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Retro Orange Crush Mountain Bike Platinum Plus Service

Orange Crush Bicycle assessment

This customer brought his Retro Orange Crush Bicycle Service mountain bike in to us for an assessment. It had been left unloved for some time,so it was up us to determine a service package that would suit it best.

The cobwebs and dust built up shows the length of time this has been left unloved

We brought the bike into the workshop, and decided after a look over the best option was a Platinum plus service

Starting the platinum plus service.

The headset bearings are inspected for free running and smooth operation. The Bottom bracket bearings are inspected for free running and smooth operation. Chain set stripped of removable components such as rings and pedals. Wheels stripped of Rotors, Cassette, axles and bearings. Brake Calipers and levers removed, Brake pads removed from calipers.

After the bikes been dismantled, everything but the brake pads are cleaned in our parts washer.

The clean

The Eco Parts Washer we use is a water-based liquid with advanced surfactants giving excellent degreasing results thanks to an optimised synergy between mechanical, thermal and chemical effects. It is also environmentally friendly.

The rebuild of the bike

We then begin to rebuild the bike, to begin with we re cut the threads in the bottom bracket shell and cut the face perfectly flat because with an outboard bearing bottom bracket needs to sit perfectly symmetrical and then the threads are lined with copper grease and the bottom bracket installed.

Headset cups lined with a Teflon based grease, and the sealed headset bearings are fitted back into the frame. We then take the fork, apply a layer of Teflon based grease to this and fit it back to the bike, with the headset spaces and stem.

The bars are next with new inner cables routed in the shifters, and brake levers attached, with the bars on, so we cut new outer gear cables to length and place them in the frame guides and run the new inner cables through them.

Brake service/re bleed

Brake lines are then ran through the guides and calipers mounted, At this point we fit bleeding blocks into the calipers and re bleed both brakes. We repeat this process until all the old fluid has left the system and our syringes are filled with a clear golden DOT 4 fluid. We do advise to renew brake DOT 3, DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 fluid every year. Now the brakes are all bled, we fit the brake pads, pins and securing tabs in place.

Wheel truing/Hub service

We rebuild the hubs on both wheels, with new ball bearings and bearing cups packed with grease and reassembled. With the hubs done, we remove the tyres and inner-tubes. Check the tyres for any foreign objects such as thorns, glass etc. Fit new inner-tubes and original tyres and inflate to rate PSI range. The wheels are then tru’d within 0.2mm tolerance of deflection.

We apply copper compound paste to the freehub and fit the cassette on the rear wheel and rotors to both front and rear wheels, and both wheels can be fitted back to the bike,

Gear indexing and adjustment

The gear hanger is checked to be aligned, because having a bent hanger will cause gear indexing issues. Once we’ve determined it is all in line, we’ll fit the front and rear derailleur.

We have advised that the chain should be replaced, just due to the rough, rusty condition. So with a new chain, cut to the right length and fitted. We can index the gears, and adjust the brake calipers.

The final check and test ride

When the bike is back together, We run through a checklist. The bolts are torqued to spec where applicable. Tyres are at full PSI, Gears are indexed, Brakes work with a good even pressure on both sides. Wheels run freely and tru, and then we take the bike for a test ride.

Once back from the test ride we give it a quick clean for any dirt picked up. We use a suitable weather chain lubricant on the chain and cassette.

The finished result

Now looking a lot more trail worthy, which shows a deep clean can go along way with how a bike looks

New chain and original cassette and chain set
Looking much nicer, with the brakes functioning as good as they should

A list of our fixed price services can be found here, with a free online booking service. hhttps://www.cyclomonster.com/workshop-prices

A successful Orange Crush Bicycle Service.

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