This refurb job is being done on a 17-inch Univega 507 mountain bike. I believe it is a 1995 model. It was my wife’s bike for quite a while when we were dating and pretty much got hung up when our daughter was born 10 years ago. It never got ridden a ton but is still showing some signs of age and I want to change the purpose of the bike since I’ll be using it now.
Gone is the very cool ControlTech Lawill Leader 3 fork and in its place is the original Univega ridged fork. The stock Univega fork is a very nice unit with tapered and butted blades so it rides great.
The wheel set was upgraded to Shimano XT hubs and some sweey Ritchey Vantage Rims that I’ve had forever.
Say bye to those cream-colored Panaracer Magic Tires. They are being replaced with Kenda HookWorm tires. This simple change is what is really changing the character of the bike. Going back to a ridged fork and having a Commuter/City flavor about the thing, plus the copious pot holes in our fair city demanded some cush to the tires and these deliver in spades!
Away went the whatever-it-was gel saddle my wife used and on went a Sellitalia Turbo saddle. While I am still partial to Flite saddles this one was in the shop and has a bit more beef and structure to it than a strictly competition saddle has. Weight is not a huge issue. Besides, I like the white color on this bike.
Handle bars. Bye-bye to the MTB bar and barends. Don’t need you any more. I just went with a wide 3-inch rise Cro-Mo bar. I looked, briefly, at a Ritchey Rise bar but that will be going on my Teesdale MTB so it did not get the call.
If you have an older but loved bike consider throwing some love at it! If you haven’t got the time, shoot us a note. We’ll treat the old girl like she was one of our own.