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Out of context: Reply #74855
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- Horp6
Yesterday I bought a really shitty BMX off Gumtree for £35. I pulled the wheels apart, fitted new bearings, and added thise wheels to my WTP custom paint build.
The £35 BMX was a super crappy 2012 "Redline" (Chinese owned, Taiwan made hi-ten steel frame) aimed squarely at the young kid market.
It was being sold by a local man of around my age (50-60) who has around 40 salvaged bikes listed on Gumtree at any given time.
He was telling me what an amazing bargain I was getting because it's a Redline and they are the best. He clearly has fond memories of 1980s 1st gen Redlines when they actually were good bikes.
He didn't realise what a true bargain I was getting though, because at some point very recently the owner had decided to invest in some decent wheels, hubs, and Oddysey Pathfinder tires.
To cost those up to fit to my build would have netted out at around £300 for a basic 9t cassette freewheel. More for a free coaster hub.
So I got two complete wheels and tyres for £35 and the rest of that piece of shit is now lying on my junk pile waiting to go to the tip.
I bought an entire GT BMX last week, but it was listed as "BMX parts" and came in various bags of components, a frame, forks two sets of handlebars, two wheels etc.
"BMX parts" cost me £10 and netted me a Fly bikes crank and BB set and an Eclat stem. So those are on my build, and the rest of that GT is also on the junk pile with the Redline.
I might make up one other BMX out of the junk and give it to a charity shop or leave it outside with a "free to take" sign on it.
People don't know how to do basic bike maintenance anymore. Every time I buy a BMX the wheels are seized or the bottom bracket is screwed.
The bearings are always shot and it's a simple case of replacing them.
But people squirt WD40 in the approximate area, think that'll fix it, and then.gice up and sell the bikes when it doesn't.
Crazy world. Takes ten minutes to fix.
- WD40 was the bane of childhood bike maintenance. It took me years to realise it's not an actual lubricant, in fact sorta the opposite.Nairn
- Yeah same. I used to think it fixed everything. These days I'm not actually sure what it could be useful for.Horp
- It's probably perverse but I get more excited about buying a BMX with seized wheels and cranky cranks than I do about a well maintained one.Horp
- Because I can feel a sense of superiority over the dumb fuck who is selling it because it's broke, and I'm getting a bargain because of their idiocy.Horp
- wd40 is good for taking stickers off things. once you remove the sticker gunk, rub on some washing up liquid and it neutralises it.PhanLo
- ^ Nail polish remover works a real treat, too.Continuity
- Depends what sort of adhesive is used - acetone is useless on a lot of the adhesives used on paper stickers. Will try WD40 though - sounds promisingNairn
- Support your local bike thief, lol.
Questions: Were they unsealed bearings? If so, Whistler is the way to go.garbage - Horrible grey goop that will wash off your hands in about 5 years.garbage
- You said Fly BB and I had flashback to the Spanish BB era. Please tell me it's not a Spanish.garbage
- Here's one that might crack you up: Always built my own bikes, was pretty serious about it for a while. I'm talking lace my own wheels..garbage
- ..truing stand (which there is no science to). But there was one weird thing that I think only east coast BMXers did.garbage
- Degreaser on the cassette. Everybody in our crew had the loudest fucking bikes in the world. "Chainsaws on helium".garbage
- pic or didn't happenArchitectofFate
- @Garbage, it's the very common BB with the R12-2RS races direct into the frame. is Spanish BB the ones with the great big cups holding the bearings?Horp
- I've not got into lacing my own wheels. Truing though is a bit of a chaotic art. I can do it quite well but if I haven't done it for a while it's tricky.Horp
- Really loud greaseless cassettes is still very much a thing, but less common now, with the freecoaster hubs.Horp
- What's Whistler? They're sealed bearing hubs. I do get open bearing wheels sometimes but I'll convert the hub casing to take sealed with a bit of surgery.Horp
- throw some pics in the BMX thread. I had an old GT with a laid back seat post.fooler
- Ech I would Fooler but it's too much of a faff to throw pics in here and I have about 4million of the buggers.Horp
- I'm using hot water (almost boiling) instead of degreaser, melts away all dirt around derailleursdrgs
- I'm convinced that degreaser penetrates the wheel bearing and thins out the grease theredrgs
- Whistler is that grey gunk that comes in a can, it's used on unsealed bearings. Spanish BB are so fucking tiny and Fly was pretty much the only company..garbage
- ..making them for a while. Still better than the Euro BB, which was a screw in situation instead of a press.garbage
- Pretty much everyone broke their bearings on install. Mids for life.garbage
- You should totally post some, the BMX thread could use some lovin'.garbage
- I miss my mongoosecannonball1978
- "I'm convinced degreaser penetrates bearings, thins out grease"
Same. I don't use degreaser anywhere near bearings.Horp - Well, that''s what WD40 was designed for, it's just that none of us stupid kids read the destructions when we were young... . WD40, let dry/wash, grease.Nairn
- I have such strong memories of my bikes working great for a day or three after WD40'ing, and then... notsomuch. lol.Nairn
- Nowadays I have a tube of grease to keep the rails in my laser running smooth - I just happened to lube those fuckers up this morning. Odd timing for me :)Nairn
- flol yeah. I think that many people really buy the rebrand of the "40 different uses".garbage
- And those uses are manifold. But the answer is in the title:garbage
- WD stands for "Water Displacement", and there were 39 failed formulas before they hit their stride.garbage
- Wd40 helps undo rusted on boltssausages
- At a push WD40 can help with stuck bolts, but it's nowhere near as effective as a thin penetrating oil which dissolves rust, or plusgas.Horp
- Back in the 80s/90s I'd spray WD40 on everything. These days, I cannot think of a single reason for using it. It excels at nothing. It's a marketing legend.Horp
- Smells quite nice though.
OH! Flame throwers. It's awesome for flame throwing.Horp - When I was a yougin', there was a kid on my bus that would take shots of WD40 on the way to school. He also ate Vaseline because his mom swore by it.garbage
- I'd put the whole bank on that guy being dead right out of high school.garbage