TransitBiker

Thrift store had this..



Thoughts?

- Andy

plodderslusk

Scrap metal

LesterOfPuppets

One of the worst bikes of the '90s and one of the worst bikes of the aughts. It's quite a lineup.

Actually there were worse bikes in the aughts, imagine that Magna but only $50 more with the worst dual suspension you could ever dream of.

locolobo13 

A few yrs ago on a business trip, no rental car provided, I bought a brand new Magna at a local dept store for ~$80.

After getting things adjusted it seemed like a nice bike. Until day 3. The left pedal broke off. Doing a little research after the trip I found more complaints about the pedals breaking for other people. Can't seem to find them now tho.

modernjess

run away, run as fast as you can.

TenSpeedV2

The rack that the two bikes are in is worth more than the two bikes, combined. Avoid unless you have no other means of transportation and must have a bike to get somewhere.

Darth Lefty 

My favorite part is the shifter on the Magna

CliffordK

That kind of bike has its place.

It might be ok for kids around the neighborhood, or if one has to commute a half mile or so.

It usually takes a bit of work to bring them back to life. Sometimes thrift store bikes are worth less than their tires and tubes (buy two, and build one).

ItsJustMe

The purest grade of junk.

oddjob2

BSO, ewwwww! One piece cranks and cheap brakes are a dead giveaway.

Maybelater

I was in a thrift store this afternoon and they had similar bottom end mountain bikes like these priced at $69.95. These bikes actually look better than the crap I looked at....The plastic spoke protectors behind the freewheel were half missing and not the usual yellow but actually brown from the elements. The people pricing them don't have a hot clue but they must be selling.

tjspiel

Before craigslist and before the current resurgence of bikes as transportation, it was possible to find a pretty nice used bike in a thrift store.

It's pretty rare now. I do check now and then. My current cycling jacket is a thrift store find as are my ski pants.

CliffordK

WHEW!!!!

I think I did snag a MTB with suspension and front disc brakes for $50

But, most of the bikes of that quality I see are less than $30.

You need to find a better Thrift Store as yours isn't too Thrifty.

Although, I will say that for a while St. Vincents was restoring their bikes while Goodwill was selling them as-is. So, one could expect at least a ridable bike from St. Vincents.

hueyhoolihan

unless the other guy is on one of those bikes, if so, it's safe to just walk away.

Maybelater

Aside from some good sales on clothing our thrift stores are pretty much a waste of time. The one store I was in today is infamous for fully researching and demanding top internet price for donated antiques. Someone donated a 20's vintage white enamel ice box and they priced it at 650.00. I thought the main purpose of thrift stores were to offer donated items to the general public particularly the working poor at a reasonable price. I once bought a 1963 Robin Hood three speed ladies bike for 35.00 but this is the exception. The only deals I get now are obscure items that I can re purpose...

JanMM

Found a very nice Hercules 3-speed for my wife in a Goodwill store in Atlanta in the late seventies.
I still browse Goodwill and Salvation Army stores but never see anything of interest bicycle-wise.

PatrickGSR94

White one looks sort of like the girls version of the bike I got for Christmas 1992 I think. I rode the piss outta that bike until I started driving in 1996. Took it to college in 1999 or 2000 but never really used it much while it was there. I donated it to the local co-op a couple years ago after it had been sitting under a shed roof in the backyard since 2005.

garage sale GT

Before considering any BSO, make sure the bearings are good. Buying new axles and cones can take a long time because you have to send away for the parts and the cost may not justify the purchase because it can double the price. If you spend $15 on the bike and $15 on a new axle, and a better bike is only $50, then you wind up awfully close to the price of the better bike.

Pick up the back of the bike by the seatpost and grab the top of the rear wheel firmly around the tire and rim with your free hand. See if the wheel shakes on its axle. It should be free only to spin.

It is possible that all it needs is a cone adjustment but you don't know how long someone rode it while misadjusted. Riding a cup and cone bearing misadjusted is a sure way to ruin it. It is probably shot. Once both cones aren't well supported by the hub, the axle is much more likely to bend.

Another possibility according to bike expert Jobst Brandt, Mechanical Engineer and author of The Bicycle Wheel, is that the axle bent because it was fatigued. Freewheel hubs, especially 7 speed freewheel hubs, don't offer the best support for the rear axle. The cones and maybe the cups and bearing balls can be shot because they won't run with proper adjustment after the axle bends.

The front wheel, the crank, and the fork should be checked to make sure they are free only to turn also.

garage sale GT

Yep they used to be full of three speeds but the inexpensive bike of choice which is now winding up in thrift stores is the Chinese made big box store bso. Many had plastic parts which don't need heavy use to deteriorate, and many had seven speed freewheel rear wheels which often have ruined rear axles.

auldgeunquers

I often buy bikes cheap at a local thrift store and strip the parts for spares. I don't know that I would do even that with these ... are the wheels true?

What price they asking? $10.00 maybe. $20.00 no. $30.00 hahahahahahah.

TransitBiker

I wasnt interesting in buying, they are kids sizes and in poor shape..... just seeing what people on here thought of the find.

I do not know why they even carry the crap, yes crap, that they do at so many thrift stores. People must see them as an easy place to offload their junk vs actually donating to help the community.

- Andy

tjspiel

Lots of these thrift stores are now run by private companies rather than non-profits so donating doesn't necessarily provide the same social benefit that it had in the past. Plus with things like craigslist it is now possible to recoup some costs on your used goods rather than donating or throwing them away.

Consequently, aside from clothing there doesn't seem to be much of value that ends up in thrift stores.

TransitBiker

Indeed. There are two good ones in this area, one right in town with a 50 percent off friday....

- Andy

matimeo

The sad thing is that here in Portland I see bikes like that priced at a thrift store for as much as $100. I've seen slightly nicer department store garbage for even more. Old low, low end ten speeds are priced even higher. I just roll my eyes anytime I see bikes there and wonder who in the world is coming up with these prices. I mean, they're disposalable bikes! It's like selling my kid's used diapers for what I paid for them.

TransitBiker

I was only really referring to the white framed one, the other one just happened to be there and i knew it was a brand x POS. You just don't see rallye here in this area. To be frank, you can see bikes in my area ranging from BSO's like these to custom one off carbon/titanium nonsense. I feel my bike is somewhere in the middle.

- Andy