jetboy 

Nice orange Lemond at a bike rack at my school. The kind one notices...it has that something special going on.

I have noticed it for at least a year, and recently, I have realized that its always locked in the same place..so I started paying closer attention.. and I am pretty sure it has not moved in a couple months.

I am thinking to leave a note- though if they aren't riding it they wont be around to read a note either. I see it starting to rust and rot out there, and want to at least get it inside-

tricky 

Can't hurt to leave a note. I say go for it.

noobinsf 

A note could also catch the attention of someone who knows the owner, and could pass along the message.

juvela

-----

wrt your school -

ofttimes schools have a lookout for abandoned machines parked in their racks

typically they will attach a warning notice stating something to the effect of "...if this bicycle is not moved within __ days we will assume it to be abandoned and remove it"

example -

there used to be a bicycle shop in San Jose California which had a contract with Leland Stanford Junior University to purchase all of the impounded bicycles. the numbers ran to hundreds per annum - have seen the stacks of them in the shop's back yard.

i too would encourage the leaving of a note.

-----

squirtdad

talk to school security....

SurferRosa

First remove whatever's not secured: cockpit, saddle/seatpost, derailleurs, crankset, one or both wheels...

jk?

CliffordK

Does the school have licenses or tags?

I still have the UofO tag on my bike from eons ago. Not sure one could still make out the identifiers on it.

Anyway, if properly tagged, then someone will know who the bike belongs to.

easyupbug 

C&V rescue is a affliction that gets very expensive, fight it.

nlerner

Ride it like you stole it!

clubman 

sh*te-disturber

JTSpeedDemon

I say it doesn't hurt to try to contact the owner. When I see something that I think would be useful or cool for one of my hobbies, whether it be a classic car, go kart, or a neat bike, I contact the owner if I can. Even if they don't want to sell it, it's cool to make friends and get to know people who have cool stuff. And who knows?! Maybe they want to get rid of it and I get a steal! It's happened to me before!

seypat

This. Then go with them to cut the lock and take it after it's declared abandoned.

ThermionicScott 

Probably good to get in touch with security early, but... be mindful that if you express a lot of interest in the bike, and it gets stolen, you may become a suspect.

SurferRosa

Security badges are $16 online.

Pair it with a wind breaker, neck beard, and really large sneakers for that authentic look.

jk?

The Golden Boy 

I like the cut of your jibe.

Or lock.

However the case may be.

noobinsf 

Reminds me of the Blues Brothers scene where Jake flashes a flattened cigarette pack as a badge.

Spaghetti Legs 

BITD when military base security wasn't as big a deal and active duty military ID's were green, a friend of mine, when he left his ID at home or on the ship, would flash his pack of menthol cigarettes to get on the base.

curbtender

If it's a 58, I think I left it there when I was out bar hopping. Please grab it and bring it by. Sorry, I lost the key...
I once picked up about 20 bikes from Hastings. Top score was a small XO-1. You being the head of your bike co-op there, you should at least cut it off and bring it inside. Leave a note where it's at on the rack. Sign it St Josh, patron saint if abandoned bikes.

madpogue 

"No, ma'am. We're musicians."

Insidious C. 

Just leave it. Someone else's property.

ramzilla

I've had the very same experience. It always turns out the same way for me. After watching something sit and rust for over a year or two and, finally deciding to do something about it - the item usually disappears the next day. So, if you're really interested in it then - do something sooner rather than later. Be good. Have fun.

unterhausen

I noticed there was a bike that was always locked outside our building for a different reason -- it's hard to get a spot and people just store their bikes there instead of taking them home. I didn't do anything about it, but then I found out it belonged to one of the grad students I worked with. He got to work earlier and left later than I did, which is behavior I approve of.

Someone once left a note on my bike offering to buy parts and it freaked me out. That was when I switched to riding crummy bikes to work. That bike deserved better anyway

madpogue 

One time I left a note on a nice-ish old Trek that was locked up to a signpost in a friend's neighborhood. Friend told me the bike had been there for months. A few days later, the bike was gone. Too much of a coincidence. The owner probably figured, if someone's interested enough to leave a note, maybe it's worth something, and so they turned around and sold it. It didn't show up on CL, but I didn't check eBay and don't have bookface. So at least it didn't rot away on that post, or get cut loose and thrown on a heap in the property room.

In any event, nothing to lose by leaving a note, esp. if you can use some semi-anonymous Email address.

ThermionicScott 

This was the other side-effect I thought a note might have.

Cougrrcj 

Back 40+ years ago, when I was in college (Ohio State), I HAD to have a college license if I was to have my bike on campus. Of course, OSU insisted that no bikes were to be kept in the dorms. Well, my roomies (and anybody that had a non-beater-bike) took theirs in anyway. My roomies and I took the wheels off our bikes (my Fuji and their Viscounts), stashed the wheels by the headboards of our beds, and frames (minus wheels) under the beds. Nobody saw them at room inspection, and nobody cared. Lots of junk bikes locked up outside, all year. Never saw most of them move - ever.

AND when I was visiting my mother out in the Phoenix area a few years ago, I was able to score my Miyata 710 from a graduating senior at Arizona State that was taking a job out-of-state, and didn't want to take it with him. Craigslist find. Best $120 I ever spent. Heck, I spent more to ship it home to Ohio via BikeFlights (plus LBS packing fee) than I paid for the darn thing.

So yeah, I get whey there are a multitude of bikes abandoned at college campuses.