PJCB

How do you all feel about taking from the local dumps/dumpsters? I hear it's a pretty good spot to pick up used parts, but I'm unsure seeing that I've never done it before. Who's done it? What have you found?

Doohickie

From a dumpster:



Its current incarnation:



From the city dump:



As it sits now:

Flying Merkel

I've gotten complete bikes, donor bikes, and some odd pieces. Reuse is better than recycling. Here's a picture of my latest find, a Micargi cruiser. It needed new tires & grips, and a complete lube-n-adjust. Gave it a flat black rattlecan paint job. It's on C-list for $80.00. It's not a great bike, but for the $25.00 I have in it we're doing OK.

[IMG][/IMG]

If it doesn't sell I'm thinking of installing a set of 650b rims, flat bars and a narrow seat & make a 6 speed performance cruiser.

This is a Univega Gran Rally trash find. Had to get a new seat & rimset. Lovely bike, wish I hadn't sold it.



Obviously, I'm in favor of dumpster picking. Patience is required. My buddy found an old GT mountain bike with a trashed rear rim. We used a rim off a hopeless Schwinn MTB. He loves the bike. He previous two were stolen out of his garage. This one isn't nearly as tempting a target.

PJCB

So do you just take from the dumps, without issue? I'm nervous that they'll have a problem with it, although I don't know why they would...

Also, your finds are making me very hopeful!

Doohickie

The dumpster find... well, it was obviously pitched. It was in a dumpster in a credit union parking lot (apartments next door). It was obviously discarded with no one wanting it.

The dump find? I just happened to be at the dump to drop something off, saw the Schwinn and asked if I could take it. The guy said, "Well, you're not supposed to take stuff from the dump, but since you asked, okay. Go for it."

I'll throw this one in there too: I got this sweet Fuji mixte out of a garbage pile at the curb on trash night:



I sold it to another BF member, I really liked that thing. I wish I could have thought of a good reason to keep it.

Sixty Fiver

PJCB

Nice finds! I always try to keep my eye out for something decent, no luck yet. I have to go to the dump this weekend anyway, so maybe I'll have some luck!

RaleighSport

Dump find

Dump find

Dump find

Dump find (that I'm sad I got rid of!)

Dump find

Dump find

And my favoriteist dump find of all

beebe

I like the idea of diving, but can't spend enough time looking to ever find anything worthwhile. Usually the time I would spend could be used more profitably elsewhere, but I try to keep my eyes open.

wle

it;s fine

people dont; dump bikes because of 'problems'

anyone dumping a bike is doing it because they don;t ride it

or it got rusty or the tires went flat, or they just want the garage space back

usually they are crappy but still,, free is free

wle

PJCB

You've got some beaut's in there! Do you find they need a lot of work? Ever good for parts?

RaleighSport

That blue MB-4 had a lot of surface rust and a very stuck seatpost, took a lot of work and time but there's another seatpost in it now. (Almost all components were good and salvaged)

The gorgeous Red Windsor frame, actually had been in accident and sits on my wall looking pretty. (Not interested in a wobbly headset)

The green first generation centurion lemans other then paint was actually a very well preserved bike, the components were low end and got tossed over time, the frame is high ten but the bike has served me very well and his had over 5 incarnations already, and is currently awaiting another.

The Red Le tour, the components were all decent other then the fact it had safety levers and stem shifters. Most components were salvaged, but the frameset was ultimately tossed due too noobitis.

The Red Diamondback Fleet Streak there with the terrible picture, was given to my girlfriend. The tires were dryrotted and I didn't trust the chain, but otherwise it looked like NOS and needed nothing.

The raleigh sports... luckily my brother in law had dump found another raleigh 3 speed a few years off from it.. so I was able to cobble together a pretty decent bike out of that, with a ton of elbow grease and work... and it was also my first bike wrenching project so I consider myself lucky it turned out rideable even!

The Sekai 2700 GT Deluxe in Tan... there's not much to say I picked it up as a noob as a parts bike for a busted peugeot.. did a tiny bit of research and realized I had a very nice bike. (Nice to me anyhow )

There's been quite a few others that have passed through from the dump, many stripped of components and then the frames given to friends, some were garbage that I simply made sure no one else had to deal with. I must admit though I've never dumpster hunted, and my dump has a recycling yard that's open to the public.. so I definitely have it easier then most for dump hunting.

And you'll never know with a dump bike, until you get it home and completely apart whether or not it was really worth bringing home, depending on components of course.

FYI the dump is good for more then bikes themselves, both my truing stand and trainer came from the dump as well, and many many many wheelsets.

(Those are just my experience, your results may vary)

PJCB

Your experience definitely makes me hopeful! Do you think it matters at all what sort of area you live in? I'd imagine that the bikes/parts/accesories found at a dump in a well-off town might fare better than one in a not-so-well-to-do town?

What do you do with all your wrecked parts? Back to the dump with them?

RaleighSport

I live in one of the worst bike economies for cheapskates actually.. so when I do find something it's usually nicer then the average bike. I'm enough of an enthusiast that I can actually strip most bad components of any good parts for my parts bin and help myself or others later with them, then of course the broken husks go off to the scrap yard cause we gotta recycle! A lot of the low end components actually were serviceable and went out onto peoples bikes as freebies to keep their bikes alive. A few bikes I decided I wasn't interested in ending up going to some actual needy people I know that would never have asked for it. Depends how much room you have, and how willing you are to get dirty.. dump bikes can be extremely handy for growing your parts/frame piles for later if you decide you want to try something out too.

(In case you couldn't tell, I cycle on the CHEAP)

PJCB

You aren't the only one cycling on the cheap, I'm with you there. My ultimate goal is to put together bikes for people who need/want them. I want to do some builds for local folks in Hartford who could really use them to get around...Connecticut has the WORST public transit ever. I also want to have a mini-shop (unofficial and out of my proverbial garage, of course), where people like me feel comfortable, since no LBS I've come across has made me feel welcome.

I have three projects I'm trying to complete for my personal collection, but have a couple more in mind. So you live in an area that costs a lot, in terms of bicycles?

PJCB

RaleighSport: Would you take the big box brands as donors, too? Sometimes I see free Next, Huffy, Mongoose, Roadmaster, etc and just want to take the shiny nice-looking parts.

Artkansas 

I don't know about that.

I've only dumped one bike. I dumped it in my employer's dumpster after riding it almost all the way to work. I had to walk it the last 100 yeards.

It was a Montgomery Ward 10 speed. Its problem? The downtube had detached itself from the bottom bracket.

After I had salvaged all the useable parts at lunch, I hoisted it over the top of the bin. Decades later, the derailleur I took off it before dumping it, is still in service.

PJCB

Any specifics on that derailleur? With a story like that, I might need to find me one of those

RaleighSport

I live in an area that costs a lot in general, but the bike market is just silly here.
This dump find BSO went off to an out of shape friend to have.

This Walgoose was not a dump find, it was found by someone abandoned on the railroad tracks.

Strangely enough I turned it into a personal pet project.

This dump find BSO served me well till I beat it to death repeatedly

With the BSO's you gotta assume right away you need to replace everything! So having a good sized parts pile and/or buying/finding doubles of the bikes is a must.

And a piece of advice, if you strike out looking over and over and over don't even sweat it... my finds are always few and far between.. I've pretty much graduated now though to buying beat up framesets that no one else loves and dumping tons of time and effort into them to get myself the best performance bike I can for the buck.

PJCB

I had a feeling it was going to be a project/luck of the draw sort of deal...

Artkansas 

It's an old Shimano Eagle derailleur. Not great, but rugged. It's now on my American Eagle/Nishiki and replaced the original derailleur which was also a Shimano Eagle.

Sixty Fiver

The Eagle is a rock crusher of a derailleur... think I have one kicking around that I would part with and only worry that someone might strain their back picking it up.

Think it weighs over 500 grams / 1 pound with the hangar.

SpotOn

Wow, you guys have been able to find very nice bikes at the land fillings / dumps.

Do you just go over to any dump / land filling and "shop around" freely, or do you have to ask the people running the place to be permitted on the dump and ask whether you can take anything with you?

PJCB

I've never understood the obsession with weight, although at almost 1 lb, that is quite the derailleur!

Sixty Fiver, do you live stateside?

Sixty Fiver

Just a little north of Montana here... and sometimes a little farther west of that.