Portis

Our local PD has a bike auction every few months. They auction off all of the bikes that they come across that are unclaimed etc. I have never been before but was thinking of attending this next one. Has anyone ever had any luck finding decent bikes at Police Auction? Obviously a lot of these bikes are going to be dogs, but you never know.

georgesnatcher

It won't hurt to go. Who knows you may find a diamond mixed in with the trash. My experience with Police auctions are that they are usually Roadmasters and BMX type bikes. But for the 1/2 hour it would take you to look at whats offered who knows there may be something decent you could at least cannabalize for parts.

Moonshot

I used to be a regular at the police auctions in Charlotte and Kannapolis, NC. I bought a few road-worthy bikes and never paid more than $30. For some reason the auctions got too popular and the bidding went higher and higher so I quit going. I've been thinking of going to another auction again for the heck of it, but I really don't need another bike.

The bikes I got were low end stuff. A Fuji and a Peugeot and another brand that I can't recall.

AndrewP

I bought a cheap mountain bike to use for my winter riding. It is best to look over the bikes carefully and decide beforehand the limit you would want to bid, as it is easy to get carried away and bid far beyond the bikes value.

chumpslacker

I used to go to the Minneapolis police auctions every month I've scored alot of decent bike's there.They're great for learning bike mechanics-buy a junker tear it down and rebuild it. Fun to watch everybody way overbid a peace of crap mtb just because it has shocks-which is perfect for me road bike's are dirt cheap.thanx for reminding my there's a auction this thursday.

MediaCreations 

I went to a police auction once.

I found that the 'shiny' supermarket bikes went for the best prices. A lot of people didn't really know what a good bike was so they picked a nice looking bike.

If you were prepared to go for a bike that didn't have the nicest paint job you could pick up quality at a good price.

Bikedud

I picked up a TREK 830 mtb from our police auction a few years ago. I paid $20 and it was in excellent condition. There were over 50 bikes at the auction, most were kids bikes, some nice BMX bikes, a lot of junk. I haven't been back, haven't got the time. I have been told that flea market operators buy all the bikes in a lot sale. If you have the time and you know bikes, it can't hurt to look.

pinerider

Stay away!! They're all junk and you just waste your time at them! (and the less people that go to them, the lower the prices usually are!)
Seriously, I go for entertainment more than anything else, a lot depends on getting there early, having a good look at what's there, knowing your stuff and bringing enough money. Some are cash only, make sure you have enough with you to buy what you want. Sometimes there are just too many people there to make it worthwhile, you don't get much of a look and the prices are too high. As a rule, touring and road bikes go cheap, shiny MTB's and BMX bikes sell for close to retail.

Chris L

I've thought about it. I need beater for a shopping bike just now. I might look at the next one.

slvoid

It's a great way to pick up a non-mtb/bmx bike for shopping and tooling around town. People love shiny wally world specials.

Kayle

Hey, we have a pretty small police station and one time they had a friggin' Giant XTC (I couldn't tell which one it was) up for bid!

It had XTR deraillers and a SID World Cup fork but no one went for it...I would've if I had money on me at the time...

gwhunt23

I may just have to go check out a local auction.

madpogue 

All depends on what you're looking for. Last auction I picked up a Mongoose Crossway hybrid, about two years old, for $30. Rear wheel needed truing, otherwise not even the tires were that worn. The City sometimes gleans off a few of the nicer hybrids for use in their employee bike fleet, but there are still usually several nice hybrids/mtbs, and the occasional English 3-speed in nice shape.

Also got some ugly old Giant for $2.50, just to get the Blackburn lowrider rack off it. My buddy got some old Sears "upright" 5-speed from about 1980. Paid $5 for it and yanked off the fold-out shopping baskets on the rear rack (woulda cost $25-30 new). Bike itself was hardly used, and he ended up giving it to someone who really needed a bike.

oldskoolboarder

In Newton, MA, my uncle picked up an old Fat Chance frame for cheap this way. Resold it for $600...

billwatson58

Three years ago I bought my commuter at a police auction, a Fuji S-12S for $35. Someone else was going to bid but couldn't get their number out of their pocket fast enough, so I really lucked out. I've switched seats, put on my old Speedplay pedals, and added fenders. It's a great ride for my 11 mile commute to downtown Chicago, and it doubles as my winter road bike. At the same auction I bought a Schwinn Speedster for $10 with full chrome fenders, generator light, Sturmey-Archer 3 speed. I really enjoy this bike for local errands, taking (running) the dog to the dog park, and on days when I ride to the trains station instead of riding all the way to work.

rhetoric

A Panasonic Mountain Cat 6500 for $5.00. Bought another bike for $1 for the rear mount kickstand (mountain cat brakes are below the BB). That's my commuter. Bought a nice Raliegh hybrid for $25. We used the low prices from the Nashbar catalogue and added up the cost of the "extras" alone (cateye, rack, toeclips, pump, etc.) and that totaled $135, so I say we did ok. Like the others said, most folks are bidding up the shiney Roadmasters. The crusty, but good stuff goes cheap.

fujibike

I went to one recently - Murray type ATBs. The best road bike they had was an old
Free Spirit (aka Sears) with a lugged frame.

Magna Man

Why go to auction when Salvation Army has junk bikes for $15?

slopvehicle

Indeed...it's interesting to watch people stand around and bit the hell out of anything with a suspension fork. I saw a low-end trek MTB, beat to hell and missing both wheels-- go for $170 because a few folks caught sight of the Rock Shox logo.

We were there looking for old Schwnn cruisers, though, and managed to find a couple. Tore 'em down and refurbed into bar bikes, the $5 we each spent went a long way.