expensive wheel / tire set. The frame looks to be pretty solidly constructed. This was a fun little project, that I just have about 2 hours invested into so far. I plan to keep it around for a while as its the only bike I have with 29" wheels, and it brings something else to the table that is different from my other bikes. The larger sized frame fits me well, and its pretty fun to ride.
The Bike is a Wallmart Sold Genesis GX7. That looks like this when new. (It had chrome fenders, A different aftermarket rear rack, and also a aftermarket led headlamp. The wheels look slightly different as they do not have machined braking surfaces). The chain guard also had a huge dent and was rubbing on the chain. It looked like someone stepped on it by mistake.
The first night I removed the tacky looking accessories, and I took it for a spin. The pedals and saddle were replaced. One of the pedals had some bad bearings, and clicked every time the crank turned over. (My first thought was shoot, the bottom bracket is blown, but it ended up being just the pedal).
The 2nd day, I took a heat gun to the decals and pulled them all off, The seat post and saddle was replaced with a another, and all the bearings were cleaned and lubricated. The handlebar was replaced with a aluminum race face mountain biking riser bar. The bike then got taken out for another test ride.
The cables still need to be trimmed back to a shorter size and the stock v-brakes work, but have a lot of play and squeak pretty loud. Once I mess with the cables they will be replaced.
I also think I might replace the twist shiftier, with a vintage friction thumb shifter and maybe find a lighter stem, and possible upgrade the crank someday with one that has a larger ring to get some more speed. (A suitable sized single ring crank, is probably the only part I do not already have laying around somewhere).
The bike is lighter than it looks, and much of the weight is in the in-expensive wheel / tire set. The frame looks to be pretty solidly constructed. This was a fun little project, that I just have about 2 hours invested into so far. I plan to keep it around for a while as its the only bike I have with 29" wheels, and it brings something else to the table that is different from my other bikes. The larger sized frame fits me well, and its pretty fun to ride.
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