Alt Bike Culture - Thinking about throwing away my bike-pile

frames, wheels, handlebars, forks, other crap

half-built recumbent project, just-started tall-bike project, other parts waiting for some inspiration

nothing worth much more than its scrap value

getting tired of moving it, reaching over it, banging my head on hanging frames, tangling rakes with wheels. This morning I could barely get my commuter out between the minivan and the bike stuff.

on one hand it would be nice to get this crap out of the garage. on the other hand I'd probably just start collecting again.

what says the bike forum?

embrace your pathology.

Follow your impulse, but dump the stuff onto somebody who's into bikes. Don't chuck it all into the trash, then tell the bike people in your life about it when it's too late.
"Oh, you need a *****? I had a perfect ***** on the tallbike I threw out last week".

If any of it is cruiser parts, my bare frame came Friday and I wasn't there so it's coming back today. It's a brand new cantilevered frame, 26"

Do you live anywhere near Boston? I'll happily take your bike junk, I'm currently working on building up my own pile. Also, not to thread-jack but any suggestions on where to get pile-worthy junk other than just cruising the streets on trash day? As far as I can tell, the only metal places around here are the smaller scrapping operations that probably just instantly send junk to the crusher.

Get rid of the minivan or park it in your back yard, maybe with like a tarp over it or something.

You will regret dumping your bike stash within the month.

embrace your pathology.

To do that I'll soon need a bigger place, like a house in the country with a barn. this is actually my favorite solution.


Get rid of the minivan or park it in your back yard, maybe with like a tarp over it or something.

I do like the prioritization. Maybe I could accidentally leave it in the driveway with the keys in the ignition


Do you live anywhere near Boston?

definitely not

Ya gotta work with your space...ya gotta have parts...ya gotta have other stuff in order to live and go place. OR do ya. If you post in 'car-free' you will get one answer, if you post in 'alt bikes' another answer. I agree with the, if you toss it you'll regret it crowd....if you are really into doing what you do.

if you have a bike shop like SOPO in atlanta, they'd be more than willing to take some bike parts off your hands, and you'd be helping a lot of people in the process : ) . . .granted, if you're going to start collecting again : P keep it

if you have a bike shop like SOPO in atlanta, they'd be more than willing to take some bike parts off your hands, and you'd be helping a lot of people in the process : ) . . .granted, if you're going to start collecting again : P keep it

for a list of collecives like sopo, check out www.bikecollectives.org. there's a directory of community/non-profit shops across the country.

the other option is to post a free ad on craigslist for bike parts. i did this a few years ago when my pile was so large THE EPA sent a letter to my landlord, and he wanted them gone. less than 24 hours after posting the ad, all the bike stuff was gone.

i now work at our local community shop, so i don't have to stockpile the parts i once did. if i need something, i've got digging rights and can usually find it without too much hassle.

Put a free ad on Freecycle.

Tell them you're giving away good bike parts.

Yeah I purge every now and then. I'm on my third or fourth pile of junk. I have a friend who wants a garden archway made of bikes so I put a wanted ad on freecycle - got a lot of kiddie bikes and the usual dept store stuff.

I whittled down from 7 bikes to 2 bikes, two spare wheelsets and a SMALL box of parts in 2003. Now I'm back up to 5 bikes and have many parts. I purged prior to a move, doubt I could if I didn't have a reason like that.

Everytime I throw something out I need it within a couple of months. Drives me crazy. I'm going to unload about 30 bikes in the next 4 months though, I'm tired of tripping over stuff I'll never actually use.