Borderline bike hoarding.

I took it out afew times. Brakes squeeked and noticed a knock when I put the front brake on. Sanded the brakes and cleaned the rims, tightend the head nut and it really does ride like a new bike now, tyres are keeping pressure too which is a suprise. Once I was happy that it was riding well I turned my attention to important bits like shiny stuff.
First thing, valve caps. It only came with one plastic cap on the rear wheel. That wasn't good enough so I found 2 Austin Maxi hydrolastic suspension units valve caps, and some fancy red bits.


Then, a bottle holder. Originally got a grey plastic thing, went on ebay and found a period correct giant bottle holder in very poor condition, but the logo was OK. Got the satin black brush out and ended up with something that I was ridiculously happy to fit


The big yellow 'giant' writing was slightly damaged on both sides of the frame (can be seen in the pics) so I got a pot of evell yellow enamel out which just happened to be exactly the right shade

Got a bit more cleaning and fine tuning done, brake bits are polished but unfortunately I've lost one of the spacer-washer things that secures the pads. Also I put some cat litter down for some oil and forgot about it, it rained so now its like porridge and I pushed the bike through it and its all over the front tyre
Oh well, it's still shiny.

That's interesting, got a pic? I'm having trouble dating mine, I've got the frame number but the Web isn't being much help. I'd assume mine is early 90s but that's a guess, there's no info on these hunters to be found, only the hunter2. I'm getting nerdy about pushbike, didn't see that coming lol

Nice save, its looking great after a bit of TLC. I would think it will have been an entry level model based on the plastic chain guard and the rear derailleur, is it a Shimano SIS branded one? Those with the integrated mech hanger that bolts on via the dropouts were on the lower end bikes. I had a Raleigh Max that was very similar specced in '94 with the same rear mech so I'd agree that it's probably early 90s.

That great thanks for having a look, I'll get onto retrobikes later. Looking at the lack of wear on the bike in general I'd have to assume that nothing major has been done to it unless it's got genuine giant replacement parts, tyres, rims, brakes etc, and the fact it rides like a new bike would suggest it hasn't had much use.

A bit of a plot twist but whilst looking for a 26in tyres for my uncle, i found a marin. Doesn't help my uncle, just means I've got 2 bikes now. That wasn't meant to happen.


It's well worn, alloy frame and nicest pedals I think I've ever seen. Also longer from handlebar to seat and wider handlebars.


Probably nice enough to justify restoring it. Oops.

When I started restoring furniture they let me hook a couple of bits out of the skip, but now they've got a shop I'm happy to pay and see stuff saved. Its crazy some of the things I see in the shop and shows what some people throw away. There are 2 sections for bikes. The giant came from the pile that needs a service or are incomplete, the marin came from the display of serviced bikes that are ready to go. The marin needs a front fork rebuild at some point but the rest is just cosmetic. The more I look at the bikes that turn up the more I'm seeing some really nice stuff, but the decent stuff is usually gone the following week.

Took the Marin out for a ride this afternoon. Such a nice ride. Slightly longer and wider than the giant makes all the difference, and considerably lighter too. Almost stacked it going down a steep grassy hill with slimey freshly cut grass on posh road tyres, picked up speed so quick, all of a sudden I was thinking about how painful stopping was going to be. Probably did about 6 miles in all up and down hills. It may not sound that far but I havnt done anything like that for years. I'm pretty sure my legs are going to let me know everything about it tomorrow morning.
It still needs a couple of bits fine tuning but for a bike that someone chucked away it's brilliant. I can see me getting quite into this biking lark, my cousin is a pro downhill mountain biker and strongly approves. This thread may have deviated away from the retro intention, even though the bikes are afew years old, but there's been more interest for them here than on the bike forum, so if anyone cares I'll carry on with my new thing.
If you havnt got a bike, get one. I didn't think I ever would but now I have I'm glad I did get 1. Or 2. Or 3 if another one turns up.

I do exactly the same mate, the quality of bikes some people throw away is astounding, I buyy them, do them up and sell them on for what they cost me most of the time, it's quite satisfying. Just picked up a Specialized that will be a keeper as its the same as my first "proper" mountain bike, there's literally nothing wrong with it besides needing a clean. Welcome to bike hoarding