Has anyone made a bike out of unwanted spare parts?

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I technically do that all the time, before and afters

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i don't have a before for this one
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"Randy Gobbler" is my daily rider. Frame was part of a someone's dilapidated "rebuild" I purchased for ten's of dollars. Parts just landed here, you know how it goes. New Aluminum wheels and tires though!
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Even has a bad tattoo from it's past life!
 
When I was a kid, I constructed several bikes out of discarded parts found on trash day walking home from school. One of them lasted years of abuse (IIRC, it was eventually stolen and very likely by this weaselly little trashy kid who stole bikes all the time. He eventually ended up being involved in two murders—one was my youngest sister's friend and the other was a homeless guy) vs the neighbor friends whose new-every-year Toys R Us junk limped through a single season even though they weren't ghost ridden and jumped off ramps like the bitsa I put together. Hm, I'm curious as to what brand that frame was, now. All I remember was that it was either yellow with a purple fork or the other way around. Oh well.
 
I used parts off of 8 different bikes to build this one. The frame, tank, fenders, and chainguard are all off different rusty red bikes, but the patina blends like they’ve always been together.
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My RRBBO15 entry was this kind of bike. Most of the parts were all in my "sell/trade" pile, including the frame. I bought this bike for $20 at a swap meet in 2019, and it wasn't until I brought it home that I realized why I must've gotten it so cheap; it was bent, quite substantially. When I tried to find someone who could straighten the frame, I was asked if I pulled it out of a dumpster, which is how it got the name Dumpster Diamond.
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You can really see how bad the frame was bent in this photo. The seat tube is the most noticeable, but apparently, the down tube and one of the chain stays was out of shape too.
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Despite how mangled the frame was, I was determined to make this bike into something cool. I pulled various parts out of my stash, some unwanted, others I had been holding onto for other projects, and got to work.
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I was eventually able to get the frame fixed thanks to a frame that one of my contacts was about to scrap and the help of a local welder who is now my go-to guy for welding and modifying bike parts.
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While the end result didn't match the bigger, grander vision I originally had for this bike, I'm happy with how it turned out in the end. Despite being one of the last bikes I had acquired up to that point, it was the first I had actually finished. I plan to rebuild this bike later on to look more like what I originally had in mind, but for now, I'm happy to just ride it as it is.
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My RRBBO15 entry was this kind of bike. Most of the parts were all in my "sell/trade" pile, including the frame. I bought this bike for $20 at a swap meet in 2019, and it wasn't until I brought it home that I realized why I must've gotten it so cheap; it was bent, quite substantially. When I tried to find someone who could straighten the frame, I was asked if I pulled it out of a dumpster, which is how it got the name Dumpster Diamond.
View attachment 149003

You can really see how bad the frame was bent in this photo. The seat tube is the most noticeable, but apparently, the down tube and one of the chain stays was out of shape too.
View attachment 149002

Despite how mangled the frame was, I was determined to make this bike into something cool. I pulled various parts out of my stash, some unwanted, others I had been holding onto for other projects, and got to work.
View attachment 149004

I was eventually able to get the frame fixed thanks to a frame that one of my contacts was about to scrap and the help of a local welder who is now my go-to guy for welding and modifying bike parts.
View attachment 149005

While the end result didn't match the bigger, grander vision I originally had for this bike, I'm happy with how it turned out in the end. Despite being one of the last bikes I had acquired up to that point, it was the first I had actually finished. I plan to rebuild this bike later on to look more like what I originally had in mind, but for now, I'm happy to just ride it as it is.
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That would look really good at the bars were tilted down but it still looks great.
 
That would look really good at the bars were tilted down but it still looks great.
I wouldn't be able to steer the darn thing if I did that, not in my neighborhood at least. Heck, it took me a few test rides to figure out how to steer it without my knees getting in the way of the handlebars as they are right now.
 
Currently have one in the works right now that I've been slowly piecing together with spare parts. It is an old Miyata with a broken derailleur hanger.

Is mostly finished.
 

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