80's/90's Kojima Climax Mountain Bike - 21/12/13
The most recent addition to my collection. A really decent mountain bike picked up for next to nothing which has some real quality parts to it. Firstly the tubes are Reynolds 531. Chainrings on the front are Sugino and hardly have any wear. Rear 7 speeds are Shimano Hyperglyde and also have hardly any wear on them. The front and rear deraileurs and braking system are are all Shimano Deore LX. Only the shifters are DX. The brakes are cantilever/cyclocross brakes which I am not too firmiliar with and am starting to get to know abit better. All the gear and brake cabling have rust and the casings/outers are falling apart in some areas, sot hat will have to be addressed. The seat was a Vetta GEL seat which I removed straight away and replaced with my Biologic one. It was in pretty poor condition anyway. The bike also has Scott touring handlebars which I didn't think were appropriate for the bike. Seatpose is Sakae Super Hard and the Rims are Araya Super Hard rims. Tyres are an unknown brand to me and were cracking but still pumped up fine, but I'm sure when they are removed the beads will perish even more. Bike didn't come with a bell, reflectors or lights so those things will have to be sorted. That is if I am planning to take this bike off the beaten track or go camping with it etc. The bike actually did have a rack attached to it which i have removed. I may put it back on with a milk crate attached for trips to the shops or for going camping.
Fred Caterson Reserve - Castle Hill, NSW - BIKE TEST!
I met up with a mate of mine at this reserve that's located near my house, which I had heard about but never really looked into it much. I knew there was some decent single track there for mountain biking and also a few other facilities. Normally we do a road ride but this time I thought we'd get the bikes dirty and go to this reserve instead. His Giant has never really been off road and I thought I'd give the Kojima a Test run so see how it would hold up in the bush!
We arrived at 6:30am in the parking area and unloaded the bikes. Then headed through a carpark down a short dirt hill. What we discovered there was amazing! It was a full blown BMX track which is free for anyone to use. The track had a commentry viewing box, starting hill with about 8 spots to start at, a number of hills/jumps and a couple of really tight and high corners. If you were going fast enough you could literally ride on the wall! We decided to give the bikes ago. Some of the hills were quite steep going up and coming down so the best way to ride them was with minimal braking. Going over the hills at full speed you don't even have to lift the bars up, the bike just gets airborne on its own. My old semi-perished tyres held up well and the bike performed admirably. Super strong and did a great job of getting me to the end of the track in one peice. After riding the BMX track about half a dozen times, we decided to explore the rest of the reserve. As you ride through the tracks in the bush you discover more and more. We found some cricket practice nets, a couple of cricket/football fields, a dedicated radio control car dirt race course and some tennis courts.
Overall the bike did a great job of tackling all sorts of terrain (including a few jumps and bumps!). It never really let me down. The gears shifted smoothly and the brakes worked fine. Could use some new cabling and pads but that's about it.
We arrived at 6:30am in the parking area and unloaded the bikes. Then headed through a carpark down a short dirt hill. What we discovered there was amazing! It was a full blown BMX track which is free for anyone to use. The track had a commentry viewing box, starting hill with about 8 spots to start at, a number of hills/jumps and a couple of really tight and high corners. If you were going fast enough you could literally ride on the wall! We decided to give the bikes ago. Some of the hills were quite steep going up and coming down so the best way to ride them was with minimal braking. Going over the hills at full speed you don't even have to lift the bars up, the bike just gets airborne on its own. My old semi-perished tyres held up well and the bike performed admirably. Super strong and did a great job of getting me to the end of the track in one peice. After riding the BMX track about half a dozen times, we decided to explore the rest of the reserve. As you ride through the tracks in the bush you discover more and more. We found some cricket practice nets, a couple of cricket/football fields, a dedicated radio control car dirt race course and some tennis courts.
Overall the bike did a great job of tackling all sorts of terrain (including a few jumps and bumps!). It never really let me down. The gears shifted smoothly and the brakes worked fine. Could use some new cabling and pads but that's about it.
Parts Removed
As soon as I got home I began working on the bike. First thing I did was remove those annoying touring bars. They had a couple of hand grips and some bar tape which looked like they had been there forever. Took awhile to get it all off. The hardest part was removing the sti brake/shift levers. Really hard to get them around the bar as it was quite a tight fit. A bit of WD-40 and I eventually got there! I also removed the old tyres which, as expected, started to fall apart as I removed them. The old stem I found was too short so I took it off too. I removed the whole brake assembly and cabling as well to give it a thorough clean and see if any parts needed to be replaced or fixed. Made sure I took some photos so that I would know how to put it back together!
Parts Added
I added some brand new Scott OXYD 26 x 2.0 off road tyres (same size as the originals). I also added a mountain bike 1" stem which I had left over from my old Cannondale hybrid which I sanded and resprayed gloss black a while ago. Some old riser handlebars from my wife's Malvern Star Charger. Her bike has shorter and lighter equipment on it now to suit her riding position. The grips are also the Malvern Star grips too but I will be replacing these with lock-on's soon. They don't really fit properly anymore and they easily slide off. I have added one of my GPS mounts to the handlebars for my Garmin Etrex Legend CX. I've stopped using cycle computers altogether and just use the etrex for everything now. Speed, distance, average speed, direction and location.
I removed the freewheel 7 speed cassette and thoroughly degreased and cleaned it as well as the plastic hub protector, and re-installed it. I lent my crank removal tool to a mate at work so won't be getting that back until after christmas so was unable to pull the cranks off and give the bottom bracket a clean and some new grease. Still I managed to get the chainrings cleaned with a brush. The spokes seem like they are tightened right but there is a heap of corrosion on the nipples so will look into that 'more detailed' work later on. The chain is in good condition and I gave it a quick clean and lube. The pedal are a bit beat up and they are original Shimano Deore. They have some surface rust on them so I may give them a respray at some point, but not urgent.I have not re-installed the brakes yet as I am looking to get a couple of new shimano z units to replace the original centre pull cable with. I think cleaned out and around the brake mounts and every gap and hole I could find on the bike with a cloth and some degreaser. Finally gave the whole thing a wash with some soapy water and a hose.
I removed the freewheel 7 speed cassette and thoroughly degreased and cleaned it as well as the plastic hub protector, and re-installed it. I lent my crank removal tool to a mate at work so won't be getting that back until after christmas so was unable to pull the cranks off and give the bottom bracket a clean and some new grease. Still I managed to get the chainrings cleaned with a brush. The spokes seem like they are tightened right but there is a heap of corrosion on the nipples so will look into that 'more detailed' work later on. The chain is in good condition and I gave it a quick clean and lube. The pedal are a bit beat up and they are original Shimano Deore. They have some surface rust on them so I may give them a respray at some point, but not urgent.I have not re-installed the brakes yet as I am looking to get a couple of new shimano z units to replace the original centre pull cable with. I think cleaned out and around the brake mounts and every gap and hole I could find on the bike with a cloth and some degreaser. Finally gave the whole thing a wash with some soapy water and a hose.
For the Garbage
Here are the parts getting tossed. The tyres are perished at the beads and theres cracks in the sidewalls so I have no more use for them. The seat is cracked and the gel padding has moved to one side. The grips and tape are a big sticky mess. All going in the bin.
Current Status - Out of Action - 23/12/13
I'll be looking to replace the seat again I think. The Biologic one there is for a more up right riding position and I have a spare Velo one in the shed which is a bit better suited to this bike and abit more comfortable for riding in not such an upright position. Next on the to do list will be the installing the brakes with new cabling, new shifter cables - normally I take it to a shop for that but I'll have a go myself this time, some bottom bracket work and adding some lights. For now though, the bike is off the road due to the braking system. I'm in no hurry to get it up and running. Still waiting for some brake parts. At least it will give me some time to learn about cantilever/cyclocross brakes while waiting. Was looking to sell this bike after fixing it up but not so sure now. Don't think I am that fussed about re-spraying it. May get some white enamel paint and sand and spray all the rusty bits but that's about it.
Update - 21/01/14
The Kojima has gone through a bit of a transformation. Over the weekend my wife and I decided we were going to do abit more exercise and also try to eat better. Christmas took it's toll on our diet and now we have both stacked the weight on big time! Was poking around youtube and found a guy that uses his bike with a milk crate to do everything from groceries to camping and touring. I had an old rack lying around so I thought I'd use the opportunity to improve my fitness by doing the same thing. So I have found a milk crate which was pretty sturdy. It's about 20 years old but has been looked after and is super strong. Installed the rack to the bike and then used cable ties to attach the milk crate to the rear rack. Another addition I made was to install a kick stand to the bike. I did not want an axle mounted kick stand or a centre mounted one. After some research I found one that was made by Greenfield in the U.S.. So I ordered it and ti too about a week to get to me. It is rick solid and can easily take the weight of the bike along with anything that would go int he crate. I still haven't installed the brakes back yet. I have ordered some Tektro units with all new hardware and will be installing them hopefully in the next week. This bike will be used for some quick grocery trips instead of taking the car all the time. I am also looking to do abit of camping with it in the long haul. The rear rack can still be easily removed if required, if the off chance that I want to do some serious off roading. See pictures below.
Sold on Ebay! - March 2011
The bike has been sold to Doug from Darlinghurst. Doug and his girlfriend are going touring and the bike is ready for it. I removed the rack and crate before sale as I will be needing those for my next bike.