I’ve got a friend that lets me know when the thrift store near his house has some sweet deals (he sort of knows my various tastes). As a matter of fact, I feel obligated to build him a bike due to some of the sweet scores that I’ve acquired…
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Is lovelylowrider.com still a thing? I know bicycledesigner is still around but a lot of their inventory is sold out. I’d try the local FleaBay I mean EvilBay I mean EBay…I wish getting them would be as easy here in EU
I hunt for old Schwinns, Roadmasters and Murrays night and days, but there are just not so many of them out there. Leaving alone the other more rare bikes or some cool fully equipped models with springer forks, deep fenders, nice racks and all these desired parts
I am going through all of them every few days, also few neighbouring countries local ebay alternatives
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Same in Australia. In about 15 years I have found only 2 American bikes here. I have seen another 2 or 3 for sale however they were in other states and I either let them go due to the cost of shipping or someone beat me to them.I wish getting them would be as easy here in EU
I hunt for old Schwinns, Roadmasters and Murrays night and days, but there are just not so many of them out there. Leaving alone the other more rare bikes or some cool fully equipped models with springer forks, deep fenders, nice racks and all these desired parts
And also here in the Philippines. There is not one American bike in my collection. All Taiwan, Japan, and China made bikes. They have classic American frames for sale in this country, but they need to be shipped prepaid. Nice 50's flat bar Schwinns, Rollfast, and Columbia frames for about a hundred bucks but no way to know if they will actually get shipped or show up. I had thought about chopping up my 42 Hawthorne while in the states so it would fit in a suitcase and getting it welded back together over here. I should have done it.
As I live in the USA, you would think I’d own lots of US-made hardware. This is not the case. I have one bike with an American frame, and everything else is Asian made, except one ‘60s English import.
I think I’ve pretty much given up on the half-hearted search for the Schwinn of my dreams, and I’m going to concentrate on custom building.
I have a small car blown apart right now, & until I put it back together I really don’t have the room to work on the hybrid trike project. I might start on the baby chopper though, because I can do that in a corner of my garage.
I really want to finish that car, but it’s been too cold and wet to do any real welding outside. Of course I’d prefer to do the welding inside but then I have to push the nice disassembled body out into the weather on carts.
I just read that and I realize how confusing it sounds. It’s a plastic body and the steel chassis needs welding. The rolling chassis is taking up all of my building space outdoors.
I think I’ve pretty much given up on the half-hearted search for the Schwinn of my dreams, and I’m going to concentrate on custom building.
I have a small car blown apart right now, & until I put it back together I really don’t have the room to work on the hybrid trike project. I might start on the baby chopper though, because I can do that in a corner of my garage.
I really want to finish that car, but it’s been too cold and wet to do any real welding outside. Of course I’d prefer to do the welding inside but then I have to push the nice disassembled body out into the weather on carts.
I just read that and I realize how confusing it sounds. It’s a plastic body and the steel chassis needs welding. The rolling chassis is taking up all of my building space outdoors.
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The Renaissance Man
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I didn’t expect any of the local thrift stores to have bicycles because there’s a real demand for cheap bicycles and cheap parts in California. But my wife says that here in town it is not so, and the thrift stores have all had bicycles.
I expect they will all be cheap Asian bicycles of the type I’m trying to get rid of but who knows? Anyhow I expect to send my wife around with a camera, to see what she can find in her explorations.
All I have to do is give her some cash to go look for yard ornaments. My wife is the yard ornament queen of the San Joaquin.
Really just a bare 26” Tornado frame, with crank-sprocket, plus all the bits to recreate the bike I rode in 1969-72.
But that’s just a silly dream, because I know I can build a much better bicycle nowadays, than I did back then with Dad’s vice and 1/4” drill and basic hand tools.
Don’t ask me how I made the Schwinn head work with the Huffy steerer tube bits. I think I got the Schwinn upper cone and crown to re-tap over the Huffy threads. All we built in those days were frankenbikes.
I'm at the point where I'm going to turn the handlebar and remove the pedals to fit them in and currently use 3 filing cabinets (4 waiting in the wings) 14 or so cube bins a storage container a half shed/bike storage shed, under the house, in the garage, on an old trailer and under a big tree...... Oh and a dozen or so at the bro's private space and there's still a dozen coming from a friend but I still insist that I don't have a problem
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Congratulations to the winner in each class. It has been such a great build off and I now have 3 more bikes I don’t have storage space for. Also a special thanks to those who watched my builds and voted my way and everyone at RRB who keeps this awesome thing going.
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In Canada we have the same thing very few American bikes mostly CCM or CCM made. A lot of British imports. CCM and schwinn had a very good relationship and tended to stay out of each others way. I do come across the odd CWC, and rollfast. The schwinns that do show up or usually brought by people who have moved here. I do however have a rare CCM build in Buffalo.
What is the most common second hand bike in your area? I'm guessing a 26" Walmart MTB pick your flavor as long as it's made in china. Second most is a mongoose or clone 20" BMX. In a month I could probably stuff a garage full of them. But what to do with them? I've been piecing them up, reusing bearings and such. Tubing for modifications on builds. Someday a Trash Build Off might be fun.
I work for "The warehouse" it's new Zealands biggest retailer, our bike brand is Milazo they are every where,I can say at least 70% of the populated areas you will find one, Milazo was originally there own brand that was mostly road and adult mtbs of above average spec for time (80's 90's) then we acquired them along long time ago and kept the name and over the years there have been good and bad models and strange ones, we also sold way below basic specced Diamondbacks we sold cyclops brand now and then and currently selling the worst low specced huffy's,as a bike guy I'm ashamed that we sell crap bikes as everything else we sell is usually good to better quality stuff, I've been trying to get them to rethink the bikes but no one will listen, the times we do get a quality bike at a good price we only have it for about a year then they discontinue it, I think the bike buyer is not a biker
That would be awesome everyone of us has trash bikes and be a real test of our skills.
Isn’t this what I’m doing already? I don’t have any classic bicycles to work with. I’m just mixing up parts of junky bicycles.
I dunno, I guess I’ve been lucky here. I’ve gotten a Takarav12-speed, a ‘93 Schwinn Hurricane (that I nodded), a ‘72 Raleigh Sprite among others. I guess it depends on the market and how much of a persnickety picker one can be…
It’s more than just luck. I live in a more recently civilized place than you do.
Those artifacts of yesteryear are more rare here, because people with money were more rare.
But they do pop up if one is looking.
That sounds like an awesome idea (the last sentence, that is) I’ve got some parts and an idea that’s been in my head for a few weeks now. This will literally be from the ground up. But I’m going to just wait for the next start date
