I agree with these guys. It does take a lot of time and there are deals out there that end up just being, lets say an educational experience. I have the good fortune of being on the road every day for my job, so I pass a lot of thrift stores. Some of them I have deemed my honey holes and have had great luck. I have found some great deals on Craigslist, but they are few and far between in my area. I do flip several of my finds, but some I pick up just because I like them. I paid a lot for one of my Holy Grail bikes (1988 Cannondale Black Lightning) because I have always liked them and it happened to come up in my area. The hunt is half of the fun.

Where are all these thrift stores with bikes? I check local ones every time, and have not ever seen one bike, even a crappy one.

^Not here in E. Wa. , the good stuff is always gone by the time I get there...

Where are they? You need to visit every thrift store in your area, SEVERAL TIMES, and get a feel for what they sell. You then decide which thrift stores are worth your time to be checking in regularly.

The best thrift stores around here are mobbed by pickers. So when a decent bike is rolled out from the backroom, it is bought immediately, many times just grabbed by a picker before it even goes on display. Show up to that thrift store 2 minutes later, and you will believe they never have any decent bikes.

And there is a line out front of the store every day, starts forming up about an hour before they open, all pickers of course. When the doors open, those couple of dozen pickers swarm around the store, at warp speed, grabbing anything and everything that they think they can make a buck on.

In reality, a lot of the larger thrift stores have bikes, but they sell lightning fast so unless you camp out there all day, you won't get one. I have no interest in spending all day there, so I have left it to others to scoop them up.

The last bikes I got at a thrift store were a year ago. I just lucked out, and was standing there when the store employee rolled them out. I grabbed them both, and headed to the checkout. A mob of pickers (who happened to be somewhere else in the store), came running, no joke. They were pissed I beat them out on the bikes. One was a Cannondale, the other was a 1977 Nishiki Competition. Both needed work, but at $15 each, they were scores. The Nishiki even had a nice set of Cyclone Generation 1 derailleurs.

I used to get several bikes A WEEK at thrift stores. Things have really changed.

A DKO I buy from picked up a like new Park home mechanic workstand for $40 at a Value World, nice but not as good as my shop grade first generation PRS-3 for $60. About the only sporting goods they have at the Warren Value World are bowling balls!

Anyway, today's garage sale score at a garage sale price! PDG 20! Too small, but I need the wheelset and parts. So I will probably ebay the frame.:beer:

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/p86hr7etr59...0.18%20HDR.jpg

The shelf life of a decently priced, quality bike at a thrift is probably under 60 seconds.

I bought a Specialized Allez 10 seconds after it had been donated. Right place, right time.

In your area, I'd keep an eye on this one. Kind of big, though.

Rainy flea market morning. The usual flipper heads stayed home, and let me snag this Olmo Special. Not too shabby for a $45 find. The real shame is the Campy shaped paint shadows from the original components. It does have a cartridge bottom bracket, a San Marco saddle, and a flip flop hub on it though. It's on the fixie side right now. I guess if I was interested in seeing how bad Valentino Extra shifts, I could use that group to build it up. I might leave it as a fixie, after changing a few parts anyway. Is this a 60's model? Either way I LOVE the chrome lugs.,,,,BD


http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...pscda3c24f.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps15d7b776.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...pscea18a27.jpg

Sweet Olmo!

Just picked up this old Stumpy today.

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/...psd4a3e266.jpg

That Olmo is friggin amazing ! More pics !

Walmart thruster fixie front wheel FTW!

wow, I would gladly drive at least a couple hundred miles for that.

Why aren't more bikes like this being posted on this forum for sale? If I had the funds at that moment, I would gladly pay for something like that.

Here it is after a little stupidity correction. You'll never guess, or maybe you will. The flop "n" chops, were a set of Pivo Randonneurs, with a logo I have never seen before. I imagine they're as old as the frame, they might have been the originals? I suddenly wanted to go back in time, and smack the hacksaw out of their hand. Some people are clueless!,,,,BD

Origin 8 track crank and rear drilled cog. J&B looking fixie wheel, in 27 inch??

It's the logo on the right, but on both sides.

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6126/5...b057eb18_z.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps57db5fb3.jpg

What the heck were these frames made out of? It dings like it's DB tubing, and is as light as you'd expect a nicer steel fixed gear to end up. No brag decal. I did find a dealer sticker from a Lomita, CA bike shop on West Hwy 101, and a registration decal (waterslide or looks like it) from Los Angeles. I may be be seeing things, as it is scratched up pretty badly, but looks like says D_ _ 65. December of 65? Is it really that old, and made it until the last few years before someone in LA or Houston ripped it to shreds, and built a..."fixie"....

Just took it for the first test ride. I had forgotten how easy it is to control your speed, and the "steamroller" feeling while rolling at speed. I can see no twisted or bent parts, since I looked it over VERY carefully before taking out my wallet, but it has this weird turning right sensation. Come to think of it's also a little to the left but not as bad. I think may be the head tube angle and the fork rake, and it's kind of like the steering of a Collegiate. High while in the middle, and the head tubes drops slightly while turning. The front wheel is straight, and even bottoms out in the drops evenly with the quick release open. The fork tips line up perfectly on the leading edge of the bars, rear triangle is straight, no visible cracks, etc. Overall it rides nicely, and has the perfect gearing for my legs. Rides MUCH MUCH better than my Voyageur fixed gear, with the deep aero alloy rims. That thing was a buckboard, and I had to run 32c tires on it to get a little relief.,,,,BD

Thrift stores around here haven't had any decent bikes for quite a while.

I did find this at a thrift a couple of days ago:

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/l...psa2d828b7.jpg

Best 35mm portrait lens, ever.

I think taking an older, used up, bike and breathing some life back into it is pretty cool. Usually pretty fun so long as you dont have to spend alot to do so. There are definitely some beauties shown here, BUT>>>

I read so many posts in this thread that say, "bought at a garage sale" "picked up cheap at salvation army" "scored for a song at a pawn shop".....

not to split hairs but how exactly is that saving it from the dump? it was for sale! if you didnt purchase it, someone else would have. the seller wasnt going to put it out at the curb for the garbage man.

I have posted 3 bikes to this thread that I literally pulled out of a dumpster, restored to rideable condition, and gave to my friends or the local co-op, no cash involved.

Im not saying im cool I just needed to vent. sorry.

Not sure this is totally vintage, but it does feel classic...a Basso Ascot...got it for $300, with full Campy...hopefully it rides good, as it is my size. One thing is for sure, it is BRIGHT with a Celeste/Orange color scheme...

Couple of pictures...

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=348080http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=348081http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=348082http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=348083

if that was on cl, I emailed that seller twice a few weeks go, never heard from him.

+1 on the 105. What body do you use that on? I have a D5000, biut haven't converted any F lenses. Any advice?

1000x better! you work fast!

I would agree, paying $300 for a bike and listing it here is miscategorized

You could start a new thread, "free bikes."

I have posted two trash finds, a Schwinn Traveler, and a Fuji Sagres. Also, two frames from a scrapper's truck, a Technium 440 and a Schwinn Le Tour, for which I gave him $20. I do post a few charitable thrift and garage sale finds, but some homeowners here donate their garage sale proceeds to charity. Better for everyone to donate the bike to charity than toss it in a dumpster, unless it's a Wallyworld special.

Looks like the original post asks to see both trash picks and plain ol' good deals. Looks like it's all fair game.

I suppose I kinda ignored the first half of the title.

Took this baby on trade for some other bike work (about $20). They said they found it out back. It is a June 1972 Schwinn SubUrban...I haven't measured it to see what size, but it looks like a nice rider. A project for next year as the snow shows. GT 100 derailleur too.

http://www.butchthecat.com/butch/a39.JPG

OddJob, the Stumpy was on the Shore CL, so probably the same bike.