Two sets of Dura Ace 7700 STI levers, very nice Avocet cranks, tires by the truckload, countless other parts. A mid-level fuji 12 speed from the 80s in my size. Pulled out a really cool looking bonded aluminum/carbon Guerciotti frameset, to find it cracked. Took the fork. Tools!

And food, lots of food.

I've managed to come across some wicked stuff dumpster diving, but a Ti frame, that's insane? Dave, did you have a horseshoe up your a%s that day or some other form of luck enhancement?

My family used to work at our local library and art gallery when I was a kid. Every year, the library would take books that were pretty beaten up and throw them in the dump (they have a penny sale now). I found some massive 4" thick 13x17"-ish tome that looked like it was a couple hundred years old. Turns out it was 115 and the book was some enormous volume of Shakspere. Not only did it have all his plays, but it was also filled with gorgeous lithographs, like this one right here:

http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/...ges/hughes.gif

That's one of my favourite pieces of art that I still have today and it came out of a pile in a landfill.

my circuit bending hobby often gets me into dumpsters. lots of stuff in em that i use. anything electronic, working or not, are useful to me.

at ala moana mall if i can get into the "off-limits" areas under the mall where the dumpsters for the stores are i often find brand name cloths. they dont always fit me but someone i know would. except those A&F jeans, i sell those bad boys for like 50 bucks a pop :D

[edit] i did find my first road bike in a dumpster, it was a miyata and it was pink. oh i loved him so

There is a dumpster a few blocks from my house that has Ghirardelli chocolate sometimes, and the infamous bread dumpster isn't too far from there. French bread pizza, anyone?

Listen to the Charles Manson song "Garbage Dump" for more insight.

I found a giant stash of 78 RPM records in a dumptster, we're talking over 200 ranging from the 30s to the 50s. I'm not a big fan of old records but my uncle is, and he was happy to take them off my hands.

i grabbed an old mt bike that i rebuilt into a ss for my sister, book store dumpsters have piles of books that ive taken and sold back to other half priced books stores

oh man! im here at work talking to an old buddy, and being a geek i was talking about this post. and he reminded me of this one time our buddy Darren threw a plastic bag in a bin, he forgot that he placed his keys inside so he jumped back in to grab the bag. out of nowhere he's like "LOOK GUYS A MEMBERS ONLY JACKET" and of course someone replied "what are you like the last member?".

someone decided to snap a pic with their cell phone so he placed his hands in the pockets and pops a pose. he finds a 50 dollar bill in one of those pockets.

yeah WTF right?

Yep, Charles Manson, there's a good role model for the world.

I've personally found 2 bikes in the trash that I've sold on CL for a combined total of $225 and I found a great Shimano RH540 rear wheel that I spent $20 on to have repaired, so I feel I am way ahead of the game. Lots of guys in the Classics/Vintage forum find neat stuff, the best being a guy last year who found a wasted Masi in a dumpster and he ebayed it for 500$USD. Here is a pic of my wheel:

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...Ez/Work004.jpg

There was a guy on this forum who found a sweet Miyata track bike in the garbage, here is the thread about that, pics are halfway down the page:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ghlight=miyata

charles manson was never convicted for murdering anyone.

at least in texas we never had to dumpster dive krispy kreme. they know they are getting rid of them, we would just walk in at close and they would give us boxes, trash free.

I can verify the first two.

And they are amazing.

Same thing works in sushi restaurants or, even better, sushi kiosks at malls.

I afford my skidding habit by diving. the lbs always has a tire or two that a roadie didnt like.

I guess I should mention I fished my Peugeot frame out of the weeds and bushes behind my house. Polished her up, cannibalized parts from the house stash of stuff, and had a smooth beater bike.

then what is he in jail for?

Where do you dumpster dive? Bike Alley has been good to me...

Charles Manson on Wikipedia

Oh, garbage dump, oh garbage dump...

is diving illlegal

is it dirty

is it embarrassing

is it dangerous

?

i know... i was being that guy.
:rolleyes:

EDIT: btw, it does say... "Although Manson himself was not present at the Tate/La Bianca killings, he was convicted on seven counts of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder on January 25, 1971,"

shhhhhhh! why you blowin up my fking spots? pasetry dumpster in shadyside hasn't had shhhhh1t latly

there is no beer dumpster. forget any mention of a beer dumpster.

go to the dumpsters behind college dorms & you will end up like this guy:

http://www.unclejedcountry.com/images/jed.jpg

It's ridiculous how much waste the average American produces, and what's worse is that a large percentage of what goes into landfill could still be used. It's easier to throw away that old bike or lawnmower than fix it, even if fixing it means new tires or a spark plug. I think one could make a decent living fixing bikes, lawn mowers and appliances found in the trash and scavenging copper and aluminum. I think you could do pretty well on scrap alone.

It's illegal in most places, but rarely enforced. If you drive around with a big truck and trailer, you may get harassed but otherwise you should be fine.

A little, depends on the dumpster. I generally stay out of really icky dumpsters.

Not to me, YMMV.

Yes, but again it depends on the dumpster.

i found an eames chair in the trash once and sold it for $450+
it was only a few blocks away from my house so i just rolled it home...

i've made it a tradition to use at least one garbage-picked part on each of my bikes

i've found awesome furniture, tons of food, art supplies, and even an external cd-rw burner that still worked!

Both of my grandfathers regularly took stuff out of the trash when they were retired. They were the sceniest kids in the whole scene, may they both rest in peace.

dumpstering and stealing from corporate business > paying for anything

YES DUDE! my lbs always has michelin dynamics in the dumpster, tthey are only good for one thing, skidding. i seriously have a stash of like 30 tires from the lbs dumpster.