Quick Bike Redo

 

 

My youngest needed a bike for the Cub Scout Bike Rally this weekend. His has been sitting in the elements for a bit, it's a tad rusty and a tire is flat.


Unfortunately, our monthly mortgage payment has left us too short on cash for a new one. Instead, I spent about $25 on a new seat, paint, lubricant, and colored electrical tape. I took the old bike apart, sanded, washed, painted, taped, and lubricated. It's not the best paint job (I was impatient), but the kid loves it - and that what counts.


It took most of the day, but it was time well spent. The worst part of the project was masking off the parts I didn't want painted: the pedals, the chain, rubber grips. Pictures are of the old bike disassembled, and the newly painted bike.

 Hindsight: I should have shown some patience with the painting; more time between coats and used thinner coats.  The yellow electrical tape I used to trim the badly rusted front fork is a little transparent, I should have bought a better quality, heavier tape (but it's not too late to correct that). It needs some cool orange reflectors on the wheels and the back of the seat.