Question I just acquired this bike and plan to outfit it for bike touring

[thdoctada]

So, my neighbor gave me this bike that belonged to her deceased husband and my plan is to fix it up and outfit it for bike touring. I am planning on using "Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance" as my guide. But I haven't done any research on the bike yet, I just know it looks pretty badass and really seems to mainly need new tires and a new chain. It is a tad big, in that when I stand dismounted and flat on my feet, it is just barely brushing up against my, how should I put this? Uh, my boys, lol. I know that isn't ideal but it was free and that is a pretty sweet deal. What do you guys think? Should I keep looking because it doesn't have the 2-3 centimeters of clearance? Or should I just go with it, being that I can actually stand straight up with it between my legs? I mean, it isn't uncomfortable to straddle and stand dismounted. I just don't want to dump any work into it if it is a bad idea. Thoughts? Opinions? Ideas? All replies are welcome.

 

[searover]

If you got it for free you could flip/sell it after some work if it wasn't suited towards your height, if you can get past the installation of tires/a chain as you mentioned.

And post pics during the repair process! Love seeing these old frames come back to life.

 

[thdoctada]

I will definitely post pics of the repair process, that would be fun to do. But here is the thing, "Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance" is putting out a new edition next month, so I have the bike now, but I will probably be waiting for the new edition to start working on it. But there is always YouTube and the rest of the internet, which I will totally be looking into. But fixing it and seeing how it goes then selling it if it is not going to work out is a great idea. I didn't even think of that, lol. But no matter what, I am new to road bikes and now I own one. Totally seems like a step in the right direction.

 

[searover]

Great! Look forward to seeing results. Where will you go with the bike if it works out? Have you fixed many prior?

 

[thdoctada]

I have had mountain bikes in the past, of the Wal-Mart variety, lol. But I did change tubes and patch tires and shit like that. And those bikes seem to need constant tinkering from the moment you get them to the moment you give up on them. But this is my first road bike, though I do know enough to know it seems to be a ten speed. I have really never done anything like this though, but where there is a will there is a way. As to where I will be going, well, I am located in the Southeastern United States, so I figured I would start there. I am lining about 30 minutes outside of Charlotte, NC, and I feel like heading to the coast. That's really all I have thought out so far. I may give living locally off of a bicycle for a while a shot, that would be cool. But I am really just interested in having my bike up and running and outfitted for long term travel. Where I go from there, we will just have to see.

 

[MetalBryan]

This is a beautiful bike and a great restoration project. There's nothing wrong with a bike that doesn't fit using conventional wisdom - you won't know its true fit until you ride it comfortably (or not). We get bikes like this in the shop to fix up all the time and I would say that you should first and foremost consider this a restoration project. For example, if those are the old single-wall 27" wheels, you'll want to swap for modern 700c wheels and cram as wide of a tire as you can on that bike. Another thing to note is while that downtube shifting ended up on the models nicer than entry level, there's a learning curve there and it can get a little dangerous. In other words, I would not view this bicycle as a quick flip.

Look for a local bicycle co-op to supplement your book research. They can help you with an initial safety inspection. Also, Park Tool has an excellent Youtube series covering everything in detail.