OK, so what do I buy at a church sale today? You guessed it, a MTB. Not just any MTB, but a freekin' Mongoose.

Here's the rationale:

1. Its one of those better Mongoose MTBs from 1990, Japanese made.

2. I needed it as a donor for an uncompleted MTB I already have.

3. It was $2.

So while I will not buy another MTB to flip, I might just pick up one or two to complete the MTBs I already have. For my $2 investment, I got: alloy seat post, two good wheels with stainless spokes and Araya rims, one good tube, shifters, bottle cage, Blackburn rear rack, Scott bar ends, Shimano Exage 500 crankset, BB, FD, and RD, Shimano canti-brakes, stem, bars, and a decent frameset (for the local co-op).

If it sounds like a cream-puff, it isn't. Seat post was stuck (got it freed up), tires were rotted away, chain was one rusty mess, cables were the same, seat was torn in half, frame stays ended up being full of fire ants (found that out when I put the bike upside down in my bike stand).

I have about half a dozen MTBs left to move to new homes. Then I am done with them.

less is more.......the last 3 I flipped by removing everything but the front brake...rehabbing to a single speed with free wheel....college kids love 'em.....and the cheaper the better............$3 - $5 gsale rigid mtb..........flip $100 everytime.......

For $2, it's a no-brainer. :)

I used to have two left, now only one. I just sold a rigid Giant Sedona to a friend for exactly what I paid for it - $35. It was clean and working, and he needed a tow bike for his kid's tag-along. I was as happy to get rid of it as he was to find a tow bike for cheap. Plus - I got a nice bottle of wine in the bargain as a "thank you".

Sucker. :D

Nice pick :)

Before you put that 500LX group on a flipper, just ride it. Those shifters/RD/FD/crankset (Biopace) combination were really really really smooth. I took Deore XT off keepers and put 500LX, just because of that. Give it a shot.