The Situation – I’m an amateur mountain biker who has been having obsessive thoughts about buying a road bike. Lack of funds prompted searches on Craigslist where I just purchased 2 1987 Panasonic DX-3000′s (49cm and 58cm) at $50 each. They are in decent, but not great shape; previous owners (husband and wife) were avid cyclists. They have been sitting in a storage warehouse for a few years.
The Plan – Instead of taking them to a local bike shop (there’s a small handful here in Baltimore) I would really love to “tune them up” myself. I have little experience with bicycle maintenance but am determined to learn what is needed to get these bikes safely road worthy. Have already hit the library for maintenance books. So here’s my plan of attack… First clean the bikes. The chain and gears are dark, almost black. Second… um…
The Question – The brakes are fine and tires look good (one tube is out though). Shifter cables seem a bit slack and handlebar/front tire alignment is a smidge off. Aside from replacing the cables and aligning front tire, is there anything I SHOULD be doing to get these bikes on the road. I want to ride far and fast (at least faster than my MTB will go) and getting stranded 20 miles from home is something I’d like to prevent. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Personally I would do exactly as Darin suggested…do what you can within the confines of saving some money and not damaging anything, then get them back together and take them to a reputable bicycle shop and have the “Pro” mechanic do a once over prior to heading out on your 20 mile ride. It will cost you some money…but can you put a price on having piece of mind? You can read a manual over and over and think you are doing it correctly, but there are so many variables that can present themselves while doing proper reassembly… I would hate to see you damage something or worse get injured while riding. Trust me, I do my share of tinkering with bicycles, but since I don’t do it for a living or that often…I would rather give my local mechanic some much needed business in this economy and get home from my ride safe and secure. Just my two cents…take it for what it’s worth. At any rate I wish you the best with your new purchase and hopefully many more miles on those Panasonic’s.