Cool stuff, Liz.
They’d both be pretty good and bad projects for getting going with mechanics. On the good side, there’s not much you can do to hurt either of these bikes. They’re gonna be pretty forgiving to work on in many ways. On the down-side, you have to have realistic expectations for how they will function once they’re overhauled. The brakes and levers on both bikes, when working PERFECTLY, never generated much stopping power. Just the nature of the beasts with flexy levers and calipers and non-machined rim surfaces.
There are some things that will likely not be easy at all. To service the headset bearings (where the fork goes through the frame) you’re going to have to remove the stem. Due to rust and age, the stem is going to fight you on that. Penetrating oil helps. So does a BFH (Big Flippin’ Hammer). Adjusting saddle height might require similar “persuasion”.
That internally geared hub probably still works nicely. At Apocalypse +1 the world likely be populated by roaches, my first attempt at baking muffins at high altitude over an open fire and millions of fully functional internally-geared hubs.
That said, I think you should go for it. Not sure which one I’d suggest starting with, quite honestly. I was gonna say the one with the internally geared hub would be a good one to start with, but if the cables are missing, there are some weird small parts that are likely missing.
Do you have space that you can work on these incrementally? It might take some time.
Also keep in mind that what you learn from these will likely help with some skills that you need to work on modern bikes, but most of what you’ll be learning is a sense of bravery and adventure. Though the concepts are basically the same, things on modern bikes are often a bit different. If you can work on these, you’ll be pleasantly surprised how easy stuff goes on a modern bike. Stuff is much more precise.
Is that of any help?
Pete
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