Day laborer bikes
#1
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 5,603
Likes: 0
From: northern California
Bikes: Bruce Gordon BLT, Cannondale parts bike, Ecodyne recumbent trike, Counterpoint Opus 2, miyata 1000
Day laborer bikes
I spotted a MTB abandoned on the roadside during a commute. Went back with a car to check it out. It was a Walmart $57.75 18 speed mens bike. Rear shifter had fallen off and the rusty chain was stuck in the lowest combo. I'll oil the chain. put the chain on a usable cog, fix the flat tire and drop the hideous monster off with the day workers that hang out in Fulton. Anyone else out there who salvages bikes for use by needy people?
#3
You know you want to.
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,894
Likes: 0
From: Norman, Oklahoma
Bikes: Pinarello Prince, 1980's 531 steel fixie commuter, FrankenMTB
I make a habit of kidnapping college students' bikes that are left around on campus. I take them home, make them ridable/safe, and put them back where i found them.
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Weather today: Hot. Humid. Potholes.
Weather today: Hot. Humid. Potholes.
#4
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,442
Likes: 2
I work for a campus law enforcement department, and we always collect a bunch of abandoned bikes. Last year, we had about 20, and gave them all to the mostly-Hispanic grounds workers. I still see these guys riding in to work on them.
#5
Obeying Gravity
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,962
Likes: 1
From: Bellingham, WA
I rebuild bike for my granpda, he then donates them to a local thrift store (near Thousand Oaks), and marks the price way low. We'll usually put around $60 of upgrades on the bike, then mark them at like $29.99. He says it's awesome when he sees a day worker riding around on one of the bikes he built
#7
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 97
Likes: 0
I used to work in small rural communities, border towns, etc, and I would look for cheap bikes at thrift shops, like $5 or 10, and ride them while I was on the job and then give them away once work was finished up. I have a part-time job now managing some storage rentals and I have come across several abandoned bikes and I usually donate them to a community non-profit that gives them to the needy.
My son just started college in Denver area and within the first month or so his bike, a Kona, was ripped from racks at dormitory which is a real pisser. Just sent him another bike a few weeks ago but he's keeping in his room, I hope, lol!
My son just started college in Denver area and within the first month or so his bike, a Kona, was ripped from racks at dormitory which is a real pisser. Just sent him another bike a few weeks ago but he's keeping in his room, I hope, lol!






