used bike shops?
 

I've seen reference to them on BF.I've never seen one are these becoming common?

We've got one. Those also have a few new bikes and a secondary location to sell the clunkers not worth fixing.

There's also a fancy bike shop and a third one.... Never been to that one but they might have used bikes?

The other way around here. We used to have a few and now we have zero. There are some individuals who sell bikes, but not a storefront.

I don't know where all the used bikes go ... landfill? :mad:

Bob Hufford
Springfield, MO

In Chicago we have a couple (one that is actually pretty good) and a co-op that also sells bikes and parts. I would imagine they would be popular in large cities, hipsters need places to buy vintage steel horizontal dropout frames for cheap.

They are, however, nothing like you would be accustomed to with a normal bike shop. The one that I like in Chicago looks like a bomb went off in the middle of a bike factory.

+1 Just the opposite. Shops around here want nothing to do with used bikes, or old parts either. Their entire focus is selling and servicing new bikes.

To be fair, I bet they get a lot of people that bring in old junk and expect to get it fully serviced for $25.

In late 1971 / early 1972 I worked at a short-lived used bike shop in Santa Monica. As long as the overhead is extremely low and the expectations of profit are modest, I suppose the business model works, but barely. I have occasionally seen mid-to-high end used bikes in some of the smaller independent shops, particularly the older ones.

There's a couple in Philly.

Philadelphia has a few - Firehouse in west philly and Via in south philly.
Used bikes tend to be pricey - but they somehow make a go of it and folks buy $300 varsities. Both locations are in old, established buildings - so maybe lower overhead helps. On the repair and parts side - it's helpful to have them around.

http://www.firehousebicycles.com/
http://www.bikeville.com/frames.html

got a local shop that sells three-wheelers to the geezers, along with hybrids and a few road/ss/fixies

the coolest part of the shop is the back wall of one half of the store: lots of used parts, handlebars, pedals, hubs, and other paraphenalia

have scored some good stuff to rebuild my urban ride and bring it up to 9spd and road bars from its 6spd and bar shifting former self

i *always* buy something when i stop by - one man shop, cuts me breaks on pricing, and friendly to boot...

if you're ever on Park Blvd in Seminole, Fla., stop by BikePros (just before Seminole Park between Alt. 19 and Starkey/Park St.)

I only know of one.
Manny's in Venice, California.
Everything you would ever need for your old skip-toothed balloon tire beast.
I've often wondered how he has managed to stay in business for so many years.

In Reno we have two sellers of used bikes, the bike cooperative and the Kiwanis bile program. Both fix and recycle donated bikes and parts.

G. Oscar's in Tulsa is an interesting shop to visit. It's packed to the walls with every kind of old bike imaginable. The entire ceiling is festooned with hundreds of wheels hanging from hooks. He charges quite a bit and some of the bikes he sells are not that nice, including things like Huffy and Free Spirit. Still, the few times I've been there he seems pretty busy and his stock is constantly changing.

One just opened in Ann Arbor.

They are pricing stuff so high that a $200 Varsity looks like a deal!

I should note that I don't like Firehouse, because once, in my noob days before I knew how to even fix a flat or change a tube, I had them do that for me...and it turned out the dude put the wrong size of tube in.

We have a very famous one here in Burlington. Which I'm thinking of offering my services to. You might get a kick out of taking a look:

http://www.oldspokeshome.com/

Due to the economy, one of the local bike shop chains has started selling LBS quality used bikes. They won't get near an old department store bike and they're not interested in friction shifting bikes, but they do sell downtube, index shifting bikes. Judging by how fast the bikes are turning over, I'd say they're pretty happy with the used trade. In addition, it helps them move out new bikes because they accept trade-ins.

My future plans....patina pedaling...patina peddling.....

There's a classic one in Elizabeth City, NC, The Kickstand.
Just window shopping (he's closed for the summer) took me about an hour, and I was in a hurry.
Sitting outside in a fenced area are a bunch of dept store bikes, and a sign: "kids-take what you need"
I've got to get in there one of these days... He has an old A-D hanging outside for a sign.

Most need a markup of 20% + their tuneup costs, or 40% overall.
They're taking in trades more than they used to, but not exactly giving top dollar.

My LBS still takes them on on consignment, and they move pretty well.

There is one in Iowa City, IA, great folks and decent selection of used bikes. They also sell new stuff too.

I think one glaring problem is supply of decent used bikes. Ever since WM got into the bike sales business at their current scale, the quality of used bikes has declined. Years ago I could buy Schwinns, Raleighs and even a Huffy that was of usable quality. Now the stuff that comes out of the various marts is so poor that is worth little more than scrap. I know in my area if you can find ANYTHING other than a Next or other BOS anywhere you are doing well. I did scavenge the trash piles an aluminum Next frame was worth almost $20 last year, now about $2:mad: for scrap.

Aaron:)

I own/operate a used bike shop, and that is problem #1. There are always disparate expectations of value of used bikes (both coming and going), but I think we are starting to seperate ourself from other folks flipping bikes out of their garage. However, the supply sources through whihc we got most of our bikes have completely dried up over the past two years.

The closest to me is about 40 miles away. They are associated with a larger, new bike shop in town and get all the other shops trade in's, demos and old models they haven't sold. They also sell new Raleigh and Giant. I bought my Gitane Sprint from them, helped a friend buy a nice used Cannondale and my dad buy a Klein Comp Pulse mtb from this shop. They're easy to work with and low pressure. I have two kids that want a mountain bike and I'll go there and look first. I've told my wife that there's no way I'll buy a Xmart bike for my kids.

Other than this one shop - I've got to go an hour and forty five minutes to Seattle for other options.

Name and address?

We have everything in LA if you are willing to look hard enough.

Sic Transit Cycles. I don't have an address, but this is basically where they are: yahoo maps. They are in a former car detail place so look for the two garage doors. They don't have normal open hours so good luck. Oh, ya and not to mention extremely overpriced bikes and parts, limited mechanical skills, and my basement is more of a bike shop than they are.

I just bought a used hub at one here in San Diego. It is in kind of a marginal neighborhood, but the owner seemed like a very friendly guy. The shop is called Pedal Pushing. It is located in the 4900 block of El Cajon Blvd. Looking at the sign with service prices they seemed reasonable. Used bikes, some new accessories too.

I needed a rear high flange hub for a Nishiki International I am repairing for my son's friend to take to college. I was going to rebuild the rear wheel when I noticed cracks in the original hub. He had a decent Sunshine hub for $8, not bad at all IMHO.