Other then the frame the wheels are the most important part of a bike.

Funny you should mention that. Reminds me of a story that, frankly, makes Forrest sad.

One of the neighbors dumped a bike next to the apartment garbage. I checked it out, and it's a Magna, which (I didn't know) is WalMart's store brand for bikes. Looks pretty crappy, and while I was thinking about scavenging some parts, I didn't want any. Even the wheels, which I thought would be fun to ruin going down stairs.

The owner says he wore the drive train out, so he's getting a new bike. I was shocked: "you need a chain and a cassette. That's like 40 bucks, maybe 50." He said "Yeah, but I only paid $100 for the bike. I'm gonna get a new one, maybe try a different style."

I wasn't able to give it away before it got hauled off. What a waste.

In the long run Rims are a consumable, particularly with lots of wet weather and rim brakes.

Yeah, those bikes are disposable indeed. It's a waste to make disposable bikes, or anything else. But unfortunately, average person won't pay more for a decent bike that will last longer. I know personally very few people who understand that. For most $300 for a bicycle is a lot of money.

Unfortunately true. That's why a friend of mind and I haunt the thriftstores/yardsales/pawnshops for quality finds. He owns a bikeshop/mobile repair business and will often flip a 10-20.00 find for 100-150 for people who wont spend 300.00 for a decent bike. His goal is to give people a good ride, keep them from buying POS bikes and keep his business afloat.

When I find something he gives me my money back and gas money. My wife helps, too. She found a hardtail Univega for 8.00, a Marin w/a Sus fork for 20.00 and a step through old Huffy w/a Shimano 3 sp hub for 10.00. All on one Saturday thrift-drive to 2 different stores. Gold! :p

Those are the ones I strip down for scrap, when aluminum prices are good I get ~$15-20 for scrap value. Some of the bits and pieces may go in a box to give to the local bike charity, things like cables, chains, grips, tires, tubes and anything else that might be usable.

Aaron :)

OT - but I've heard you mention this before. Where do you get that kind of money for an aluminum frame? At the local bike co-op we get a lot less for frames. I was told closer to $1 a frame on average.