auchencrow

I was organizing some of my junk this evening, and I realized that I have a lot of parts that really ARE junk, and that I'll never build into a bike. (Many of them are parts I took off flips just to install better ones.)

Aside from the usual mountain of dork disks, reflectors and kickstands, I have heavy steel pedals, clunky, rusty derailleurs (many with parts missing), stem shifters, broken frame pumps, cheap steel crank sets, steel mtb handlebars, spent brake pads and cotters, steel wheels, bags of valve caps, crummy saddles, cheesy brake calipers, etc, etc.

What was I thinking?

a) That I would one day build up a Franken-bike with all junk parts?
b) That I could make a statement with them and JB-weld them all together into some urban "objet d'art"?
c) That I might be able to scavenge something useful from them (probably even more remote than a or b)

Obviously, I don't have a good process for determining what to keep and what to ditch.

So I would like to know: What litmus test do you apply when deciding to retain, scrap, or donate parts?

fuji86

I ride original parts to failure. Replace worn out, so retaining & scrapping are a process of whether the part still works. Efficiencies are maximized, no part of the beast is ever wasted.

JReade

If it doesn't function, I scrap it. Beyond that, I hoard parts in boxes unlabeled until my offspring (that I don't have) decide to sell it at an estate sale for pennies.

clubman 

If it works well, and is British, French, Belgian or Italian I keep it. Oh and Japanese. This is what rubber maid containers are for. Throw out duplicates Throw out anything that wouldn't get $5 in a buy it now on auction. I'd throw out all of your list if I had similar . better componentry in case I want to fix and flip a bike. Which I don't anymore. Give stuff to bike coops and you'll get good Karma back. I donated two decent frames to one and got a promise for 2 NOS Sachs Duomatic hubnuts...a real obscure size and I really need them.

auchencrow

I've heard two votes for function, and one vote for $5.00+ in a BIN auction.

My steel MTB bars and Wald pedals would function as well as some Cinelli or Campy items, but would not likely bring $5.
So by a margin of two to one, more people would keep most of the junk.

bradtx

Auchen, I've been doing this all year, not only with bicycle items. If the item is good enough to sell, it's sold. If it's junk it's placed in the recycle bin.

Basically I feel my bikes are as I want them, for better or worse and just don't need all of the stuff in the parts bin. I'm also not going to build any additional bikes, at least I don't plan to. Once I arrived at those two decisions it was easy.

Brad

auchencrow

I could build a few bikes from my stash of good parts, but parting with junky - but functioning parts still seems wasteful to me. (I have a hard time with this as I was raised by depression era parents.)

zukahn1 

Well a lot of it depends on the space you have to store stuff. If you have a big garage I say keep most of it if space is limited get rid off the stuff that doesn't work. Also keep or consider selling older French and Italian stuff people often pay silly prices for it on E-bay which I have recently discovered.

Otis

I keep everything until I get sick of looking at it then I throw it all away, then I need it next week. You can't really win, so just throw stuff away when it gets in the way.

Drillium Dude 

If I haven't worn it in over a year, I give it to Goodwill.

DD

auchencrow

Well, I have a pretty big garage, so it's not the parts I'm tripping over. (It's the bikes!)

If I go that way I'd be donating all the Stronglight, Mafac and Mavic baubles I just polished up for that long anticipated Gitane TdF build (that is, when and if some one bites on my "the frame doesn't fit pass-around" offer. )

Glennfordx4

Being raised by a packrat has also made me a packrat by nature the difference being I am a organized packrat when compared to my mother. I have boxes, tubs and drawers full of new and used parts & I keep a lot of stuff that I only replace when something better comes along or I finally realize that it really is junk and I toss it ( no co op's in these parts). I could play the BOC game for years and not even break a sweat.

oldroads

I go thru tons of old bike parts, and after a few months I have to do triage on the pile:
Really special stuff gets pulled and stored. The rest goes to the scrapyard and comes back as beer money.

Gravity Aided

I keep most all of the good alloy parts, and scrap the steel, unless its French, or uncommon. But in my town, there is often a resupply of low-end bikes and parts, called garbage day. Sometimes, others supply me. Other times, I supply others. All a part of life on the great bike wheel of the universe.

AZORCH

I'm in the same boat, Auchen. Basically, I've been going through my stuff and sorting it into three piles: (1) stuff that has a high likelihood of seeing personal use in the future, and which will go back into storage; (2) stuff that won't, and which will be donated to a coop I volunteer at; (3) and sad enough - but also honest enough! - to admit, stuff that I have no immediate future use, but which I unreasonably feel I need to hang on to. I'm trying to keep this latter pile to a minimum, but then again there is the whole "unreasonable" nature of the pile to begin with... After a lot of reflection, I'm also evaluating which bikes are going to stay in the collection too. I'm watching this thread now to see if any of the rest of my fellow addicts find a sensible way to cope with the addiction!

wrk101

This is basically what I "try" to do. I have a backlog of stuff that needs to go to the recycle bin.

I am in the process of moving remnants from my SC bike shop to my NC bike shop. A lot of the stragglers are going into the recycle bin or garbage.

The only thing I am keeping on your list is decent stem shifters. The recreational riders want them. I'll probably keep a couple and donate the rest to the coop.

As far as where to put bikes, I am putting a second row of hooks across the back of my garage (each row holds 18 bikes). Then I have the hooks in my workshop, then a couple of random storage racks, etc. I would rather NOT count the total number of bikes I have right now.

+1 If it is a POS part, but one that people want, then off to ebay it goes. I have a couple of the old plastic Simplex RDs in the bin.

auchencrow

Around here, the bikes that used to go in the trash are now listed on CL. (Everyone's trying to make a buck!)

...Just for a reference, here are some typical junky parts that I'm not going to use, but can't seem to "part" with:



A swaged steel crank set, some old Wald pedals, a couple of as-new pedals from a kid's MTB, a saddle with a 1/4" nick in the plastic cover (blacked out with a sharpie), a heavy Shimano steel "SIS" derailleur.

auchencrow

^ That's what I mean Azorch. - And I'm just curious to gain a little insight here, on how other people sort it out.

auchencrow

Thrifty Bill - By using the word "try" you just conceded that you have the same affliction as I. I find it's especially difficult to get rid if clean, functional stuff - even though it is not worth the price of shipping on eBay.

jimmuller 

Is that a Shimano or Campy mouse?

bradtx

I was too. Still, once the chicken stops laying eggs she was made into soup. If there's a co-op anywhere nearby just drop them off, if one's not nearby, find one and ship a box of stuff to them.

Brad

iab

The scrap yard will melt down any metal. What's the problem?

If you are a hoarder, there is professional help available.

RaleighSport

In the begining.. I bought anything and kept it all. Now I buy for specific components etc.. and still keep it all.. but I do have a master plan. I have a few friends who haven't done so well in this world, and they really could use a bike each... for these people things like a suntour honour, a shimano 50 setup isn't a big deal, and in my mind is a good idea since it's heavier and more solid equipment.. I've actually got 2 frames waiting to be built up with my B pile as give aways.. and I think most of my junk will go with that.. if this works out I think I'm going to keep seeking out people who can actually use functional bikes and gift them.

wrk101

Oh yeah, I have a crate full of crappy pedals, one full of kickstands, and a third full of dork disks. I'll probably keep a couple decent dork disks, and pitch the rest.

bikemanbob

I keep as much as I can and throw out as little as possible. I have too much stuff!