So I walked past an abandoned bike on my street for a couple of weeks and finally put a sign on it that said "I'm taking this on monday". Monday afternoon, I took it home and stuck it in my basement without giving it a good look. Weeks went by and I finally went down last night and started stripping it down to see what could be used for parts. I instantly noticed that it had no stickers or emblems and it had a really cool paint job under all the dirt. It's sort of iridescent blue/purple with small dots and "~" shapes of various sizes and lengths. I didn't give it a second thought until I started pulling the bar tape off and noticed the Nitto emblem hiding underneath. As I pulled the rotting athletic tape off the stem I found another Nitto emblem. My inner-soundtrack was suddenly interrupted with a brain-rattling WTF?!?. I din't have time to investigate the bike further and check out the other parts but I instantly decided to make it my next fixie conversion.

Does anyone know which manufacturers used Nitto stems and bars on their bikes in the mid 90's (rough guess)? I'd kinda like to find out who made it.

lol. going to need more info than that.

Like lugged/non-lugged?, serial #, dropouts stamped with name?, aluminum or steel?, component group, wheel type, etc... before we can even begin to guess.

so, you took somebody's bike because they didnt comply with your deadline?

leave a sign where you found it with your contact info.

lets just recycle our responses to dirtbag and the laundry room bike he took.

I feel like someone should be checking the Worcester MA craigslist for a stolen bike right about now...

The note was probably misspelled and the real owner didn't understand that his bike was going to be stolen on Monday.

ha, yeah the note was placed there at midnight the Sunday before.

Who cares? Seriously.

I smell troll.

maybe I should do this, place signs on bike saying "IM STEALING THIS BIKE TOMORROW" and then steal them, makes the conscience clean. The _is_ a nice FTP that I see every once and a while

The real money is in stealing cars and stripping them for parts.
The airport is a good place to look. Try the long-term parking
lots. Just put a notice on the car you choose.

i feel like this guy is like charlie on always sunny...

he thinks all of his ideas are great but when anyone else tries to read his handwriting it's complete gibberish...

hooray for america!

guh.

Why do so many bike moral militants come out of the woodwork every time someone posts a thread about an abandoned bike? If people care so much about their bikes they shouldn't leave them untouched to rot for months. I think theres a fair distance between "bike thief" and "bike rescuer". There's thousands of options for the weary rescuer too - tape signs around the area, ask around, etc. Not to mention the intentions behind taking a bike that has obviously been abandoned and showing it some love versus cutting a lock to purposefully steal a bike to pawn off for quick dollars. Some of you guys need to settle down with tossing around the hate when people post stuff like this.


Mystery looks like ha hangs with Scott Weiland.. .



& I think that's a Rapha sticking out of his pocket...

Lol IMO it's the people who steal bikes who need to chill the **** out. What is SO tempting about a bike, or any other object, that makes someone feel they NEED to take it??? Is it really THAT tempting?

Dear ******s,

The thread wasn't supposed to be about how the bike was acquired. I knocked on my neighbor's door and asked about it, he said it had been sitting there and he was thinking about scrapping it as it was in front of his lawn. Both tires were flat and it had obviously not been taken care of. I live in a quiet residential area and some drunk ass probably ditched it when he or she lost tire pressure. That sort of **** happens ALL the time around here. I DID in fact, check craigslist for any bikes matching the description and nothing came up. I put the sign on it wed. afternoon and took it around 5:45 pm on monday. Does that meet the rigorous standards for proper abandoned-bike acquisition? Or should I perhaps call the FBI and have them start up an investigation to find the previous owner so I can ask him if it was ok to take the bike he left rotting on the sidewalk?

Dear helpful non-******s,

I don't think it's lugged, steel-frame, I'll check the rest when I get home.

Yo, that was my bike.

Well, in that case, allow me to return it to you in better condition than it was left.

Blais, we need pics. Important stuff to look for: What do the rear dropouts look like? Stamped and held by crimped stays? Stamped but brazed? Forged with a name like Campagnolo? Is the dropout vertical, semi or full horizontal or track? Are there any serial numbers on the dropouts?

Serial numbers on the bottom bracket? Any chrome anywhere?

You said it wasn't lugged and/or a steel frame. Aluminum, or brazed or TIG welded steel?

What does the seatpost cluster look like?

Downtube shifter bosses? Cable braze-ons?


After typing all this, you better not have "rescued" a Magna or Muffy bike.

you're a mystery

pics...

Tool,

Why didn't you explain this in you OP? You have a nerve addressing us as ASTERISKS! Your OP makes you sound like a jack@ss. It's not our fault that you suck @ conveying your thoughts.

You live in a quiet neighborhood and drunk people abandon bikes all the time???

HAHAHAH!!! You lying thief!

Dude you were supposed to divine the make and model by casting twigs, duh.