General Cycling Discussion - Bicycle Recycling Programs

Does anyone know of a national bicycle recycling organization or bicycle donation program? I have several older bikes that are in decent shape but could use a little work and I'd love to donate them to a worthwhile cause/organization. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Where are you located? Don't know of a national program, but here in Chicago we have www.workingbikes.org

You might inquire through your bike shop, the Salvation Army, other caring agencies... or even the Yellow Pages.

In Montréal, we have one firm that recycles bikes either for lawn ornaments or for cheap second hand bikes (depending on their original condition), another group that gathers used bikes to send decent bikes to Cuba (to be used as bicycles -- we are in Canada, BTW) and another group that sends used bikes to various African and Latin American countries, both to be used as bicycles or as machinery. All these groups are local

One of our LBS in conjunction with a club that gets together and repairs the bikes in the fall before Christmas, than gives them to kids who need a bike. Typically as my kids grow out of bikes we donate them to a children's services agency where my wife works, but most countys will have a children's services agency. Goodwill is OK but I know for a fact my bikes are given to children who would otherwise not have a chance at any price, and have seen them in use by kids with huge smiles on their faces!

I'm a mechanic and we get this question a lot at the shop, so in my free time (ha ha) I usually take the bikes in that get dropped off, and either strip them down and save whats good or do some minor work on them, enough to make them functional and rideable and then re-donate them to the Salvation Army or Goodwill... or one other local cause that sends bikes overseas... whomever happens to need them.

Oh yeah the point of that was to ask at the LBS... most have a place they can recommend or will often take them in and fix and donate them.