>>1535652sure you can replace brake pads, but first try these:
-sandpaper the actual pads
-clear brake surface on the rim with soap and then clean with waterand dry
-replace housing and wires
-try to "soften" the spring that makes caliper open (disasembling required)
i did all those things once a lot ago on an older bike ipurchase for 12 bucks, same as yours. improvement was marginal. frame was unable to fit short and medium reach dualpivot brakes, it only accepted long reach calipers, and long reach on LBS were sidepull only, none of them were dualpivot.
the solution was sell the shit and go for a decent frame.
>>1535654-the brake shit i told you
-upgrade all wires and housing
-if shifters and derraileur work well, just use them and adjust fine tunning, use them until pieces dead, no real reason to update deraileurs and shifters if you will not sport on it.
-if the chainring is for square tapper axle, upgrade it to a sealed one, cheap and realiable as shit.
-"update" grease on all bearings of your bike: wheel cones, BB if is not a sealed one, direction bearing and races. and update grease on all threads of bolts and nuts and other parts like the hole of crankarms, the seat tube and the face of wedge facing the steerer tube.
-true both wheels if they are untrue, if nipples and spokes are damaged of rusty, ask your mechanic to replace all of them for new ones.
-if you seek for better quality riding, update your rims to alu double walled rims, put a high presure rimtape inside: more presure will not fuck up your inner tubes with the head of the spoke nipples, and you braking will improve.
-if you want to avoid playing and "dancing" on the rear wheel and freewheel after a couple of kms, and the abrupt axle failure which seconds that dancing, upgrade the rear hub to a cassette on, with a 7 o 8 speed, will be completly compatible with your 6 speed deraileurs and and shifters.
(new wheels could be better at this point).
