Aside from the Pinarello, Raleigh USA, and Bianchi I got for $1 each last summer, I've never found any high-end bikes at yard sales. But I, too, have been successful getting bikes by asking. In one case, it was a 1968 Hercules that I spied on the garage wall that the old lady could not take down herself. I offered to do so, then offered $10. She said her husband, the owner, wanted $20, so I said no thank you and waited until the following day when I went back and found it unsold, so I did get it for $20. In another instance when I asked the homeowner if there were bikes for sale, she said no, but her female friend assisting her told me that she had bikes in her garage attic in another suburb she'd like to sell, so I arranged to meet her at her home and got a pair of baby blue 1974 Schwinns for $10 each.

About a third of the bikes I have acquired were found in the curbside trash with not much wrong with them beyond some rust or flatted tires, or missing cables. The best name bike I found inthe trash so far this summer is a Suteki.