Altec arcus
Bought via Marktplaats on 2025-11-22 for my best friend. The seller was a woman named Karen in Leiden. It previously belonged to her son, who was now going to highschool.

She mentioned that it had been left outside in the weather a lot.
Specs
- Frame size is 18 inches (45 cm?). Feels pretty okay to me tho. I guess it’s mountain bike sizing
- Axa back wheel lock
- CMR XC 60/95-622 M/C 37B Moped wheels
- Miltas 54-622 tires
- ? Tubes inflated to 5 bar / 75 PSI
- Front fender is Polisport Colorado
- Shimano SIS 7-speed rear cassette
- Shmano Tourney TZ rear derraileur
- Shimano tourney TZ front derraileur
- Prowheel cranks
- FP-818 pedals
- I have not been able to locate a frame number
Service history
Things to buy
- Bearings?
- Chain guard?
2025-11-22 (and following days)
On first pickup, I inspected the bike and drove it a bit. The saddle was set way too low. The tires felt like they had massive resistance, after a couple turns they’d just stop by themselves. Front brake calipers seemed misaligned with the disk. The steering wheel was a bit loose. The chain seems surprisingly clean, perhaps replaced? Brake discs are very clean. The back gears seem kinda dirty or dusty. It definitely needs a good thorough cleaning as well. Non-drive side crank seems pretty rusty as well. There’s plenty of hits and scratches on the front fork, perhaps I can cover them up with black spray. There’s a front fender but not a back one, though there is a base for it - possibly broken or removed? The front suspension was functional, but pressure unknown. There is a non-working front wheel light, I opened it up and it seems to need 3xAAA batteries. I should also put some grease in its base screw.


After getting to the workshop and disassembling it, I found rust on a lot of components. Especially inside the front fork I found also tons of calcium buildup, it looks like rain somehow got in there. The rust seems surface level though. I disassembled the stem and separated the front fork.
I raised the saddle post, greased it, then lowered it back down.
The next day I cleaned the front fork and headset ball bearings, regreased and reinstalled them. I reinstalled all the headset spacers, then the handlebars. I replaced the handlebars screws as they had a decent amount of rust. I reconnected the front brakes, then spent some time adjusting them. I think I’ve mispositioned or broken the back brakes because they don’t tighten properly? The rest of the bike seems to be in working shape. I also reinstalled the front light, the back one is okay for now.
Next day I started by removing the little front light. I cleaned the front wheel axle, degreased and regreased all the bearings, then reinstalled the front wheel and made sure it had perfect spin. I took apart both front and back brakes, removed the rust from the discs, cleaned the pads and reinserted them. I then calibrated the front brakes. I also placed the front brake cable in an angle where it doesn’t get caught on the wheel, I might want to add a tie-wrap to attach it to the bar like it had before. I couldn’t get the back cassette off, so I asked Martijn, a neighbour for the tools to do that. I think
This is how the discs looked after cleaning them.

I took the wheel to a bike store to remove the cassette from the wheel. They teased me a bit, but helped me for free. They gave me back 7 bearings, though the other side had 9 - I suspect one or two got lost? I degreased and regreased the axle, bearings and reinserted them. When I reattached everything, I noticed a an ever so slight wobble in the cassette. The wheel runs fine though. I reinstalled the disc brake pads, then adjusted the back brake. I replaced the saddlepost and the back light screw. I changed the position of the back light from left to right as well.
In the evening, I did a test drive. I adjusted the saddle height, and the hand lever angles. Everything else was pretty good. I left WD-40 in the cranks overnight.
The next day, I gave the bike a deep clean. It came out pretty good! I degreased and regreased the chain, removed a dead bike bell and tightened the front wheel nuts. The brakes were a bit squeaky after cleaning so I treated them with some more brake cleaner. The gears didn’t need reindexing, though the upshift sometimes misses.

Known Problems:
- I forgot to reinsert the plastic back cover/mudguard of the gears
- Perhaps missing bearing in the non-drive-side of the back wheel
- Small wobble in the cassette
- I replaced 2 M6x20s in the saddlepost and the back light. The new ones are missing washers
- the upshift on the back derraileur sometimes misses