How do you get rid of old bikes?
 

I don't want to just chuck it to the land-fill, but I can't find anywhere that takes old beat up bikes. It has no brakes, one missing tire, been sitting outside for a year, very rusty chain... in other words I don't think anyone would even want it for free! Suggestions?

We have a place here called Bicycle Kitchen, I just gave them most of a BMX bike. They offer receipts for taxes. Any place like it there maybe that rebuilds bikes for people who can't afford new stuff?

If it is too lost of a cause, take it to a metal recycler. Get a few bucks and won't be making it rot in a landfill.

I fix it up as much as I can. New chain is ten bucks, new brake pads, adjust all the cables and make it fit again. Then I give it away to someone who needs a bike. I'm like a wanna-be bike angel or something.

What kind of bike is it?

In Philadelphia, Neighborhood Bike Works teaches inner-city kids to repair bikes which they then earn. Lessons in responsibility, work ethic, being productive, having fun, etc. Maybe there's a similar program in your region?

I normally recycle my parts from one frame to the next. But I have been known to get a garage sale bike and fix it up for a friend who needed on.

There's also Freecycle, the free classified ads service. The rule is, that everything offered must be free.

There should be a local Freecycle message group in your area.

I don't get rid of bikes.

Ever.

Convert it to Fixed Gear and sell it quicker than free pancakes...

Pedals for Progress:

http://www.p4p.org/

I fix it up as much as I can. New chain is ten bucks, new brake pads, adjust all the cables and make it fit again. Then I give it away to someone who needs a bike. I'm like a wanna-be bike angel or something. -becnal

I would not be too quick to fix something that might be too far gone to fix. You might be held liable for a frame that might break apart due to severe rust that a chain, brake pads and other parts might not address.

Set it at the curb with other large trash items. It will be gone within 24 hours.

+1

Just about everything I have ever put at my curb has been taken, including a broken weed eater, lawn mower (that there was absolutely no hope of ever starting again...didn't even have handles!), and an on 386 computer that didn't work anymore!

If it has anything good at all on it you could donate it to bike works. www.bikeworks.org.
If not, there's always a pile of bikes in the metal recycle piles at the local transfer stations, metal recycle drop off is free.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try craigslist and freecycle first before setting it out on the curb. One other problem though is it's hard to find anything in Washington STATE cause every time I look something up all I get is Washington the CITY, LOL. Maybe the phonebook has a recycling center.

Oh yeah... I got the bike for -$100 at Fred Meyers about 10 years ago, so I've gotten a huge amount of use out of it. I'd almost want to keep it just for the memories, but I don't have room and I've outgrown it. *sniff* It was my first "big kids" bike too, lol.

Around here, common sense is employed more often than liability lawyers. :rolleyes:

Leave it locked to some structure like a bike rack at a station, but use a crappy lock. It will be stolen in short order. Chances are the thief posts at these forums. The question has been asked often enough whether some bike was "ripe for the taking."

I like the thought of the bike rack with a twist.

Go to a local college and put the bike in a rack without a lock with a sign that says "Free Bike" Maybe add an email address so they can email to confirm if they are concerned that someone just slapped a label on someone else's bike.

You could even add a disclaimer that the bike may not be suitable for riding.

Since i started the only bike i havnt sold or pasted down to my sister was robbed.doh!


Daniel

+++1 LOL. Excellant point.

My experience with college students is that they won't steal your bike if they think they're SUPPOSED to. I vote (wait... are we taking votes?) to just leave it in the bike rack and see if anyone just picks it up. Who knows? Maybe someone is sitting at home right now thinking "Damn! I wish I had a piece of crap bike that nobody wanted for my Art Project!"

Find your local Leukemia Team in Training. They're always looking for bikes to train starting riders. Your local homeless shelter might take it too.

If it's a cheapie, I strip parts off for my junk drawer. If it's a good frame, I fix them up using parts from that same junk drawer and give them away.

+2

The first bike I started riding on when I restarted bicycling two years ago was a Raleigh Sportif that someone left at the curb--And had I been a little more enterprising, I could have gotten a MTB too.

A "FREE" sign will make anything disappear.

I'm making a barstool out of an old rear triangle and seatpost/seat combo.