I picked up a mostly complete Raleigh Pursuit cheap, planning to restore it. I had plans use some spare wheels I have laying around, throw some 38s on it, and make a fun, not-too-heavy city bike. I have everything needed already on hand. And yet, after getting it home I'm just not into putting in the work on this one. For one thing, the paint and decals are much worse than I thought -- where I thought I could get by with just polishing it up, it clearly needs a full respray.

Second, it'd be a flip, since everyone in my house is already pretty full up on bikes (or just doesn't want this one), and I'm thinking I'd rather keep my parts rather than put them on this one just to send them out the door.

So, acknowledging it was a dumb purchase, what would you do? Donate it to a co-op? Keep it laying around hoping inspiration strikes? Just slog through and flip it?

Pics would help our “helpful” opinions😉

Whats the old adage, “ not if, but when”.

Well, to be honest, I'm not sure a pic really matters, since I'm not sure it's about this particular bike as much as the philosophical discussion of what do you do when you just bought a project and are feeling like it's not worth it. But, here you go.. the bike in question, sitting temporarily on the wheels and tires I already had.

I've definitely ended up stripping bikes like that of parts and hanging the frame on a peg for a year or two until I come up with another use.

The good ol' Strip-&-Flip.
When I get a bike that just needs *too much,* and won't be worth the cost of consumables when it's done, I typically strip it down to a frameset, throw the parts in my stash and sell the frameset to someone else. Especially older frames with horizontal drop-outs that make nice single speed/fixed gear projects.

As long as you're not hung up on space/storage I agree with nlerner just tuck it away and treat it like any other extra part in the parts bin. Sometimes the parts bin gets so full, another bike suddenly just pops out!

Thats one of those projects that could easily hang in the basement for 30 years.

This is also one of those projects that could be built up with budget bin co-op parts and given to an unaware aspiring cyclist to get them going.

My sons girlfriend had no idea she wanted a bike, gave her a Univega "mixte" style mtb for her birthday last year and she was thrilled.

Then thrilled again when I gave her fenders and installed them for this last Christmas, all good, win, win.

This is an excellent entry level frame to build on, find someone that doesn't have a bike and surprise them with it, or store it away for when such an opportunity presents itself.

Upright build would be the best for a new cyclist imo.

I'm not seeing the need for a repaint. Some black testors paint and a bit of touch up could go a long way.

Exactly, that and some decent low end parts gets a very cool budget ride.

Dude! Have you tried to find Testors recently? If you thought the Covid bike shortage was serious, you haven't been into a hobby lobby lately!

I have a couple of bikes that I only ride once in a while . If someone is visiting or needs a bike ride and doesn’t have a bike , they are handy. I hired a homeless guy to do some work at my shop and he had just had his bike stolen. I had a mountain bike I hardly ever used and gave it to him. He completely destroyed the bike in about two days so I decided any other donations would go to our Hub , a local co-op. They so appreciate anything they get, even an unwanted frame. They have so many parts( at least three or four boxes from me) , a frame becomes a complete bike and gets sold on. It is rewarding to support them , they teach folks how to work on bikes and charge very little for it. Another vote for donate!

Testors' is available from Ebay, Amazon, etc. I did not look extensively, but the colors I looked for are readily available.

That's definitely "dedicated trainer bike" material, provided it's within the acceptable size range.

Our son's wife got a Raleigh 'step through' bike and she loves it.

It's not a high end bike- to me it's kind of a tank, but it fits her, it's alloy rims and mostly alloy parts, the brakes work great, plus it's Suntour friction shifting- that all adds up to a good bike in my book.

Hardcore gamer stores have high quality paint for diecast game board pieces.

It's in worse shape than it looks in that pic. The paint is heavily oxidized. It *might* polish up, but all the decals are also shot... cracked up, probably from heat damage.

Yeah, my plan was to build it up with upright bars I have around, probably as a 2x6 if I have a chainring that'll fit those cranks.

Watch for a contest we have here from time to time called Velo Cheapo. You could build this up for that.

Are the parts and/or the effort to take them off and keep them worth it? If so do that and give the frame away. If not, give the whole bike away. Your loss isn't going to be any less if you fret about it for a year or two, and neither will the bother of thinking about the mistake. Out of sight, out of mind.