"Free Spirit" Brittany 12 Speed Ladies Bicycle Sold by Sears and Roebuck 1986

Hello and Welcome,
This bike has made two appearances on the blog already. I thought some of you might want to see what became of it. I will not go into detail about the rust removal since we already covered that part. Left Click on Pics to Enlarge. Click on Back(<)Button to Return.

Above: A before pic of the Brittany. It is amazing how kind the camera is to a bicycle. The surface rust is barely visible in this photograph. While the rust was not very bad, it was pretty much everywhere.

Judging by the "lack of wear" on these original tires, I would guess this bike saw very little action. There are other indicators that you will see as we move on.

Above: As usual I start with the Bottom-Bracket and Crank. If you blow this pic up you can see a little bicycle engraved into the bracket along with the number 10. Also there is an arrow pointing towards the drive side. I have never seen this before. I imagine this was done for the assembly workers. It should be a 12, as this is a 12 speed and not a 10 speed. But a good idea just the same.

Above: I realize that 99% of you probably already know this. This is for the other 1%. The reason they call it "packing the bearings" is You don`t just smear grease on the bearings, You pack the area surrounding the bearings with grease.(as seen in the above pic)

Above: The drive-side bearing is in place with the exposed bearing surfaces facing out ward. Since the drive-side cup is already in place I will add a little extra grease to the outer surface before inserting it into the bracket shell. Notice I have coated the entire bracket with grease to protect it from corrosion.
The excess grease will be wiped-off before mounting the crank/arm.

Above: As some of you have (that I have heard from)I am making using the Teflon on the cup threads part of my routine. Why wait until it creaks? It makes sense to me too!

Above: Being this crank is chrome plated steel I used the Turtle-Wax Chrome Polish and Rust Remover and a little brass brushing as well. I removed the ring guard and small chain-ring for cleaning and polishing. I could have gotten away without doing that on this one. But it is always better to take it apart if you can.

Above: I did not take any pics of the Headset re-build. However if you are interested in seeing that. I did take some pics of that on the Men`s Brittany.
I will make it a point to cover that when I post the men`s Brittany.
At this point we are ready for some tires, pedals and a chain.

Above: This is important! The first set of numbers indicate the tires size, in this case 26 inch x 1 & 3/8 inch. But the second set of numbers is just as important. They are the I.S.O. numbers. In this case 37-590. The second set of numbers have to do with the inside diameter of the tire. If you have a tire that blows off the rim (modern) when inflated chances are the I.S.O. number might be incorrect. I have noticed this has to be watched carefully especially with 26 inch road tires.(37-590 vs 37-597) And also with some of the cheaper 27 x 1&1/4 inch tires. In particular cheaper tires sold at hardware and department stores. So watch the ISO numbers carefully and you will save yourself a lot of grief.

Above: I have centered the valve stem to the the inflation info on the sidewall.
Normally if there is a tag on the tire`s sidewall, I will center the valve stem to the tag. And make sure the tags both face the drive-side of the bike. It just looks more professional. But if there is no tag I center the valve to the inflation info. I actually picked this up from a reader. Never too old to learn something new.

Above: I decided to go with the classic style Greenfield kick-stand. A huge improvement over the department store kick-stand that was on the bike when I found it. As for the Wicker Basket it is a Schwinn detachable basket. I like these because the bracket keeps the basket out in front of the handlebars leaving ample room to route the brake cables. The stem-mounted shifters presented another problem. The lower adjustable brace that zip-ties to the head-tube spread-out the shift cables a little too much. To remedy this I disconnected the cables and re-routed them through the brace. And to clear the stem-mounted shifters I had to pitch the basket a little. I would have preferred it to be level.

Above: I wanted to get rid of this little paint chip on the down-tube. Not a horrible chip, just in a really bad spot. So instead of trying to match the paint, I decided to modify the pin-stripe piping a little.

Above: I cut an appropriate length piece of 3M Plastic Trim and Repair Tape. Then place it on a non adhesive surface, like this cover of the Blue Book of Bicycle Repair. (The usefulness of this book knows no bounds!) Then using a straight edge and a razor knife I cut a new pin-stripe. Then I used the knew piece to modify the piping to hide the paint-chip.

Above: Not bad :) Then to maintain a balanced look, I added a stripe to the opposite end. I had to stop working for the day after that. Seems I pulled a muscle patting myself on the back.

Above: I had plenty of extra Jag-Wire white cable housing left-over from the Parliament. So I decided to "Girl it up" a little more. Also I found the blue lever covers on a Schwinn Continental (go figure) and thought they might Girl it up even a more.

A view of the rear. There was a small but stubborn dent on the back fender, right where an English classic would have a reflector. So now it does, end of problem.
Sometimes it is better to eliminate a problem that a repair might make even more noticeable. Of course this only works if the dent is in the correct spot. This is the second time I have done the reflector thing to hide a defect or damage. And anything that makes the bike more visible at night (and looks correct) can only be a good thing.

Above: It`s a good idea to file the sharp edge off after trimming the kick-stand to proper length.
Until Next Time..Please Ride Safe and Remember to Always RESCUE, RESTORE & RECYCLE!
Cheers,Hugh