Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider
You should have no problem getting new bearings from a bike store, just bring them with you. Those bars are insane  and the whole ass end of the bike is just 80's |
Hey man, the '80s were awesome!
I love those handlebars too, they really are a throwback.
And in other news, I brought the bearings to the local shop yesterday. He wound up having a brand new set of original style bearings with the cups and all in a draw from like 30 years ago. The guy was really cool about helping me get the right stuff!
Also, I finished disassembling the bike after work today. I pulled the handlebars and fork off, and then disassembled the headset. The bolt going through the steering tube is gross - it has decades of grime and other crud on it. And the grease was completely hardened, which would explain the difficult steering. On the plus side, once I cleaned the bearings off in gasoline, they looked awesome. I was also able to clean the light rust off the top of the fork tube by where the front brakes bolt on. Here's a before and after pic.
Oh yeah, I also started stripping the powdercoat off the GT crank arm. I'm gonna polish it up and get a Mongoose chainwheel to make it look better. Progress is slow, but it's getting there!