Sianelle 

Ok ladies and gentlemen; Here is a thread especially for those bicycles that have been rescued from roadside rubbish collections, dumpsters, rubbish skips, bottoms of canals, dark dank caves or the local dump. I'll start things rolling with my English 'Wearwell' Club bicycle which was tossed into a rubbish skip by ignorant relatives after the death of its original owner.

BobHufford

Pastor Bob saved this '69 Robin Hood for me from his local dump in the New Hampshire mountains. I'm sure he'll be along shortly to post many more finds ...

Bob



Click here for more pics

ollo_ollo

When I found it, this Zeus was a step away from the dump, rusting in the rain with a bent fork & missing its brakes & derailleurs. Repaired & overhauled, it's my son's favorite ride.

cudak888 

Saved by Pastor Bob (the Saviour Of Schwinns!):


Saved from the local dumps:



^(frame only)





Saved from the LBS or the LBS's dump piles:


^(frame only)




^(frame only)


^(found this Legnano during an LBS backshop cleanup)

'83 Peugeot PSV-10 (can't find photo at the moment)

Saved from ignorant sellers (I'd consider it a valid sub-category):


-Kurt

bigbossman 

A little Centurion Signet I found at the curb with a "FREE" sign propped up underneath.

Lamplight

I'm always amazed at what some folks here find for free! But it's great that the bikes get found before being scrapped. Here's the only free bike I've ever gotten, and it was in no danger of being destroyed:

gnome

I like your collection of vintage chainrings, very nice.

gnome

Here is the only one I've saved from a tip.

I got this Robin Hood sports from the Ashburton recycling centre. It still has the all the original decals including all the dealers stickers. It needs a new cable for the three-speed and some other minor repairs.

Robin Hood.JPG

BikeManDan

All saves from the same local dump (and all non driveside pictures, DOH!)

Sianelle 

That metallic red/white colour scheme was such a classic. Nice find

I really prefer old chainwheels to be on bicycles and not on a wall, but at least I know where all my spare ones are

wahoonc

Another Pastor Bob Save! I guess Saving goes with the job

This is a ladies Hercules Skyliner date of manufacture unknown. Single speed freewheel, rod brakes 26x1-3/8" wheels. It is older than 1954 that is all we have been able to determine.

Aaron

bigbossman 

A sticky? ReallY? Hmmmm.........

jet sanchEz

This is an '86ish Ciocc that I rescued from a rusty demise, locked to a post and stripped of every single part except the BB. I guess that the city would have eventually cut the lock but I had noticed it being there for at least 8 months, it could have been there for a lot longer than that, I don't know. Getting it off the pole is a sort of long story but if anyone wants to hear it, I can type it out. The paint was beyond rescue so I had it powder-coated, decals will be applied once I track some down.



My friend's mother casually mentioned that she had some old bike that she was going to throw away; I said I would haul it to the dump for her, she was very grateful for my help

divineAndbright

jet sanchEz: I dont know why, but that Ciocc looks awesome! Way to 'build something outta nothing' as it were!

Antipodes

Saved from rusty, tip-bound demises:

Nishiki Landau


Apollo SR5


Raleigh Sprite



...plus many others I don't have photos of...

sykerocker 

My wife was driving by the dump one grocery day, just as the owner of this one was about to toss it in the compactor. With the addition of a rear rack and top box, it's now sitting in my office at work doing daily service as my lunch time errand runner:

digitalbicycle

I'd like to hear the story. I know it's been a topic of much controversy at BF.net, but I do believe in rescuing bikes that are clearly abandoned. There's a beautiful Fuji touring bike, 1985 I think, that's been locked up near my house for going on 6 months. The tires are flat and cracking, the seat is disintegrating, and every day I have fantasies of liberating it. It might even be my size, too.

raverson

A couple of Raleighs that I picked up when I lived in Ca. The guy's CL ad said they were pretty beat but he only wanted a couple of six packs in trade. A Prestige that needed it's seatpost unstuck and some donor wheels and a '78 Sports that needed new tires.

raverson

My niece, who is studying in Sweden, sent me this picture of a bicycle that had been tossed into a canal. She says she has seen numerous bikes disposed of in the local waterways there. Any BF saviors in Sweden?

jet sanchEz

I am in Toronto and there are a lot of bikes locked up here that get picked over, bits and pieces stolen from them, mostly by crackheads. Even if it is bolted down, it will be stolen----I cannot recall the number of times I have been in a bike shop and have overheard a customer's lament about the cost of buying a new seat or wheel because someone stole theirs. That is how Toronto is and it kinda sucks but if you have lived here long enough, you get smart and take off all of your quick releases and learn to park your bike in a safe, well-lit place on a busy street. That is exactly where this Ciocc was, on Bloor Street West, locked to a city-installed bicycle post right in front of a magazine shop that was open very early and closed very late.

When I had first noticed it, the bike had had it's handlebars and front wheel taken from it, that is what drew my eye; I thought, "Geez, that is a bummer, that guy must really be annoyed" and figured that the bike would remain there a bit longer while it's owner bought new parts to replace the stolen ones. Still it sat though, no new parts and I then noticed that the brakes were gone; I surmised that the bike was abondoned and that eventually the whole thing would be stolen. Tragic since it was a Ciocc, but none of my business. Each time I walked by, it seemed like another piece had been taken until there wasn't anything left but the frame and the rear wheel which had been locked with the frame. The wheel was bent pretty badly though as I guess someone had tried to pry the lock off and had bent the wheel. The lock was a kryptonite so it wasn't going anywhere, the crackheads don't have easy access to an acetylene torch and even if they did, they would sell it for more crack.

The time of year was now about November, winter was coming and the bike was completely exposed as the seat-post and fork had been taken. I talked with a friend of mine and he thought it was a pretty bad idea, to take the bike, because even if I thought it was a crime for it to waste away it is a crime to steal a bicycle. He suggested that I could perhaps track down the owner and ask him to unlock it and then I could either give him money for it or at least know that the bike was going to be used. This was a good idea so I asked the guy in the magazine store if he knew anything about it and he said that the bike had been there for ages. He said he didn't remember seeing it being locked up either. I asked if it could be one of the tenants upstairs and he said he would ask around, since he owned the building. I checked back in after a week or so and he said that no one in his apartment building knew anything about it and he suggested that I cut the lock, since he could see how interested I was in it. I came up with the plan that I would give him all my contact info in case the owner ever came back for it and I cut the lock with an acetylene torch as he watched.

Once the bike was powder-coated and I had it built up, I rode over and showed it to the owner of the magainze store and he couldn't believe it. No one had ever shown up and I guess that since it is 5 years on now, it is my bike.

divineAndbright

Great story, and kudos for leaving all your info like that, I think you did the right thing there.

By the way, what kinda fork did you put on it? I like it, and im going to be doing a similar upgrade to an older bike with a 1" headtube soon, Id like to get the same if possible! (that is if I dont like the aluminum one im gonna try out first).

Sianelle 

It's a long holiday weekend here and folk have been cleaning out their backyards and sheds. I was down at the local rubbish tip (dump) this morning and I could not believe the numbers of kids bikes that have been tossed into the scrap recycling enclosure. I don't really have the room to save kiddie bikes, but I did help myself to an base model NZ assembled 'Avanti' 10 speed that had excellent condition lightweight mudguards, a really solid front 'Porteur' rack and a nice lightweight rear rack. The frame is real tall rider territory which is one reason why I'll keep it for rebuilding purposes. The rest of the components are all low budget stuff, but to my surprise this bike was fitted with toeclips. Must've been somebody's touring iron; - looks like it was in good condtion too before being left to rust.
My other score was a 1970s NZ made under licence gents Raleigh with single speed coaster brake. Somebody had painted it a strange shade of fawny brown all over which I guess has helped with keeping rust at bay; - but what had drawn my eye was the much distressed antique hairspring leather saddle which this bike was wearing. When I first saw it my first thought had been that the bike was seriously old, but since the bike had been at the top of a mound of dead washing machines I could be forgiven for jumping to this conclusion. It was not easy getting it down I can tell you
Have you noticed how old bicycles seem to grip onto eveything that's around them? Well there was alsorts of old iron threaded through the Raleigh which took a lot of hauling and heaving to get rid of. People do stop and stare at me sometimes because I walk with a stick and I'm a woman, and when I go old bike hunting at the tip I wear fairly impressive engineers boots, heavy jeans, gloves and a scruffy old jumper. Just because I have a disability it doesn't mean I can't get stuck in just like anybody else

jet sanchEz

Thanks, I feel that I did the best I could given the situation.

The fork is a Profile Design carbon fork with an aluminium steerer. It is very comfy but I would love to find an original Ciocc pantographed fork but they seldom come up on eBay. There is one listed right now but it is too small for me. Speaking of eBay, I finally managed to get some Ciocc decals! I just won an auction for these yellow ones, I think they will look pretty good with the black bike but I may choose to go with red, we shall see.

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=018

pastorbobnlnh 

I can't believe this thread/sticky was started, ahem, on a Saturday night/Sunday morning, when my availability to C&V is somewhat limited (other saving business to conduct, as mentioned by wahoonc)!

Thank you for all the mentions of the bikes I've passed along (or about to pass along). Let's see:
There's the '66 Coppertone Collegiate,

The '71 Kool Lemon Varsity that now belongs imabeliever,

The '76 Ladies Varsity which I might have some fun with this winter (unless someone wants to claim it),

The '71 Super Sport that's up for negotiations,

...and the Holy Grail of all finds, waiting to go to auction next spring,
the 1888-92 Safety Bicycle, found leaning against the scrap heap.

jisaak

I am amazed at the bikes I see being tossed for the garbage....and me without a garage or the time, I'd like to pick them up, clean them up and give to someone who needs a bike, especially the kids bikes, there's always a little one who would enjoy a bike. Maybe once retirement comes along I can build the garage and start a bike for kids project.
Anyway here's one I picked up from a neighbour this past summer, needed a couple of tires and a saddle, now it's on my trainer.
[IMG][/IMG]