I received this Specialized Crossroads that didn’t look to bad from a distance, but up close you could see it was in a bit of a sorry state from having been left outside for quite a while. The chain was rusted solid to the rear cassette; the stem and handlebars had organically fused into the headset and the tyres and welded themselves to the rims.

So after cleaning, scraping, soaking and polishing the parts that could be saved, adding a handful of new parts and some great help from Maz at Cardiff Cycle Workshop (a serious effort needed to free the stem and bottom bracket cup) they have a fully serviced, resurrected and usable cycle once more.

Parts replaced were:

• New Continental TourRide tyres and Specialized inner tubes
• New Bearings for the front and rear hubs
• New bearings in the headset
• New 6-speed cassette
• New crankset
• New sealed bottom bracket
• New brake arms front and rear
• New cables
• New handlebar grips