Dave Mayer

I ride my bike around on Saturday mornings. In the spring and summer it is impossible not to find yard sales. On weekends in April and May I can roll past 100 or more sales in a 50 mile ride. I have found some gems at these sales. Here is my advice:

• I hope nobody takes this the wrong way, but there definitely is a demographic 'profile' to folks who have decent bikes for sale. Rich folks could not be bothered with spending a whole day to only make a few hundred dollars. Poor folks generally have nothing of interest to sell. I have been most successful in the 'hoods with a upper middle class 30's to 50's white bread demographic. Single family detached houses in deepest darkest suburbia.
• You don't have to slow down to get some key indicators of the value of a bike. If the bike is standing by itself, then it has a kickstand, and so it is worthless. Shiny steel rims - same conclusion. Don't even slow down.
• The bikes on sale are almost always junk. But these for you are a pretext to engage in conversation with the folks running the sale. Ask them if they have any "old race bikes" for sale. This is where all of my scores have been. Stuff that officially wasn't for sale, but got hauled out of the cobwebs because I could convince the owners that I was serious, had money, and that they were never going to ride this again.
• Bikes with tubular wheelsets are heavily discounted. I point out the safety risks and liability associated with selling these to someone off of the street. I will "take these off of their hands to avoid this bike falling into the wrong hands". Seriously: the risks to the seller are real.