john bono

See this bike? Well, I picked it up abandoned outside a goodwill sometime last summer. I said to myself, "Gee, this will make a nice winter project." However, I never got around to working on it, and I knew that I probably would never get around to working on it. So, last week, I took it up to a different goodwill, along with a Schwinn with a loose bottom bracket that had been gathering dust in my garage. So, I crank up ebay, looking for a commuter/beater bike, and guess what I find? Yep. My goodwill bike, now up for sale, and already bid up to $76 plus up to $85 shipping. I should be mad that I didn't make any money off the bike at all, but frankly, I'm glad that its going to find a good home.

cyclotoine

DUDE! You gave that to Goodwill? You have a good will. I would have sold it on CL for $50, but I am cheep and a student with debt.

tolfan

Is the seller in your area? I have sold a couple goodwill finds. That looks like a good parts bike at the least. Nice of you to donate. Are you sure it was abandoned when you picked it up and not donated waiting to be taken inside?U.N.C.L.E.

infinityeye

dude, that crank is worth 50 bucks alone... sold a lot of them on evil bay over they years. you connetticcett yankies will through anything out!

john bono

I found the thread where I asked if I should keep it. My idea when I first picked it up outside Goodwill was to make it into a winter beater bike. I just never got the gumption to do a proper teardown/rebuild of the bike, and it was a little small for me. I already had a Schwinn Caliente that weighed a ton, had a loose bottom bracket and a bent tooth on the outer chainring, and I had bought a GT Timberline rigid MTB which had become my winter beater.

I needed to clear some space out of my garage, and I've vowed never to throw out a bike that was or could become functional. I've had this vow ever since I found out my sister tossed out her Panasonic. It was a great bike, far better than the Columbia I had, and I remembered just how smooth and efficient and dreamy it was to ride. I enjoyed it so much that I picked up a Panasonic on Ebay for $20. Alas it was too small, so I gave it to my sister. In the past year, she's ridden it a grand total of 5 miles.

Anyway, I took the Lotus and the Schwinn to Goodwill, on the hope that they would find a good home. Again, while I should be mad that I'm out probably $100+ on the sale, I'm glad that someone is going to use it, restore it, and give it a few more years of life.

MKRG

EEEWWW! I have one of those in much better condition. It's my beater. I found it in a trash heap. Tightened the stem and it was rideable. Of course since then I've torn it down and rebuilt it. Good bike.

old_alfie

I have a "charity" that I give bikes to, even ones I buy at Goodwill for $15. It's an old guy junker who lives in a very depressed neighborhood and for years has junked the alleys and dumpsters for bikes. He tinkers with em and gives a lot of them to kids in the neighborhood who otherwise wouldn't have a bike. He sells awfully few it seems altho I have so far bought two from him at the princely sum of $20 each.