Restoring a Secondhand Junior Racer

Restoring a racing bike is a rewarding task, to ride the item you have fixed by hand and adapted to suit the rider to maximum sufficiency.

Supplies

A secondhand junior racing bike

WD40

Dry towel

Antibacterial spray

Polish cloth and polish

Damp cloth - J cloth, ect

Grip tape £8.95 to £9.95

Electrical tape 50p to £1.25

Bike Speedometer £5.02

Bell (not necessarily needed)

The Bike

Buy a bike in your price range. Remember, more than £65 is an unessarsary cost for a bike needing work.

Total overall cost of items: £20

A Mechanical Wash

Wash the mechanical pieces of the bike with care; gently scrubbing against the cog and other mechanicals. After that, spray the frame with an antibacterial spray and wipe dry with a cloth. After repeating the process several times, proceed to polishing the bike and mechanicals well. This should look near brand new. If not, continue this until it does. This should take about 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Greasing the Bike

Grease the bike with either WD40 or, bike oil. If for some reason, you cannot find either, use olive oil for a quick fix.

Above are the images of the bike after washing and greasing fully.

The Handlebars

The grip tape displayed is worn and peeling. The best thing to do is buy and apply fresh grip tape. I recommend going to your local bike shop for grip tape, they'd be much more useful than anywhere else.

If, like many, you have never done this before, copy the link below !
https://youtu.be/w8PqH7bltJQZA74WB8

Ideal Extras

A speedometer is ideal for keeping track of speed and distance whilst riding about the roads. Instead of buying cateye brand speedometers at that cost. I recommend this one from eBay for £5.02. If, your dream brand is cateye, buy secondhand from eBay, for as low as £3.50 in auctions.

***** WIRED SPEEDOMETERS ARE FAR MORE ACCURATE THAN THAT OF THE WIRELESS VARIETY. *****

Done

Go ride your bike !

Take caution on the roads and ensure to wear a helmet 🚲

So whether you're an experienced bike enthusiast wanting a bit of a challenge, or an inexperienced fan of bikes who can't afford a brand new one, or even a person with nothing to do for a few days, this is achievable, at an average cost of £20 for items. If there are complex mechanical issues with the bike, please don't attempt diy work, see someone whom knows what they are doing so that you don't crash on the roads due to accidently cutting brake lines, ect.

Enjoy !

Do read my other bike related instructables !