hey, i lost $150 on a frame that i bought for $400, and it turned out to be bent and all. my friend for some reason wants it so he's buying it for $250, so i loose $150. i need a way to make some money but im only 14. could u give me some ideas? im tryin to build a bike but i dont have enough money. thanks

I'm 13, and chores really get me money. vacuum the house, mow the lawn?

Get a job.

Go down to the LBS, hang around ,drag boxes, work for parts.

does that really work? I mean I'd love to work for a lbs but I don't have much technical knowledge

i do chores, and get money but thats not enough for parts, i cant get a job cuz im too young places and do they really pay u to help at a LBS? the closest one to me is a 30 min drive but my mom goes up that way fairly often so i guess that could work. but what do u say to the ppl that work there?

also, does anyone know if they pay ppl at car dealerships to clean off the snow on them in the winter? i live in Canada so theres a good bit here.

I have an idea...learn English or another language. You will only make minimum wage or less using words such as cuz, u, and ppl.

In MN they do and I know some people who do it, the problem is they are the lot boys and are also quite frequently required to drive the vehicles into the showroom, mechanic, or car wash. So at your age it may not work.

My stepfather used to work at a dealership in NJ where the GM would just have shop guys assigned to move the cars across the parking lot every hour so they wouldn't get buried in snow.

I support the idea of the OP asking for small jobs at the LBS.

(I don't think I used enough acronyms in this post...)

Good Luck man!

I earned lots of money at your age just asking around the neighborhood for work. You might be surprised how much you can make when you let people know you are wanting to work for money so that you can build a nice bike. Also talk to any lbs and tell them you are willing to sweep the floors and do odd jobs in trade for parts. If I owned a shop and someone like you walked in I would put them to work right away.

If it has your area, check out www.Craigslist.com for a good used bike. $400 wasn't going to buy the best anyway so you might be able to do better with used instead of new.

i know english, but ive been using msn language stuff, but i also know french!

well, i guess i couldnt move cars, even though i know how to drive, but ya, im 14.

a neighbor asked me to fix their 4 bikes, so im doin that and ill get paid, should i open a repair shop?i wont sell stuff cuz i dont want to buy a bunch of parts no one will buy, since no one "rides" around here, but lots of ppl have zellers bikes, that need constant work and arent worth reapiring lol.

the $400 wasnt for a bike, it was for a frame.

any more ideas are welcome, i like the bike shop one but sadly the closest one is a 30 min drive, but my mom does go up that way a lot, so it might work

Backing up a step...why did you buy a BENT frame for $400? If you didn't know it was bent, when you got it, you should have returned it.

Meanwhile, what size frame are you looking for?

Backing up one more step... what does your friend want with a bent frame?

I'd hold off building a bike until I had more money...however, what worked for me...find a used frame and a good used donor bike whose parts can be swapped...I did this a while ago and saved a lot if I had bought new...a one year old frame/fork/crank was less than 35% of new, the donor bike was $400 cdn, I bought a new seatpost, tires, and cables...then sold the donor frame/fork for $250 cdn

Voila, our fuji cruz:

I washed dishes when I was 14, it was only 4 bucs and hour but is was cash in my hand. that was also 11 years ago im sure they give ya a little more for washin dishes these days.

Dude, nobody is borned with a "bike mechanic chip" inside. Go, drag the boxes, run some errands and you will learn a lot.

Ricardo

im 15. barrowed my moms credit card, made a paypal accout. made an ebay account. bought 1 cent auctions to get feedback. found an online site. buy items, they ship them to my house, i take photos, i list them, i sell them. $500 a week in profits on average. not bad considering i sit on my butt and click stuff on the screen now.

Some people are definitely borned[sic] without a "bike mechanic chip".

Where do you live?

Maybe he lives in China and gets his merchandise at wholesale prices.

No, it's not that. If he speaks French then there's a good chance he's local and I can refer him to a couple of LBS I know.

xxx

+ quite a lot

Show what you know kid. Forums are an excellent opportunity to practice your writing skills. If you take as much care on the bikes as you do on your writing, I wouldn't let you near my bike with a wrench.