There are billions of posts were you guys broadcast your dumpster-finds, CL-catches and other catches. I’ve done one CL-catch (I’ve been searching through Swedish CL (blocket.se) for years). I’ve also done one “dumpster”-find (a bike in the woods and a stolen bike on a parking lot at the same day, which I later got back from the police) and I’ve been looking around for several years!

These of you who seems to find good deals al the time, how do you do?. What have I missed? Consider this thread, not as a copy of the “catch of the day” but as a thread for tips and trixs in finding good deals.

I’ve red about posters and fliers, does that work?
Advertisements in local papers?
Or is it all about friends and contacts?

Post all your experiences and tips!

/ Jonatan Florén

F5. often.

Stop at thrft shops, stop at yard sales, talk to friends, ask your neighbors, stop at church sales, look next to peoples garages, check ebay, check Craigslist, talk to people in your bike club or any other group you may belong to.

People who raced bikes back in the 70's 80's and 90's and still have their old bikes are great sources of quality bikes and parts--they tended to have good stuff and maintained it well.

The trick is finding someone who meets this description, still has their bike(s) and will consider selling. I've stumbled on a couple of great bikes this way at garage sales--the bikes were hanging on the wall and not for sale, but when asked about the bikes, the owners decided to sell, at quite reasonable prices.

Hej, Jonatan!

I've only been to Sweden once (to Kungsor last summer, I'd love to visit again) and it struck me how very tidy the country and people are. I saw plenty of new bikes and some older ones in great condition, obviously in use - but I think you'll struggle to find the derelict bikes in quantity that are in the UK and USA. I've discussed my hobby with people at work, friends and neighbours and I do a lot of repairs for free for people in my village. As a result I am given LOADS of bikes and parts for free. My rule is, I never turn anything free down, whatever its condition, otherwise people will stop offering. There's always something useful on an old bike, even of it's just a bottom bracket lock ring or similar. It takes some time, but now I receive a steady flow of old and not so old bikes. Among these are some real gems, but it's mostly low-end stuff that I rebuild, repaint and give away for free to friends and relatives, or sell to raise money for more bike parts. As a result my personal collection now numbers 34 bikes - and growing, but I always have twelve or so more mountain bikes being built to give away or sell. I've got about 500 square cm of floor space in my 7 metre by 4 metre garage and now my sheds are beginning to fill up with frames and wheels awaiting attention!

Best wishes and good luck in your hunting!

Never stop looking. Make sure people who know who you are know about your interest. I never planned it that way, but it happens all the time.

RandyJawa has many ideas on his website.

https://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...ycles_Page.htm

I keep a look in backyards, I talk to people, I mention it at work, I search CL at least 3 times a day, and I also peruse local thrift stores regularly. That's how I got my best finds. So far, on CL, in backyards, and in thrift stores, I've found these beauties:

$50 Phillips Sports
$10 Raleigh Professional
$80 Univega Activa Trail
free Bridgestone Kabuki SuperSpeed
$10 Raleigh Rapide mixte
$30 Peugeot UO-8
$20 Fuji Palisade

Can't beat those prices for those bikes. Just keep an eye out, and don't buy crap.

Garage sales
friends
material recyclers
Be seen riding vintage bikes.

These are the ten procedures that I use to find bicycles and I find well over a hundred bikes a year. I have found three this week alone, including this lovely Bianchi Touring Bike.

How To Find Vintage Bicycles.

Bianchi_Volpe_Ful&.jpg Bianchi_Volpe_Ful&.jpg Bianchi_Volpe_Ful&.jpg

Randyjawa, that site was great!

I've done some work today:
Brought up the topic at the hairdressers (I'm interested in buying old bikes for resautation - acording to your tips)
Ben working on a advertisement for the paper - to be posted tomorrow.
I've also found a guy who want to sella a tenspeed but I've sadly lost contact with him! :'( well I'll meet him in the autumn, hopefully he still wants to sell the bike for a reasonable price (he claimed 3-40 euro last time)
Cross your fingers!

Fishing rod and a bike-shaped lure.

-Kurt

Just scored another box of older bike tools off craigslist.
You have to check frequently and respond quickly, when something good comes up.
Not sure of my haul yet, but there was a park headset press tool in there, also most of a var fixed cup tool. I've asked the seller to check for the other part.

I've had my best finds given to me by my LBS. Make friends there, frequent their shop, buy stuff there when you can afford the extra dollar or two...in short become a patron and never underestimate the relationship building powers of a six pack of beer.

My LBS has given me two Vintage bikes, a correct head badge for a '72 Raleigh, a bunch of odd parts, solid advice and will loan me odd tools when I need them for a quick fix. In return I send all my friends down there, recommend the hell out of them and make whatever small purchases (brake/shifter inners, innertubes, rim tape) i can afford to not make online there. And when i've got a job that needs a special tool and a bit of guidance from a Pro I just take it to them and say "Please do this one thing" whatever it is...like remove a fixed cup, or press in a headset....and 10-20 bux and a little beer always makes it right.

Most recently I needed a bike box to ship a frame I sold on eBay and my LBS had me covered no charge. Speaking of which I think I should toss them a couple brews for that.

+1 Randy's tips are great. Another "trick" on Craigs List in the US is look back a few pages. In larger cities in the US near me (like Atlanta, GA), the bicycle for sale page on C/L fills up in less than a day. Once an ad gets past the first page, a lot of potential buyers don't even see it. Experienced sellers just go ahead and re-post it to get it back on the main page. But novice sellers do not. Look back SEVERAL pages, send out some emails, and you never know. I've found some deals that had been on C/L for over two weeks.

I also look for bikes with extras (that I sell separately). A lot of buyers don't realize the value of such extras. I bought two recently where the extras alone had at least as much value as what I paid for the bike. Sell the extras, and the bike is "free".

I look for C/L ads where the bike is poorly marketed. The more pathetic the ad, the better. No sizing, seller can't work a tape measure? Great. Lousy fuzzy picture? Great. No pictures at all? Even better!! Dirty, flat tires, rusty cables? Great. Seller doesn't respond to emails? Fantastic! You have to remember that most sellers with these attributes treat all potential buyers poorly. Most buyers will not have the patience for such a seller, so if you are patient, you can scoop a deal. I had one C/L seller that contacted me TWO WEEKS after I sent him an email. Turned out to be an outstanding deal. Realize that many people selling items on C/L are not focused on the sale. Its an afterthought at best. So they may be busy doing a lot of other stuff, and pretty much forget about their ad (and the email responses).

And don't wait until going to see the bike is convenient for you, go immediately (if it appears to be a great deal). There will be other buyers that will scoop it up if you don't move quick. If a deal lasts til the weekend, its probably not a very good deal.


My typical sources: Garage sales, thrift stores, C/L, ebay local pickups, neighborhood circular ads, word of mouth, church sales, trade ins, etc.... But if you want to find thrift store deals (at least around here), be prepared to stop at the better thrift stores several times A DAY! No kidding, the great deals last about 5 minutes. And I check whenever/wherever I travel. Just got back from a trip to Illinois, stopped for one deal in Indianapolis along the way, drove up to the Quad Cities for another deal.

Good tips up there! but I see that Sweden is a bikepoor place! In our CL-copy there is one page for roadbikes, one or mtb ans so on. The last post on the first page of Roadbikes is three days old... Kind of hard to miss a deal there, sadly, we are hundreds of people searching through that few advertisements every day. Gotta be lucky to check just after the broadcasting of a good deal. (hope this paragraph makes sense, don't really now how to put it in English...) Anyway, ill try to check old posts to see if they still have the bike...

In that case, I would go on the offense. Print up some circulars, let everyone know you are looking for bikes, post a bike wanted on Craigs List in the bikes for sale section, etc.

I found another way, hammer a sign in your lawn that says Bicycle recycling accepted here. or something like that, I love bikes and comming home to new ones daily is pretty sweet lol best part is, people bring em to you! or they tell you they have a nice big ammount of them and to come help yourself. for free or small fee.

I am going to be up ealy sunday morning and very busy!
Here is a list of village 'empty your attic' sales this weekend in a 25km ish radius of my home.

*saturday*
1. aix - la chapelle
2. st Mitre
3. bedoin
4. carpentras

*sunday*
1. aix pont larc
2. aix cour mirabeau -no bikes
3. bouc belair
4. eguile
5. belcodene
6. fuveau
7. Luynes
8. Puyricard
9. st max

sunday afternoon
rians - 6h
pourrieres - 7h

Its also the 'fete du velo' this sunday too, going to be very busy!
But its the best way to find bargin bikes.

That sounds like a Tres cool thing to do, prettyshady, - but it would be tough on those of us who only speak English, and even tougher to haul it all back on the plane!

Go to yard sales and ask,
Do you have any bikes you want to sell?
Do you have any bike parts you want to sell?
At least 5 of my best finds came from asking those two questions. Including (would you believe) a set of 9 speed, 105 brifters in like new condition for $60 from some guy who upgraded and just wanted to clean out his garage.

Did my first try today, I found a advertisement 45 min after posting and reached for the phone, got a meating the day after (today) and the rest of the story is to be read under here. Hope to sell this on for about 190 Euro.. Think that's a reasonable price over here in Sweden.

The rest is a crosspost from Catch of the day:


Haven't yet desided wether this is to be a flibber or my new trainerbike (instead of the Seuz...)

Crappy pic... Sorry for that, but anyway I got this bike today. Saw an advertisement on the swedish "craiglist" about a Crescent from -72. Crappy cellphonepic and not too much information. I thought, I'll give it a shot. Took the train and found out it was in a rather rough shape. Rusty, imovable gears and such. I managed to put the price down some 15 Euro and we had a deal. Then, while paying i found that it was equiped with both Weimannbreakes and Reynolds 531-tubing Score! 75 Euro Need a hell lot of cleaning and greaseing though!

EDIT: The pic didn't whant to work...

I don't use Randy's tips because I don't need to find any more bikes than I already do. The frickin' garage is full enough as it is.

I've stopped actively looking, and they still come to me.

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