colt59

Here's a pair of vintage 10 speeds that were abandoned on bike racks by graduating students at the end of the year. One is a Vista Mark XX and the other is a Fuji Berkeley. Both are in fairly decent shape and appear to be complete. The Fuji has new tires, but one is flat. The Vista's tires are shot, but strangely hold air.

due ruote 

How does one know for sure they were abandoned? Were they wearing signs?

Please don't take that the wrong way. I'm not saying they were not abandoned, but how can you be certain?

Lascauxcaveman 

Yeah, define "abandoned." I'd have qualms about removing someone's bike unless it had been there a long, long time untouched and in the same position.

jetboy 

Anything left on school property over 30 days after notice is placed on the item becomes property of the school.

Our school waits 60days before removing the bike but its probably different per state and school etc.

Many bikes do get abandoned at my school. Some are going to the school coop and overflow is sent to another coop.

due ruote 

And those particular bikes do not appear to have suffered the indignity of months or years of exposure.

Of course some bikes are abandoned; nice to hear about them being recycled to co-ops.

I confess that about 25 years ago I took a set of Superbe brakes from a frame that hadn't moved for about 9 months after graduation. At that point they were about the only thing still attached to the frame. Now don't go telling me those were yours.

dweenk

Our local university disposes of around 100 or more bikes every year at an auction. Between those bikes left by students with no transport room, left because of mechanical problems, and those dropped by local bike thieves - there are deals to be found. I picked up a 1993 Paramount PDG Series 50 for $3.00 this year. It needs a fork and front wheel. A friend picked up a nice Fuji del Rey without wheels for $1.00. Strangely the bikes that were purchased from Wal-Mart or Target went for higher prices

Scientific calculators go for $3 or $4 a piece. Valuable text books go for a dollar a box. I have seen very nice sunglasses and good jewelry go for insane prices (both high and low).

The amount of waste is incredible. The university stopped trying to sell/donate/give away abandoned furniture. Now they place industrial dumpsters at each dormitory and those get filled to capacity.

colt59

We have stringent rules for bike removal. We have two bike purges per year. A notice is sent out 30 days prior to removal. All suspect bikes are tagged by public safety with a removal notice also 30 days prior. Then after they are removed they are stored in a basement for a long time (sometimes years) before they are disposed. Many of the stored bikes are lent to students to use. These are all tagged with school stickers. Both of these bikes were removed from the racks after months of sitting in the same place. In the storage room, we have about 50 bikes right now. Giants, Treks, Schwinns, Murrays, Raleighs, Campano, Huffy, crazy names that I've never heard of. We even save the locks that we cut off. We have never had one complaint about theft. We also get an enormous amount of refrigerators, microwaves, and hookahs.

wrk101

You know these were owned by graduating students how?

GordoTrek

My neighbor works for a company that cleans out dorms for the UofR. It's the same deal there too, 30 days past notice, then they cut the locks. If somebody reports it they can get it within 30 days of the locks getting cut. After that fair game, most of the BSOs go to the coop, but the nicer ones are cherry picked by the staff. He brought home a 2012 Giant Revel 1, and a 2011 Trek 6000, both missing wheels and seatpost+seat. Offered them both to me to tune up his Ross Eurosport... easy money he also has a bikes direct Dawes that is in great shape. I may have to switch jobs

nlerner

The previous university I worked for does an annual sale of abandoned bikes. I went to it once and was greatly disappointed. Not only were the bikes there largely crap, but the student bidders were crazily driving up prices. I kept lowering my expectations to make off with at least a bike I could strip for parts and toss the frame, but it all became too expensive for that. At my current university, I have no idea what the practices are. Still, while I see an occasional interesting looking bike in the racks where I park mine, I somehow doubt those are the ones that get abandoned. I'd say 99% of what I see are crappy BSOs.

fleslider 

The City i live in Fort Collins a bike is considered abandoned after its been in the same spot on public property for 48 hours.

cycleheimer

Quite a few bikes also get abandoned in the bike rooms of apartment buildings when people move. Bike shops also wind up with "abandoned" bikes when people bring them in for estimates or repairs, and later just "forget about them" when they hear what the cost is to repair them.

qcpmsame 

Here, our sheriff's department, the city police and all three colleges have annual auctions to clear the bicycles that are either left behind in the case of the colleges, or picked up as abandoned/stolen. The law enforcement will attempt to locate the owners, or match the bicycle's serial number, if present, to a stolen bicycle report. Its amazing how few stolen bicycles are reported to law enforcement, and even more amazing just how many are left/abandoned at colleges or universities by students. Even a BSO should be worth taking along with you, or donating it to a coop, thrift store, or other charity. The parts can help someone get back going when they didn't have the means to buy what they needed.

Bill

Lascauxcaveman 

@colt59, sounds like your university has pretty reasonable rules for removing and disposing of abandoned property. I'm glad to hear you weren't just making up your own

Little Darwin

And if someone rides it in between, but parks it in the same spot without someone else's knowledge?

I have to admit, that's one way to improve bike theft statistics.... call all thefts except the most blatant thefts abandonment. We could go a little further. If the bike's saddle is not covered by the owners butt, and it is not locked in a persons private residence or vehicle, it is abandoned... That could lead to zero bike thefts.

Just call me McGruff, the crime stopper...