Saracin Terratrax £30 BIN

I just bought this very bike from that auction (and found this forum post afterwards).

The frame, handlebars, and tyres are pretty mint condition but the chain was really rusty and the rear gears were not spinning independently from the wheel (I don't know the technical terms other than 'ratchet no worky'), but after disassembly and basically soaking the damn thing in WD40 and juggling ball bearings, it's now working fine.

What I'm posting about - the shifters are in some dire need of TLC, and the cables are really rusty. I don't know if rustly cables matter, but changing gears is pretty dodgy.

I was hoping to find some instructions for the specific shifters this bike has, or get some general advice on how to calibrate them.

The left shifter in particular will not go onto the largest cog (highest gear?) and the second gear is quite difficult to stay on as the derailleur (correct terminology?!) has a tendency to just jump back towards the centre of the bike pulling back to gear 1, and I have to shift up again. I'm not sure if this just needs adjusting or is broken, but it looks like a problem with the shifter rather than the derailleur, as I can see the wire slackening when it jumps down.

(Also apologies if I'm in the wrong section of your board :) )
 
orangeone":1p00dghr said:
new chain and gear cables and go from there

^ exactly ^

Most of my Ebay/Gumtree finds are in a similar state but most of the time parts are just dirty rather than worn. Don't bother trying to recycle the cables and outers, it's not worth it, ditto the chain. another £20 for half decent cables, outers and chain should get things rolling. Then it's onto the brake pads and another check of the tyres ;)

That's a pretty good buy by the way :)
 
Cables are important. The less friction in them, the smoother they run. I always tip a few drops of oil into the cable outers before I install the inners.

Rust causes a lot of friction.
 
Appreciate the feedback, got the thing riding pretty smoothly and sorted out all the shifting, although the freehub is a pretty noisy and there's a bit of friction there when freewheeling. I'm considering just replacing the rear wheel because I'm not sure about getting into the freehub (or even if I can) given my toolset.
 
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