Our homework hero Cap'n Jonny shared with us how he restored a Miyata 100 Mixte bike that was donated to Bicycle Exchange. He writes:
I couldn't resist taking this Miyata 100 Mixte home for a bit of love. As received, it looked pretty ratty, with lots of scratches in the paint and generally dirty, but after a thorough cleaning and a dose of rubbing compound, it started looking much better.
I mixed up some white, red, and yellow paint from my half-full Rustoleum spray can supply. I matched the color pretty closely.
Then, I cleaned and polished the brightwork and added a few upgrades, including a 14-28 Hyperglide freewheel, new 50-40 tooth aluminum chain rings replacing the old 52-42 steelies, a new saddle, high-rise bars, Sunrace thumbies, and cork grips.
And voila! A refurbished bike is ready for sale to raise money to refurbish donated bikes to donate to those in need of reliable transportation.