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Thursday, April 02, 2009

Dumpster Find

"Dumpster Find" That's always a phrase which always engenders envy on my part. Living in Denver, where people seem to be pretty hip to the fact that old bikes are sellable, I find that most people don't put them out on the curb, or in the rubbish bin. Usually, they end up on Craigslist, with a "vintage bike" tag (and price).
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Recently, however, I came upon this in the trash (clicky for BIG):

It's a 1981 Schwinn Cruiser 5. Unfortunately, the chainguard is missing in action.


But it does have a rear drum brake!

Now, the only question is, "What do I do with it?"
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Should I just replace the front tube, clean and adjust it, then sell it on? Pretty much anything I get for it will be profit (minus my time and a tube).
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Or, and this is my weakness, do I lace on some alloy rims (using the front drum-brake hub I have out in the shop), install one of these, and a better derailleur/shifter? Then, I would have a very useable bike, but one which would probably be impossible to sell at a profit.
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But it would be so cool!
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Addictions are never pretty...
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3 comments:

  1. Noah11:11 AM

    As I find myself in the middle of a dumpster-find refurb (although someone else found it and I'm doing the refurb), I say only INVEST in it. If there's a part you can buy that provides dramatically more than face value when it's put on the bike, go for it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jon11:45 AM

    I have to 'fess up: The fork is already on order.

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  3. Doohickie10:53 PM

    Great find!

    I found this Raleigh Marathon in a dumpster just before Christmas. The hubs were terrible; it barely rolled. I slapped some wheels on it from a bike I had wrecked and it ran great. Eventually I cleaned up the hubs and put the original wheels back on.

    The find was lucky because shortly after that I found out the cranks on my primary commuter bike were bad and needed to be replaced (under a Shimano recall). The bike shop I use was not a Shimano dealer, but I told them I would wait until they were. In the meantime, I commuted on the Marathon... for the three months it took Shimano to certify them as a bike shop!

    I got my main bike back, but I like the Marathon (aka "Dumpster Queen") so much I plan I riding it to work tomorrow, just for the heck of it.

    I love dumpster finds!

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