billnuke1 

Someone alluded to this situation on another thread.
I have been collecting bicycles, bicycle tools and bicycle stuff for years.
My wife is always saying, “Wear your helmet and ride carefully, I won’t know what to do with all of your bike stuff/junk.”.
She has asked me, “What should I do with all of this?”.
Anyone have an answer when/if asked this question?

MEversbergII

Traditionally, your stuff gets passed around the family, and then everything else gets to either a landfill or a yard sale.

M.

phile

right answer is obviously to use it all to construct some sort of bicycle monster to honor your existence.

Rajflyboy

Family and or recyclery if you have one where you live

leob1

Do what ever you want with it, it won't be my problem.

livedarklions

"Bury it with me, or donate it to a bike co-op."

thumpism 

Write your will. It's the smart way to be sure your wishes will be honored. Bikes to friends, crappy bikes to enemies, tools and parts to a co-op. Whatever you want to happen to the stuff, there are ways to make it happen.

Seriously, if you have assets and you don't have a will you're leaving your survivor(s) a mess to deal with. Do them a favor.

indyfabz

Beat me to it. Don't die intestate. If you do, your state's law will determine which relative(s) gets your personal and other property.

tagaproject6

There it is

_ForceD_

Having cleaned out my parents' house when my siblings and I moved them into a small, more manageable apartment in their twilight years, and more recently cleaning out my in-law's house after both of them had passed...I say get rid of most everything that you're not actually using NOW. It borders on cruelty to leave your loved ones to deal with the disposition of piles upon piles of stuff that really has little, if any, sentimental or physical value to them. Your wife said it. It's "junk" to them. That, on top of having to deal with estate issues is quite a burden. Both my parents, and my wife's parents lived in small, three-bedroom ranch-style houses. In both cases we could not believe the amount of "stuff" that came out of them. And in neither case would they be considered "hoarders." "Pack rats" maybe. But not 'buried alive' hoarders. Stuff that hadn't seen the light of day for decades, and no one really wanted. we couldn't understand why they'd held on to much of it. Consequently, my wife and I have stopped acquiring "stuff" and begun purging "stuff" from our lives so as not to put our own kids through that burden.

Dan

deephate

I worry about this every time I go to the garage. I am getting up there. There is no really big value to my herd but they mean a lot to me. I think I might start clearing some this summer. My bikes are tall so there will be fewer takers than normal bikes might bring in.

Koyote

Just don't let stuff pile up too much, and get rid of stuff that you're no longer using.

thumpism 

Yeah, tall bikes and oddball crap overflowing in the garage, on top of everything else non-cycling that my wife and I have accumulated over the decades. We, too, had to take care of downsizing one side of the family and later handling the estates of both sides. Not fun and not easy when you have your own life and problems to contend with. I see news reports of fire and tornado damage and the interviews with survivors and am sometimes shocked to find myself thinking, "Man, that sure would simplify things."

pdlamb

I've thought about taking some of my bike stuff to the local bike club's swap meet. But I'm a bit scared of what I might bring home.

speedevil 

Maybe we should consider nominating another BF member (or riding buddy) to help when this situation happens. It wouldn't need to be official, just a note with your will that has contact information for someone that would be willing to help with the bike stuff. My little herd has value to me, but she wouldn't know a Pinarello or Masi from a Huffy. They're just bikes to her.

I've already done that with respect to my watch collection and tools. My wife doesn't know what they are worth, and would probably let them go for far less than they're worth. A trusted friend could be a huge help, especially with all of the other issues that happen at that time.

Thoughts?

NomarsGirl

I recently bought a new bike. I left the old one behind at the LBS for them to put in their consignment sale. If it sells, I get 90% of the price in a store credit (or I could have had 60% in cash). If it doesn't sell, they can donate it. I had planned to keep it, but I know I would never ride it now that I have a nice bike. It was too small for me anyway.

It is a huge burden on the people left behind to clean out a house and dispose of property. If you have something valuable, make sure your loved ones know what it is worth and where they might be able to sell it if they don't want to keep it. They can do what they want with junk. My MIL passed away last fall. Her husband is now rattling around in their 5 BR house by himself. It is full of antiques and collectibles. It is worth a lot, but it will not be easy to find the right buyers. He's not ready yet to start cleaning out, but I dread the day he asks us if we want anything. They have beautiful things that don't go with my house at all. The only thing I can think of that I want is a pretty bowl that was on the table at every festive occasion. That would be like having a little part of her with us.

NomarsGirl

Absolutely. It makes a lot of sense. While I'm sure you expect to enjoy your things for many more years, it would be a shame for her to let your things go for less than they are worth when the time comes that you can no longer use them. I'm sure you want to get your things into the hands of people who will use them rather than rusting away until they aren't worth anything. I have told my husband not to throw away my yarn stash. My knitting friends can take what they want from the good stuff and find somewhere to donate the rest.

rumrunn6

my Dad is an avid knife collector. he is too old now to dispose of them, himself. no one in our family needs a massive research & sales project after he passes. dreading the day ...

Retro Grouch 

That's what I was going to say. You don't have to wait till you go either. Most of my stuff went to a local bike co-op last year. I held out just the trikes that Mrs. Grouch and me ride and the tools I need to maintain them.

Phil_gretz

You've gotten some good answers, so far.

"When I die, what then?" is undoubtedly the most important question of the human existence, along with similar questions, like "why am I here?" and "what does it all mean?" We cannot discuss those in this sub-forum. I wish you the best with that.

For the material things that you'll leave behind, have an iron clad plan (will with or without trust) that cannot be disputed, eases the burden on your survivors, reduces taxes paid on the estate, and is administered by someone who you trust.

If you have any assets for which you haven't yet specified beneficiary on death, do that now. Don't wait.

I agree with others, simplify as much as you can. Unless you're an Egyptian, you don't want to be buried with the stuff anyhow.

hillyman

Put a stipulation in your will all members of your family must complete a century on one of your bikes before they can collect an inheritance.

Flip Flop Rider

give them away on bike forum. make a listing of what you have and where you are, and see if anyone here can use it or is interested in it

Kedosto

I'm thinking of taking it all with me. Maybe dig a giant hole in the backyard and bury me and all my junk. Kinda like the family pet. Or Elvis.


-Kedosto

Happy Feet

It's a good reminder that bicycles are just toys or utilitarian means of transportation. We may attach value to them as enthusiasts but that value is mainly intrinsic and not shared with everyone else. If they are just bikes relatives can take what they like and donate/garage sale the rest.

This does brings up the interesting question of investment in obscure objects (like bikes). Investing in high value bikes or other collectables has the second part expectation of eventually selling them to recoup that investment. Investing in real estate or gold is the same I suppose but the method of disposal is pretty well set out. If the collection is a high value investment one should discuss how it can be disposed of with SO's at some point or it's a really poor investment plan overall.

indyfabz

+1. When my mom sold her house to move to assisted living, I had to clean it out. What a nightmare going through two stories, a basement and garage worth of stuff. I even found mortgage payment slips though the mortgage had been paid off decades earlier. She later left assisted living and moved into a one bedroom apartment. When she left there for a nursing home I had to clean out that too. Not as much of a nightmare but still a PITA. Every time I opened a closet I found more junk that I had to get rid of. And there was a lot of bedroom and living room furniture that she had toted with her from the house. I finally called a junk disposal company and had them take a lot of stuff away.