# Freespirit Commuter?



## lamp no 3 (Jun 4, 2008)

My friend is selling his vintage Free Spirit ES3 and I was considering about buying it, because I always loved old commuter bikes.


Some big pluses + about the bike is that the frame is a great size for me,
Good condition, 
No spokes missing, 
Femco wheels straight ,
Cottered crank.

The only dispute I have about buying the bike is that when I ride older bikes, they are heavy as lead, parts are hard to replace and upgrade and the brakes suck donkey's ass. it feels like the brake pads are made out of sun-baked red Play Dough. If I were to buy the bike, would there be room for upgradability, especially the brakes? Can I just get a side pull to v-brake adapter so could run v or cantilever brakes?

_Oh, and I really wanted to try some of this if I did get teh bike...._:devil:






Muchos Gracias-
Lamp no 3


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

lamp no 3 said:


> The only dispute I have about buying the bike is that when I ride older bikes, they are heavy as lead, parts are hard to replace and upgrade and the brakes suck donkey's ass.


Yeah, that pretty much sums up old three speeds. They sure look cool though.

My two:
I hope he isn`t charging a lot because I doubt that bike is worth a whole lot of money. Side pull to V-brake adaptor? I`ve never heard of such a critter and can`t imagine how it might work, but if you know of one please post up a pic. Personally, I wouldn`t go much further than new brake pads and good modern housings, but you could probably get some of those super long reach double pivot side pulls from Nashbar to work. Then again, I doubt they do much more than nice pads and cables unlesss you went ANOTHER step and changed out those groovy chrome rims for aluminum.

All in all, it`s a neat looking bike that isn`t going to be a performer unless you replaced all the neato stuff with boring but better functioning equivalents. And if you were to do that, why bother? I`d say if you like it as is and it doesn`t cost you an arm and a leg, go for it- you`ll probably have as much fun with it as I did with a pair of old Montgomery Wards 5 speeds that I had hanging around for a while. Crappy brakes, cottered cranks, steel wheels, way fun to ride! When I got tired of them and needed the space, we gave them both away.


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## Gary the No-Trash Cougar (Oct 14, 2008)

rodar y rodar said:


> Yeah, that pretty much sums up old three speeds. They sure look cool though.
> 
> My two:
> I hope he isn`t charging a lot because I doubt that bike is worth a whole lot of money. Side pull to V-brake adaptor? I`ve never heard of such a critter and can`t imagine how it might work, but if you know of one please post up a pic. Personally, I wouldn`t go much further than new brake pads and good modern housings, but you could probably get some of those super long reach double pivot side pulls from Nashbar to work. Then again, I doubt they do much more than nice pads and cables unlesss you went ANOTHER step and changed out those groovy chrome rims for aluminum.
> ...


+1 New cables and some Kool Stop brakes pads will do wonders for your brakes. That's an awesome old bike with a lugged frame, go for it! If something isn't broken, you don't need to replace it. And if you do need to replace a part, the internet is full of them, both new and old if you know where to look.


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## veloreality (May 10, 2009)

cottered cranks is a plus?


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

veloreality said:


> cottered cranks is a plus?


Depends. You want light or serviceable, or do ya want GROOOOOOVIN?


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## spags25 (Dec 1, 2009)

These would be Asian guys "drifting" bikes...


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## BrianMc (Jan 5, 2010)

veloreality said:


> cottered cranks is a plus?


Cottered cranks are a notch up from to old one-piece steel crank and BB. I don't think I have seen an alloy crankset on a classic 3-spd that was original. The crankset would cost at least as much as the rest of the bike at the time.


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

*Cottered is COOL!*


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## 4x4forever (Mar 25, 2008)

*My freespirit commuter.*

I thought I'd post up what I did with a very similar bike that I bought off of craigslist to make my commuter bike and I love it. Built with leftover parts laying around the house from other projects

-FSA gossamer 2 -piece- 130 bcd crank
- Blue velocity Deep V wheels laced to a polished Alfine dynamo front hub and XT rear hub 
-White 700 x 35 Specialized Nimbus Tires
-Short reach shimano 105 bake calipers and avid speed dial 7 levers
-Front Basket w/ custom ~300 lumen custom LED dynamo light
- Misc extra stuff like rear fender,surly cog, brooks saddle and electra wooden grips!

In all I think the freespirit makes a great townie/commuter bike as I ride mine everyday to class at the university about 2 miles away. I wouldn't want to ride it somewhere you are commuting 15 miles each way though. :thumbsup:


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

Beauty, 4 x 4! I bet you can`t wait to get out and throw a leg over every day!


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

I damaged a cottered crank last winter. The pin is made out of a pretty mild steel, and it doesn't take a very strong rider to make the crank arm start developing play. YMMV


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## Moto Rider (Dec 30, 2006)

spags25 said:


> These would be Asian guys "drifting" bikes...


Looks like fun...


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## BrianMc (Jan 5, 2010)

AndrwSwitch said:


> I damaged a cottered crank last winter. The pin is made out of a pretty mild steel, and it doesn't take a very strong rider to make the crank arm start developing play. YMMV


This is close enough to topic since it relates to this bike. I agree that the pins are prone to becoming loose in hard riding especially with semi to full Clydesdales. So like a tire and brake check, a crank tightness check was part of SOP before setting off. It was important to keep them tight, so that they bore torque across the whole flat of the shaft. Otherwise, they would be chewed up the forward edge allowing the crank arms some play. If not tended to promptly by tightening the nut or the heavier hammer/piece of wood persuasion method, they would become difficult to remove for replacement without marring the cranks. Many people had no trouble with them and never checked their cranks for play. Definitely a case of YMMV.


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## umarth (Dec 5, 2007)

Cool bike, but I wouldn't buy it except for cruising around with family on nice days or going to the grocery store.

By the time you get the bike built up for reliable commuting, you'll have dropped too much money on it. However, if all the sizing on the bike (BB, headset, etc) you could upgrade the bike and when you get tired of it or whatever, you could toss the frame and have all the gear for the new sled.

Okies, now I'm late for work.


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