The Backwoodsman: March 2013

I’ve just finished rebuilding a ten year old bicycle for a friend. A steel framed "Goldrush Prairie" it was used for several years for a short daily commute, back in the days of the Celtic Tiger. It has been laid up in a shed for several years. A typical low cost bike of the period, it has a six speed freewheel (with a big gear of 28 teeth), three front chainwheels, 26 inch wheels and off road tyres. Like most six speeds of the period it has 126mm rear dropouts (modern dropouts are usually 130mm).

The Goldrush Prairie

The rear hub and the front rim were badly worn, and many of the spokes were rusted. The back wheel was rebuilt with a Shimano RSX A410 hub (an old style 126 mm hub), it came from the clearance section of Chain Reaction Cycles at the excellent price of 8.88 euro. The wheel was completed with a Sun Ditch Witch 26” rim, and 36 DT Swiss Champion PG black spokes (18 262mm and 18 264mm), also from Chain Reaction. The old front hub and back rim were combined with 36 264 mm spokes to build a new front wheel.

The wheels were shod with a pair of Michelin City MTB road tyres. These are a really ground utility tyre, with maximum inflation of 85 psi, they are a good rolling tyre when fully inflated.

The Rebuilt Back Wheel

The Shimano RSX A410 rear hub was fitted with a SRAM PG730 7 speed MTB cassette. The old six speed derailleur (a rear hanger model) was replaced by a Shimano 6/7 speed TX35 direct fit. A rear derailleur adapter was needed to mount the direct fit derailleur. This lowered it by 10mm and created sufficient clearance between the derailleur and the biggest 32 tooth back gear. The old six speed Microshift shifter is gone, replaced by a SRAM MRX 7 speed twist shifter.

The old style adjustable bottom bracket was replaced with a 68mm x 118mm semi sealed unit. New back brake callipers and new front brake pads were fitted. All cabling was replaced, as were all wheel bearings.

The cranks and chainwheels on the bike had been changed several years earlier and were fine. The headset was solid and working fine so it was not stripped.

The Shimano Rear Derailleur Adapter

It took 150 euros of parts to restore the bike. Most parts were bought online at discount rates, if they were bought in local stores like Halfords, they would have cost about 250 euros. Halfords will sell you a bike for that kind of money but it will have machine built wheels, old style bottom bracket and freewheel, cheaper tyres and poorer components. And it will ride poorly. The restored bike has a good steel frame, hand built wheels, quality tyres and a significant transmission upgrade. It rides really well. A new bike of similar spec would cost around 500 euros.

With regular care and maintenance and a regular change of drive chain this ten year old Goldrush Prairie should be good for 10,000 km before it needs serious work again. Many old steel bikes have good frames with many potential kms of riding still in them, they are laid up in millions of sheds and garages all over the world. For about 150 euros and a days work they can be rebuilt into first class utility and commuter bicycles.