What bikes have you used as parts donors? I've gotten 27" alloy wheels, pedals , alloy handlebars,and bottom brackets from 80's, step-through frame Schwinn Travelers and World Sports I got for $10 at thrift stores.

I recently cannibalized a Japanese Bianchi Strada I'd upgraded to get parts for a Lotus build-up. I felt bad about de-commissioning the spunky Bianchi and will be watching out for suitable parts to get it back into the rider fleet.

Just about anything at the right price. Even a Huffy can have decent tires and tubes, perhaps a seat.

Most of my donor bikes have had significant frame issues. Some I got for free.

The most I paid for a donor was $30, it had a good complete drivetrain that I needed to complete another bike, and the frame was straight and cromoly. I may just rebuild that frameset later.

Not all of my donors started as donors. Some were purchasing "mistakes", but made at a low enough price that I recouped my investment in take off parts.

80's Schwinn's make great donors, 80's Raleigh's too.

I've gotten tires, tubes, cables, brake pads, reflectors and all types of stuff off of old Huffys, Murrays, and better bikes that had frame damage.

"Penny saved is a penny earned" - Ben Franklin

You can sometimes pull some good stuff off the carcasses of free junk bikes.

Yup - I even strip the clean ones rather than try to sell them. The wife took the dog for a walk last Monday night and came home with a Columbia dept store mtb that had been rolled out to the trash. I used the cables/housings, brake pads, and saddle for a Viscount I was overhauling, saved the bars, levers, headset and wheel bearings, and tossed the rest of the scrap in the recycle bin.

A fortuitous find - the Viscount really, really needed new brake pads and a saddle.

I have used a couple of lower-end 1970s Motobecanes and a 1980 Peugeot UO-9 (10?) as donor bikes, as well as a ca. 1990 Fuji with a tiny frame. I bought the Fuji for $10, salvaged the Sugino crankset and Cyclone II derailleurs for myself, and donated what I couldn't use to a local bike shop, which reciprocated with a $20 credit.

Picked up a few bikes this weekend that were donors. One was a 3 speed All Pro that I paid $3.00 for and thought I could flip it -- tires were good and it had decent alloy side pull brakes. Got it home and the back wheel was dented beyond hope.

Pulled off the 26 1 3/8 tires and tubes, the Shimano 3 speed shifter, the handle bar with alloy levers, north road bars and the front chrome fender.

The other bike was a Huffy mountain bike that gave up a set of tires (already on another bike that is getting flipped), a set of great condition hand grips, 6 speed thumb shifters and brake levers.