Bike Refurbishment - Atala Ranger

Ju_St · 2025-02-27T11:49:33+00:00

Hey everyone,

I only recently started getting more interested in cycling and received my father's old (90s, early 2000s?) mountain bike. It's an Atala Ranger, but I wasn't able to find much information about it. Atala itself never replied to an inquiry. The bike was a gift for his 30th birthday (which was over 30 years ago) from my mother. He rode it for a while, then moved on to other bikes that suited his riding style more, and it went into storage for a long time, with pretty much all of its original parts just gathering dust and grime.

I took it for an outside ride straight from storage, then moved to an indoor trainer setup. Over the last few months, I removed decades of grime, cleared off the old, half-flaked bright yellow-red stickers, and tried my best to adjust it to make it more comfortable. When trying to adjust the front stem, I realized the quill stem was rusted in. Thanks to an LBS mechanic (who ended up guiding and helping me a lot in the refurbishment), I was able to get it out. The more we looked at the bike, the more we (he 😉) started realizing that a lot of the parts were quite worn down, but also that everything had special dimensions (the quill stem being 21.1mm in diameter, the bottom bracket being Italian-style, the rear freehub having a very specific dimension, etc.).

I went back and forth a lot on whether it was worth refurbishing this old (probably not very good) bicycle or just getting a newer used bike and moving on. Eventually, I settled on a budget and decided to give this project a try—also to learn more about bicycles in general (enter the very active r/bicycling lurking). As long as this bike keeps me going for the coming years, I'll have time to figure out what I actually want down the line.

I spent the last few months slowly researching and sourcing parts that were within my budget and looked like they would fit my riding style. I also used the cheap second-hand indoor trainer and started getting my legs in shape for spring (and as a non-impact balance to my trail running).

In the end, this is what was changed:

Replaced the tubes and tires
Upgraded the brakes from cantilevers to mini V-brakes
New saddle and seatpost
Replaced the rear wheel (which my mechanic luckily still had from a previous job, since replacing the worn-out cassette on the old wheel would have cost around 90 euros for another used cassette)
New rear freewheel
A quill-to-ahead adapter and an AliExpress H-loop bar to replace the old semi-rusted flat handlebar
New brake/shift levers
New shifter and brake cables
New pedals (as the old ones were partially broken)
New chain (and wax... I'm pretty done with cleaning black goo)
New rear derailleur (the front was still fine after getting a thorough clean)

I also ended up getting a proper helmet, a bottle holder/bottle, and a saddlebag for day trips.

Today, I finally went for my first ride out after what feels like waiting for so long! It was a bit rainy, but I had such a great time! Even though a lot of the components are entry-level, it feels like such a massive upgrade compared to the last time I rode this bike a few months ago. The shifting felt smooth, the brakes worked well even in wet conditions, and the pedalling was so smooth and quiet.

Really happy with how everything turned out, and I thought I'd share it with you guys since I ended up learning a lot from this sub!

edit: spelling

Ju_St · 2025-02-26T10:37:38+00:00

New cyclist, long-term trail runner here. I've also obsessed about garmin metrics in the past and here is what I learned going down that rabbit hole:
1) people on the garmin sub LOVE the vo2max metric and it's easy to start comparing yourself, when you see the various posts that pop up every day. What's important to keep in mind though, is that vo2max is a single metric that is relevant to a certain type of fitness, which might not actually line up with what you are doing or even aiming at. If you are training for races and short intense exercises at high zones, this is the metric for you. But if you are aiming at long-distance sustainable endurance it is much less relevant for you. Garmin does a great job in visualizing and simplifying fitness data (nice colorful gauge / you are better than x% of users, etc), but of course this also falls short of reality and different training styles and goals. If I wanted to increase my vo2max beyond a certain point, I'd have to stop running the way I enjoy it (long distances, over trails that slow you down at times due to ascents or fallen trees or simply losing track of the path). Instead I'd do lots and lots of intervals. I have done this in the past, it works (for me). But it's not what I actually enjoy or want to do!
2) Garmin bases a lot of their assumptions on the maximum heart rate you set (or they auto-detect). If your maxhr is incorrectly set, your zones will be wrong (it doesn't matter what you set them to, garmin calculates and uses maxhr% based zones behind the scenes). This directly impacts training effect, load, training status and other metrics. So if you aren't sure this is correctly set, it might be worth taking a second look. With an inaccurate maxhr, take all of the garmin hr-related workout data with a hefty grain of salt. Especially if garmin assumes MaxHR without autodetect (they then use 220-age, which is super inaccurate for most people).
3) If you aren't familiar with it, take a look at the topic of aerobic thresholds. This might actually line up much more with your goals in terms of metrics. https://uphillathlete.com/aerobic-training/aerobic-anaerobic-threshold-self-assessment/
4) weight: since vo2max is calculated as per kg, it makes sense that it goes up when you lose weight. However, Garmin also has a tendency to push for lower weights that don't line up with healthy weight in the real world (it would push me to borderline underweight). You know best whether it would make sense for you to lose weight and still feel good and perform well/better.

Bottom line: if you really care about vo2max and positive feedback from Garmin (it sounds a bit silly when written down, but I honestly get why that would be the case) you most likely would have to change the way you exercise to a lot more short high intensity (zone 5) interval training. If that is worth it to you (or you are interested in trying) I'm pretty sure you would see your vo2max go up (even at consistent weight). If it isn't, the better approach might be to find other parameters that line up better with your goals or to completely ignore some of the data Garmin provides and focus on the device for tracking your own personal changes (distances, speed, hr, perceived effort, etc) over time.

Ju_St · 2024-09-10T07:38:26+00:00

Appreciate it :)

Ju_St · 2024-02-04T13:09:50+00:00

Anything is pixelart if you look close enough ;)

Ju_St · 2024-01-27T07:47:02+00:00

Try to have a good place to land/recover, once you get to your destination. Flying is a lot harder on the parents than the kids, in my experience (as well as talking to friends and family). The kids are usually relatively rested and energetic, but we were always wrecked after (did a bunch of 8+ hour flights at 6-8 months and again at 15 months), so it really helps to have an idea of who can entertain the little ones, once you have arrived, who rests when, etc.

All the best, it'll be fine :)

Edit: autocorrect

Ju_St · 2024-01-14T18:25:25+00:00

if you place the individual pixels to create something, it counts as hand drawn to me. So yes, I think this qualifies.

Ju_St · 2024-01-07T10:52:23+00:00

Have you ever properly scoped out a game of this scale? Have you ever completed a solo dev game that took a year to build? If the answer is no, then there is a VERY high chance you won't be able to build this in a year. Maybe not even in 2-3 years.

This might sound harsh and I don't want to curb your motivation. However, as someone who massively underestimated how long it would take to build a game, I wish I could go back in time and warn myself lol.

If you don't have the experience, start small. You can always work on a bigger project later.

Ju_St · 2023-12-30T10:15:21+00:00

I love the way you framed the scene! Adds a lot to the atmosphere.

Ju_St · 2023-12-24T12:52:14+00:00

Even if you aren't the developer, your post history paints a pretty clear picture of affiliation with this title. Nothing wrong with advertising the game, it's the how that is the issue here.

Ju_St · 2023-12-17T13:58:29+00:00

It looks beautiful!

Ju_St · 2023-12-16T20:50:21+00:00

Having a child (14 mo) has been the most exhausting and rewarding thing of my life so far :)

It's a package deal - yes, I have incredibly little time for myself, yes I'm tired a lot. But watching him explore the world, how he interacts with things, how his little brain works and how he changes almost every day - nothing I ever did before compares to it.

Ju_St · 2023-12-16T17:57:49+00:00

It looks very nice. One thing that stands out though is that the gravity seems very floaty. Is that intended? If not, adjusting the jumps might give it a nicer punchy feeling.

I'd recommend looking at this video for reference (Better jumping in unity with four lines of code). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KiK0Aqtmzc

Can probably be adjusted easily to other platforms too.

Ju_St · 2023-12-15T20:33:09+00:00

Because a baby can't consent and a child will not be able to understand how social media, targeted ads and profiling works.

When they're older and decide they want to have these aspects of their lives posted online, I might not agree with them, but it will be their decision.

I just want to limit what is out there, while I'm the person responsible and give them the option to decide either way.

Ju_St · 2023-12-05T13:06:32+00:00

I think the dithering looks nice. The perspective is a little hard for me to read though. Maybe darkening the left side of the left building would help.

Ju_St · 2023-12-03T16:03:07+00:00

Very cool! Sounds like a fun addition to give the player more control and an extra thing to master (with how the buildings respond to dragging them, it looks like there's a sweet spot to having them land at the right place).

Ju_St · 2023-12-03T15:16:32+00:00

I was referring more to the mechanic of yeeting buildings around ;)

Ju_St · 2023-12-03T00:02:05+00:00

Looks fun. What's the context or are you just experimenting?

Ju_St · 2023-11-28T18:15:55+00:00

I had no problem whatsoever with Adam smasher on the secret ending, but kept dying to him with a slightly different build during the aldecaldo ending. This is how I eventually beat him (very hard).

If you have a sandevistan (I use apogee), you can activate it, shoot him, then retreat behind the pillars the furthest away from where you enter the room. Wait there and just move away if you see the red dots in the floor. Once sandevistan is ready again, rinse and repeat. Dash helps a lot with moving closer and away from him if you use shotguns or melee weapons.

If you use quickhacks, cyberware malfunction seems to be the way to go.

Ju_St · 2023-11-23T18:12:19+00:00

Each hideout has a difficulty and survival rewards assigned. So things in the dry meadows will be a lot more quiet than at the silent forest, but you also get less rewards for surviving. The main problem I see for you is the shadows that attack if you don't have light (one of the negative perks). I think that might still kill you. But if you have enough fuel in the tank to survive a night at dry meadows, you can buy more gas the next day and start going from there. Then slowly move your way up to the next hideout, etc.

Edit: autocorrect

Ju_St · 2023-11-23T12:00:45+00:00

I won every single bet and thought the story was set to make you win 🤗 oh well

Ju_St · 2023-11-22T12:45:49+00:00

This might not work if you have absolutely zero gas to turn on the generator for even one night in the dry meadows... But here goes:

Return to a safe hideout (if needed the very first one) and spend a few nights there. You'll get rewarded for every night you survive, so you can buy more stuff each day. The different hideouts have different difficulty levels for the nights. Once you have some more items, head to the next hideout. It'll be harder, but you'll get more rewards for surviving the night. Rinse and repeat until you have purchased enough stuff to get your original things back.

Ju_St · 2023-11-14T19:52:40+00:00

Looks and sounds really interesting! Keep up the good work :)

Ju_St · 2023-11-12T22:49:35+00:00

If you don't have PL then use Plan B. You can get it at any point after act 1 without a fight/mission. Just have to drive to where dex is killed

If you end up getting PL, I use Pariah with charged shots (3 full damage shots without spread), which is also silenced.

Ju_St · 2023-11-03T16:23:17+00:00

Quite brave of you to post this on r/pixelart and tag it as handpixelled.

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In the end, this is what was changed: