Fix up my bike

The $15 red and gold monstrosity I’ve been riding this past year is flashy enough to blind the sun, and as nice as it is to have absurdist shocks and dime-stoppable brakes, it has no emotional value for me. Plus, I’ve got to keep a continual eye on it to prevent its being stolen, and that’s a pain.
Before the summer I hope to fix up my bike, which my father gave his then-girlfriend (my mother) after dredging it out of the harbor in 1971. Sure, it’s a piece of shit, but there’s nothing wrong with it that can’t be repaired.
Hope springs eternal!

Question: does anyone have recommendations for effective but relatively cheap brands of chain lube?

I figured out how to change my tires today, front and rear. It took a while, required one shoddy book and some Internet searching and the handle of a spoon and some faith, but my bike has two shiny new tires. I took this photo once already hung in BF’s garage and since I had sustained a finger injury doing this, didn’t want to take it down. Anyway, I also figured out that the hardware store carries a front wire bike basket for $11.99 and a flat rear rack for $15.99, so am contemplating which if either of these to buy to add to the functionality of the bike. At any rate, super proud that I figured it out.

I hope so, anyway . . . I priced tires/tubes over at the hardware store and they seem reasonable. Also, I have decided for sure that I do not want my BF’s mom’s bike, so now I can move ahead with my plans for my current one.

at a thrift store in Door County, WI last summer. But it wasn’t in the shape to be ridden and I wasn’t in the shape to ride. It needs new tires and probably needs the gears and brakes tuned up, plus I will put my nice seat on there. I’d even like to look for those baskets that fold up while you’re riding but open up if you go to the store. I have all the other bike accessories I might need to make myself a more regular rider. Excited for spring and that my new place will be completely within riding distance (not that my old place wasn’t, but this one is closer) of all my favorite grocery stores and mostly all my other needs (except work. Bah.).

My bike was worth fixing and I am so glad I did so. I get a lot more pleasure out of exercising on my cute little two-wheeler rather than my old clunker.

... went a long way. They graciously chipped in some old parts, and the old beast made it admirably through its first mountain bike race (so did I).