Opinions please...

[nickAKA]

I'm happy! It actually says 'Max Ogre 21'. The vendor was a student who was leaving Nottingham this afternoon to take up her first job as a doctor in Bristol. I said that ten pounds didn't seem much, and she said that she was just glad she didn't have to leave it on the pavement outside her digs for the scrap metal van.

A great find! As others have said, spend a bit of money on making it safe & comfortable to ride and get out there on it with your daughter(? sorry if I've remembered that wrong!)
If you get a couple of years out of it (and I can't see any reason why you wouldn't) it'll be a very shrewd investment, it'll still have its value when it's time for n+1...
Good luck!

EDIT... your subsequent post appeared as I posted... get the brakes done, they're important, and the drive train serviced (ie lubed & set up right)
The tyres you can do cheaper than that if you're willing to dirty your hands - I'm sure someone on here will have some lying around if those are truly shot.
Chain & cassette I would expect *some* wear but really, how much has that bike done?
Other bits that might need 'professional' attention - hubs & bottom bracket? I'd ride it first, do the work as it becomes apparent it has to be done.

 

[Cycleops]

Sounds like this shop is profiteering. £40 + labour for cabling is way over the top when materials would only be about a tenner and tyres can be had for less than half that if you're prepared to fit yourself.
Take it to the Charity workshop and see what they say.

 

[nickAKA]

Sounds like this shop is profiteering. £40 + labour for cabling is way over the top when materials would only be about a tenner and tyres can be had for less than half that if you're prepared to fit yourself.
Take it to the Charity workshop and see what they say.

Agreed.
John (the bloke round the corner running the LBS that's a throwback to the 60s, I must post a picture some time) would be half that price, including labour. If you told him you didn't want to spend a lot to fix up a £10 bike, he'd use parts he had lying around... sounds like 'yer man' is quoting premium/new for no other reason than to have your metaphorical pants down.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Try the charity place. Can't see why he wants to replace tyres, can still see good tread on photos you posted.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

He appears to be attempting to re-enact this scene:


View: https://youtu.be/BUnvgKhWZdI


...which is naughty. Go elsewhere, as suggested - or diy with the help of a local charity bike place.

 

[Cycleops]

Try the charity place. Can't see why he wants to replace tyres, can still see good tread on photos you posted.

But could be cracked and crazed with age, nonetheless could probably soldier on for a while.

 

[tom73]

Go to charity project be way cheaper. They may do fix it up yourself type thing where they help you do the work. If not it’s going to be a lot cheaper.

Take it anyway you’ve nothing to lose at a push jest get the brakes done and see how you go.

 

[JAH]

Haha! Probably right. But he was pleasant and didn't pressure me to leave it with him. He's a 'proper' cyclist though, so perhaps simply doesn't get the kind of riding I will be doing, certainly to begin with - not ridden any kind of bicycle for years! He was going on about tyres 'blowing out' while going downhill at 30mph and such like - I didn't seem to get the message across that I'm more thinking about chugging round the path in the local park at about 2 mph, so no real danger of anything blowing out, apart from my own lungs (such is my level of fitness!).
I am going to take the bike over to Lincoln to let a cycling friend take a look. He says he can sort the cables, check and adjust the brakes and see whether the tyres really need to be replaced. or whether they can keep going for a while. This will give me the second opinion I'd like and then I'll decide what next. It may be that my friend can get it safe to ride for now, and at the moment that's all I'm looking for.
I called the bike charity place anyway, and they said to pop in with it any time and they'd take a look. A service is £15 with them as opposed to £30 with the bike man, so another option there if necessary.

 

[tom73]

Sounds the perfect solution.
If your friend knows the basics,
He should soon have you all set to hit the road.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

If tyres hold air and don't have any dodgy looking bulges and aren't shedding chunks of rubber, then they're fit for further service as far as low speed utility riding goes. The bike shop bloke would have a heart attack if he saw most of my hack bike tyres. They are horribly shabby with loads of small cracks in the rubber where they have deteriorated. I've done hundreds and hundreds of miles on them with no incidents, and I will not replace them until either the tread wears out or they start getting frequent nuisance punctures. There's a vast difference between doing recreational riding within a few miles of home at maybe 10-12 mph, and tearing down long descents at 30 or 40 mph on a road bike, where a tyre failure could result in a nasty crash. If a tyre goes at low speed all that will happen is you will grind to a halt, and will be walking home with the bike. Some people really are a bunch of drama queens with respect to things like tyres, brake cables, gears, chains etc on bikes. I daresay the student you got the bike off was using it without any major issues. If a bike is physically rideable then ride it!

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Sounds the perfect solution.
If your friend knows the basics,
He should soon have you all set to hit the road.

I sincerely hope not

 

[JAH]

If tyres hold air and don't have any dodgy looking bulges and aren't shedding chunks of rubber, then they're fit for further service as far as low speed utility riding goes. The bike shop bloke would have a heart attack if he saw most of my hack bike tyres. They are horribly shabby with loads of small cracks in the rubber where they have deteriorated. I've done hundreds and hundreds of miles on them with no incidents, and I will not replace them until either the tread wears out or they start getting frequent nuisance punctures. There's a vast difference between doing recreational riding within a few miles of home at maybe 10-12 mph, and tearing down long descents at 30 or 40 mph on a road bike, where a tyre failure could result in a nasty crash. If a tyre goes at low speed all that will happen is you will grind to a halt, and will be walking home with the bike. Some people really are a bunch of drama queens with respect to things like tyres, brake cables, gears, chains etc on bikes. I daresay the student you got the bike off was using it without any major issues. If a bike is physically rideable then ride it!

I am pleased to read this!
We did pump up one tyre this morning and it is still 'up' now, so the tube is ok I suppose. He could see all sorts of things that I couldn't with the tyre - I'm pretty sure he muttered something about being able to see 'radials'. I just nodded and peered at the tyre but could only see, well...black rubber really! I have no intention of tearing down any kind of descents on my bike, even if I do get any kind of cycling bug. I'm just not that brave! 10-12 mph - is that even likely? Sounds very fast to me! (Although that has me thinking that I could get to work in about half an hour at that pace!). The student I got the bike from said she hadn't used it at all for about a year, but until then had used it for pottering around Nottingham.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

e did pump up one tyre this morning and it is still 'up' now, so the tube is ok I suppose. He could see all sorts of things that I couldn't with the tyre - I'm pretty sure he muttered something about being able to see 'radials'. I just nodded and peered at the tyre but could only see, well...black rubber really! I have no intention of tearing down any kind of descents on my bike, even if I do get any kind of cycling bug. I'm just not that brave! 10-12 mph - is that even likely? Sounds very fast to me!

I run different pressures front/rear to account for the approximate 40/60 weight distribution on bikes with flat handlebars. Most riders on this forum will do similar, but the actual pressures they use will vary massively according to rider weight and tyre width. Roadies tend to run high pressures, MTB'ers low ones - with hybrid/roadster riders somewhere in between. On a MTB with tyres around 1.9 inches wide I run about 38psi front and 50 psi rear- but I weigh 14 stone. If you are lighter than me, then the optimum running pressure for you may be a couple of psi less.
When I buy a secondhand bike (or drag a free one out of a skip) I do a visual inspection of the tyres first then I pump them up about 10 psi harder than I would actually run them in service and leave them for a few days to make sure they don't go pop and they stay up. If they survive being over-inflated, I reduce the pressures to normal levels before use. That's my way of trying to ensure than even a scruffy looking tyre that has been left outside and exposed to the weather is still structurally sound and safe to ride on. Most shabby old tyres are perfectly safe they just don't look very pretty, and this in truth, may be why a lot of roadies won't run them in that state. Some are very OCD about the appearance of their bikes!

 

[Cycleops]

I am pleased to read this!
We did pump up one tyre this morning and it is still 'up' now, so the tube is ok I suppose. He could see all sorts of things that I couldn't with the tyre - I'm pretty sure he muttered something about being able to see 'radials'. I just nodded and peered at the tyre but could only see, well...black rubber really! .

Might be an idea to remove the tyres to see the condition of the tubes and how many if any puncture patches there are. Replacing them is just a few quid and it'll give you peace of mind.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Might be an idea to remove the tyres to see the condition of the tubes and how many if any puncture patches there are. Replacing them is just a few quid and it'll give you peace of mind.

Sensible advice, and also check that the rim tape covering the ends of the spokes is actually present and in good condition, as uncovered spoke ends can be an annoying source of completely avoidable punctures. I've previously removed tyres from two donor Apollo bikes and both had no rim tape on one of their wheels, and no marks visible to indicate that any had ever been fitted at the factory! Quality control can leave a lot to be desired on mass-produced stuff.