Trek Navigator Comfort Bike Refurbished and Turned to Gold! 

If Bob Ross had been a bicycle mechanic… perfect chill-out TV for anyone who has had more than a passing appreciation for mechanical purity of cycles.

I can't explain why I'm watching these videos back to back but I'm liking them.

Good to see the pros struggle with the same thingies as us amateur diy mechanics (gloves, noticing wrong tire direction when finished remounting wheels,...) 😅

Bike Farmer Bingo Card Idea! - Wheel of Pokey-ness (new one maybe?) - OPE! - Don't forget to lube your noodle - Somewhat clean rag - Lemony fresh - Good enough for who it is for - Woody Chairalson - I forgot to put on my gloves (helmet for ride videos) - Spoke protectors are important (dies on that hill, but doesn't use them himself) - This part is fine (ends up replacing it anyways)

I bought a couple used kids bike and build up a pretty sick BMX bike for my gfs son and the only extra parts I had to buy were brake cable and grips.

I played this video all the way through, twice! (Because I fell asleep last night, the first time I tried watching it.)

Why did you take off the rear rack? It would seem like the buyer would want the rack. I know I would.

Thanks!

Excellent result!- I once had a Navigator 100, rigid fork, no wheels. I put wheels with Kenda Quest motorcycle inspired tires on it. I sold it to a neighbor who really loved it. Both the neighbor and I are getting up in the years and the upright Holland Bike position of this bike helps us a lot.

A new spoke protector looks totally fine, they just look like trash after the UV gets to them. And let's all be real these are bikes for sale not personal project bikes. They need to be reliable or poor Mr. Bike farmer will hear about it later. Navigators are great fixed one up for my mom and it was a solid comfy bike she was happy with.

Thanks for the link to your wife’s book. Looking forward to reading.

My current commuter is a rescued freebie Navigator 600, super cool comfort bike!

The first thing I ever used to toe brake pads was an old wide rubber band, tied to a loose noose. I've never seen a reason to look for something better! Also, saying "loose noose" makes me chuckle, for some reason.

Love the videos. One point of clarification on brake pad "toe-in" -- toe the pads with the front of the pad touching last rather than how you attempted to do it. Also, a business card thickness, or at most, 2 business cards it all it takes to help set toe placed on the front side of the brake pad.

Love listening to the videos while I work on my own bikes!

I’m personally a fan of Pedro’s bike lust. Use it on all our full tune ups, and on my personal bikes.

What I like doing to install new v-brake pads: - undo the springs so the brake arms are free - loosely install new pads - put brake cable noodle back in - as I pull on the brake lever, move the brake pads to the right location as they meet the rim - pulling brake lever helps keep them in place - hold the brake lever tight, then tighten the brake pads down. Hook the springs back up and adjust tension accordingly.

Hey, i like how genuine and straight-forward you are. I would like to give more but this is all i can give right now. I hope you have a good weekend, take care :)

The pliers is the Engineer PZ-56 screw extractor pliers. They are sold on Anazon.

what about taking a look at the dork fork

It helps to put a little more air in the tubes before re-installing them. Just enough to give them shape. It reduces the chance of pinching the tube with the tire or tire lever when fitting the tire on. Love the videos! Keep'em coming 🥳

I use a rubber band to set toe. It won't obstruct view, or fall out, and compresses to the right thickness. I have refurbished one of those old Navigators and they are perfectly good bikes for cruising around town, or the neighborhood, and would make a great campus bike.

I'm gonna watch this tomorrow with the bike-tech who's gonna build me a long-distance gravel bike. Your video eases my fears a lot. "Don't fear the arrow, fear the Indian." In bike-ese, I say "Spend more money on the bike-mechanic than on the bike."

Was very fortunate to get introduced to golf at an early age by our uncle. My brother went on to be a PGA teaching pro. We both used to play from morning till dark, many times walking 45 or even 54 holes at the private club we both worked at in the late 1970's. Great game! Nice to hear you enjoy it and are getting back into the game! Nice job on that Navigator!

The rack and fenders would make it much more versatile as a commuter or for running errands.

I would silicone spray the front fork chrome and also leave the luggage rack on.

Your videos are pure gold. Thank you!

Not replacing cables is smart. New cables stretch. Sometimes a lot. Used cables don't stretch. If you adjust everything right, it stays right. An undamaged cable is made of steel and should last 100 years easy. Heck our bridges are held up by cables

I wish had your bike shop in my town !

I just bought back my early 2000’s Trek 820. I kept it inside and clean. I felt sorry for the abuse the old 820 has suffered, but hopefully I can bring it back to life.

You need a Park Tool sponsorship with no strings attached.

In my experience, towing in the pads is only necessary when the brakes are loud and, usually, the better solution is different pads (not just new, but also different). I'm a fan of the Avid 20R pads for most non-road rim brakes. Had a dual-20" recumbent that I put non-symmetric Jagwire pads on, and they sang like a violin. Fought it for over an hour, including taking steel wool to the rims, and nothing worked. Swapped for Avid 20R pads and instantly worked.

Those were great bikes, indeed. I have to admit, I did kind of like the luggage rack.. I have a similar bike as well and install some mudguards.. Makes such an improvement when commuting in wet weather

Awesome thank you!!!

The first 12 seconds looking promising already🤣🤣🤣 Thank you for all the content sir! You're an inspiration!

Great tune up!

This bike is from that area where every one of them got the same decal work. My giant Sedona has the same almost. It's a damn good bike though.

Thanks for sharing

Enjoyed today’s video and commentary. I learn something new on each video and sometimes it’s about bike maintenance. Not going to ask you about those comfortable looking old clogs. I’m Googling it. 😂

I learned not long ago that you can use aluminum foil on the light rust areas and bingo! It’s gone and nicely polished!!

I wish I lived in your state. I would buy all of my bikes there. The effort you put into what you do is amazing. At 71, with health issues, I couldn’t ride most of the Treks you’re refurbishing. These days, I need to find a good women’s bike with a low step-through and a comfy saddle.

What a neat video! Liked the workman like approach to this bike refurbishment job. Turned out great. Bike reminds me of my Specialized Crossroads similarly equipped and around the same vintage. Doesn’t have a crank set chain guard though and can’t seem to find one anywhere. Other than that it’s a great ride- wondering what kind of psi you’re running. Most of all I enjoyed watching and learning from the beginning to the end of such a project, unhurried. And the calming music fit perfectly. Nice thing too is that there weren’t any customers “interrupting” you so you could stay focused.

When your dork disk turns yellow, you can always just paint it a cool color... Come to think of it, a red dork disk would look pretty cool on my mountain bike...

Watching this while I take a break from giving nearly the same bike the “Bike Farmer Treatment”. BFT

You are. . .! You know who you are? I have to say. . . You are The Bob Ross of bike mechanics! Very good. Thanks for your videos.

I love the video man. But those rims are close to dead. The groove on the braking surface is long gone and the curve is huge. I would just mention that to the future owner and maybe offer a rim replacement in a service plan.

The cables stretch very little. Brake housing compresses as the spiral contacts it self. Index housing seats into the ferrals. Especially plastic ferrals but I still like the plastic ones since they generally don't become one with the metal they are stuck into. Just never use the short ones. Never stick a metal ferral into the plastic seat on a set of STI levers either. You can get alot of the mush out of the brake housing by squeezing the brake lever firmly ( not too hard though)and following the housing with your fingers wrapped around it and thumb pressing against the housing and then sliding along the cable keeping the thumb inside the radius of the cuurves . Then slap the housing against the frame with the lever still pulled a few times..you will most likely want to re adjust the cables. Shimano's SLR brake housing is the best standard brake housing by far and worth the extra cost. File the ends flat after cutting to length. If you use a grinding wheel you will need to poke the melted liner with a pointy spoke or a fine awl. This will always make for a good feeling brake. Cable Magic is pretty good so is Shimano's cable grease(less is better). Neither of these soften the liner. Can't really say if Tri Flow does since I never used it. But some greases do and some don't.

Always enjoy these. Thanks.

Suggestion for rusty bolt heads: Testor's metallic silver hobby paint applied with a cue tip. Eliminates that ugly look of rusty bolts, especially those that clamp your handlebar. Those are the ones you immediately see when you look down from your seated position. And since you are selling the bikes and have a reputation to uphold, you tell your customer what you did and why, just so they don't think you are trying to mask a problem.

Coming back to bikes after my second 20 year break. Had to buy a bike workshop stand to revitalize my early 90's hardframe mountain bike. Also bought an electric folder just to get me back into it, nice as I can ride to the pub and put it in the back of an uber for the journey home.

Not a question - a distantly related comment. Saw my first gravel bike race today, (sea otter classic on the west coast and first year for gravel there ),. I wandered into the race course area far outside the event itself on my 35 year old schwinn mtb. I knew there was scheduled activity but figured most of the action was over for the day that late in the afternoon. Rode to just below a hilltop and a small group came charging down the road after a short but steep climb that usually sends me putt-putting along for awhile. Then another and another and another spread out over about twenty mins. Humbling but I'm old so that's my excuse. I was the lone spectator off to the side cheering them on miles in the middle of nowhere. They probably thought it was weird or even spooky to see some old guy out there on an old bike and watching them, LOL. Surreal but I won't forget it. Another good one here. Cheers. 👍

I like to use a dime to toe the brake pads 🙂

Promo link suggestions - The electric screwdriver and the screw pliers you like. They're probably mostly the same from company to company but you should get a couple of nickles if I buy them. 😊

I prefer WD40 or PBblaster for decal/paint transfer on bikes or painted surfaces to reduce the removal of clear coat.

just found your channel thanks

Serious cyclist here. My hybrid bike has a spoke protector on it and I'm keeping it there. I wouldn't put one on my road or TT bike but it's fine on the hybrid bike imo.

Nice bike thanks for the tips and tricks. Keep up the great work and stay safe out there.

Greetings also from Germany, number two 😊

Gave the BikeFarmer a shout out on JohnnyNurdOuts channel. He deals with95% ebike stuff but not a lot of non electric stuff. You may find his interesting for e bike stuff and his people may find BikeFarner interesting for general bike issues. Trying to help both

The Ryobi electric screwdriver for little jobs!

29:16 Interesting hypothesis. I've heard the opposite: Setting the pad as high as possible (without touching the tire ofc). The logic being that the arm rotates, doesn't translate. So as the pad wears down, it migrates down on the rim.

I just found you channel, I am enjoying them, thanks.

Like that Apron

not many recessionmobile parts on this one aside from gripshifts and brake levers, some 3x7 integrated levers would make it very solid

Bent a rear hanger 200 km into a 400km ride and wrecked the rear wheel and derailleur 100 km later because I was too "cool" to have a spoke protector. $600 to fix and I'm less cool now.

I use Goof-off for paint splatters but for general adhesive removal sometimes it it takes multiple applications to soften up the goo. That's why I keep a bottle of Ronsonol (Zippo lighter fluid) around. It works better in certain cases.

Hi BikeFarmer I have a Trek 820 Aluminum (Picked up from FB MarketPlace) and another Trek 820 RST steel frame. One is aluminum frame and handlebar shifting that I really like. I want to take front fork with suspension from RST steel frame bike and put it on the Aluminum. Is this something that is doable or am I wasting my time and ruining 2 good bikes ? Thanks!

24:22 your glove had a hot spot

Thanks

take your time I like your videos I can learn allot

Dollar stores have furniture polish in a yellow can. Works well

I really appreciate your videos. Are those 26 in or 29 in wheels?

So exited can’t wait to watch while eating lunch

@BikeFarmer Do your dork disks turn yellow and break too eventually? Or a better plastic? Yes, I'm a dork because of all the reasons you stated.

Nice!

'take the rack off' no way !!!!!!

The fatter tires really transformed the bike.

If I learnt anything is, I don’t have to know anything just get a spoke protector. Oh, and I have lived most of my life under a rock & didn’t know who Bob Ross is. Now I know, sorta.

You keep passing over a lot of mechanical items like the SUSPENSION FORK. Does it work? How can it, it's probably some elastomeric ancient junk 25 years old! Did you test it? Does it need oil? Did you check the headsets and bearing cups? Do they need to be lubed? What about the bottom bracket ??? This stuff is important~

I love your videos, keep it up!

Yo u got to do Mountain Dew real sugar moment

What do you do with thd Bike Racks

Hope you get to enjoy some golf.

Just switch the button on another aerosol can in the trash and you can use up the rest of that hair spray can.

Sweet bike👍🏻

@14:44 doesn't everyone lick their bike dry? WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING?!? 😆😆

what size rubber gloves do you use?

happy bicycle day!

God I probably built 500 of these alone

where can I find a DORK DISC/Spoke Protector for a Shimano CUES 45T sprocket upgrade(current 32T is largest) for my hybrid?

Might as well join in. Greetings from Germany!

More Greetings from Germany

Apparently the solvent in the Triflow will degrade the plastic liner in the shift cable housing. What are your thoughts/experiences on that?

Dawn Powerwash needs to endorse you. Please keep ranting, Bob Ross of Biking videos😊

Comment for the algorithm.

We can't post links for ya sadly, the RU-vid god doesn't like it

Hi BF, what cordless driver did you use to remove the 4mm bolts from the rack? Thank you for the great content.

Bikes, bikes, bikes 🚴‍♂️🤪

4:20min it is " verchmutzt" 😂

Goof off also smells really good! 😂