Bikes saved not going to be metal trash. Complete waste of time or good job done?

Some examples of bikes 'rescued' or given more miserable time on earth.

I see literally hundreds of bike going to landfill every week, but most are not saveable or worth saving.

They look most worthy.

But either way, Jesus loves you. (with apologies for religious reference - you know what i mean)

Me, i've plucked a few good ones AND donors in the past. No pics to add.

I missed to picture two worst ones: Merciers '69 & '71. They were in really horrible condition.

The cruiser is a cheap copy of Huffy. Swedish bike and sold 99 bucks when new. Weighs double the Huffy does. Pic taken midway the conversion process. Turned out to custom chopper with banana seat, sissy bar and different front fork.

Yes. Here in Finland also a lot of bikes go to trash bins, thanks to market cheapies. In a few years those bikes are seen on the trash bins too, by side of the 30-40 years old ones. The cheap ones just don't stand the weather conditions.

you just have to find the ones wort salvage. Not even all the "name" bikes are worth the time and money. Just have to keep looking and digging the piles.

When the students goes to another town to study, they need a cheap commuter to drive on town. When their studies are finished, they abandon the bike and it is thrown away by the landlord. And the next one buys the same bike to use it.

Here's one, picked from a Canadian dump, that wasn't even straight. Shipped to Portland OR and will eventually reside somewhere in Washington state. Final build is yet to be completed.
It's a Karma bike, touched by many on the long road of rehabilitation.

My favorite "save"! You forgot the "after" shot:

^^^ the magic of steel!

That looks very nice!

No, the 'after shot' has yet to be taken.
Maybe another hand in this Karmic Evolution can aid us.
Hey @Lascauxcaveman - flying home on Nov 15th, and hopefully tracking a pre-Thanksgiving Spanish pick-me-up delight.

It's a well traveled rescue.
And @gugie & @Lascauxcaveman & @Andy Antipas & the Canadian forum member starting the whole process (can't find his name) - your generosity in this project is bigly appreciated.
Many, many good people on this Forum.

I'm hoping to lay hands on it even today, if fixing my wife's car doesn't take too long. I'll send Wildwood a few snaps on the progress if/when it happens.

I hate to see so many bikes (and other things) dumped into the landfill before their time.

If you want to see the ultimate in dumpster diving, check out my friend's TEDx talk. She rescues medical equipment for a clinic in Africa.


Whole talk is worth watching; equipment repurposing starts a little after the 10:00 mark.

That’s a beautiful sight right there. Quite a save.

So, what's the difference between frames that are bent but can be saved, vs frames that are bent but also have small cracks in the paint that translates to the frame being toast? I know it's impossible to quantify, but what are some markers that make one say: "Nah, that frame is unsafe to ride if you tried to realign the frame."

Difference between bent salvageable or no??? A good frame man, with the willingness and tools to make it right. A guy like Mark Gugie....

Also, where it is bent and how badly, and in the extreme how much you might be willing to spend to replace fork, or a dropout, or even a tube. Cracked paint is not a definitive enough picture. Amount of rust is not definitive. Sometimes you just take a chance and like gambling = never invest more than you might be willing to lose.

Sorry for the indeterminate answer, it's a case by case evaluation.
Like pornography, you will probably know it when you see it.

I say: good job!

I especially like that they're low end bikes.

My favorite kind. This Raleigh Super Course was plucked from an alley scrap pile, after asking the "owner". I spent way too much on it, but it's a sweet ride, so glad I was able to save it, my first build. The beautiful Capella lugs closed the deal for me.

My everyday commute bike was saved from a dump in California, across the nation from me. It's no lightweight, but it gets lots of compliments despite the home-brew repaint job and its imperfections. I think of it as a "stately" bike, and appreciate it for the obvious care (though unpretentious) taken by somebody in the making of it.



Here's the backstory:
How about another "what is it?" thread!!??
My first bottom-up C&V build: Falcon vintage commuter

I also like the color a lot, and think about having it blasted and repainted professionally in the exact same shade; but then I have reservations that I'd actually miss all the blemishes and wear. For a long time now it's worn black SKS fenders, and more recently Nitto "Urban Riser" bars rather than drops. Should take some current photos.

Damn, that came out fantastic! Great job!

It's really knowing when the frame's too far gone. I've replaced a steerer on a fork, dropouts on forks, but show me a crack up in the crown, fuggetaboutit. A crack in a rear dropout, one can replace it, but that's a lotta work. You can replace tubes, even, if you really want to. Go to Peter Weigle's site and you can find an instance where he replaced an entire chain stay. That's a master at work, but that frame was special to the customer and had an accident where the stay was really whacked.

I'm like the kid that has a dog follow him home. It's hard for me to say no to saving a frame if I can. It's really amazing how much abuse a steel frame can take and still be brought back into alignment. When I was much younger, all the racers rode on steel, because that's what we had. You crashed, bent the frame, and it as the only bike you had, you brought it in and had it straightened, and raced it the next weekend. Nowadays everything's seen as disposable.

[MENTION=324747]Stevensb[/MENTION] was the good man who started this rescue with 25 loonies to his local co-op.

This particular Finnish Tunturi is now living a new life as a single speed. I drove with it myself for a two years. A bit heavy being from'79, but was fun and didn't have to care about the mud and sand all over. 24 1/2" frame. Saddle post only 21mm and with plastic muff 24mm. So bike looked sometimes like the post was bent backwards under some users, especially if the frame was too small for the driver and post was lifted to the max. And sometimes that saddle post being really really long, like 15".

Love this! Did you re-chrome?